See II.2.4

On 21 September 2022, the Walloon Water Company and the Walloon Region (Public Service of Wallonia Mobility and Infrastructure – Department of Liège Waterways and Dams-Reservoirs, Directorate of Dams-Reservoirs) concluded a memorandum of understanding as part of the operationalization of the recommendations of the Walloon Parliament issued following the floods that occurred in July 2021.

More specifically, Recommendation No. 90 of the Parliamentary Committee recommends:

'In consultation with the Walloon Water Company (SWDE):

–make the management of reservoir dams more dynamic, with a potting reserve that evolves according to the time of year, forecasts and meteorological and hydrological data, as well as increased manoeuvring possibilities on the part of managers. »

The Stucky report, commissioned by the Walloon Region in the wake of the aforementioned floods, advocates "the optimization of the management method of dams under SPW MI management, with the Eupen dam as a test case (e.g. handling note based on forecasts in addition to the observed rainfall). A trade-off or weighing of interests between flood risk and other issues (low water / drought, drinking water, energy production, etc.) must be included in this analysis - > variants to be tested via a hydrological and hydraulic model. »

The SPW MI is the manager of four reservoir dams for the production of drinking water in Wallonia, namely the Vesdre (Eupen), Gileppe (Jalhay), Ourthe (Nisramont) and Ry de Rome (Couvin) dams.

The SWDE, on the other hand, produces drinking water from a fraction taken from these four reservoir dams.

The water coming from the Vesdre and Gileppe dams supplies a large part of the municipalities of the regions of Eupen, Verviers, the Pays de Herve and practically the entire Liège agglomeration by a conveyance linking Eupen and Grâce-Hollogne.

The security of drinking water supply throughout Wallonia implemented through the Regional Water Resources Plan is partly based on an increase in the volumes of water from dams in the East. They are therefore strategic resources for SWDE and more broadly for the production and distribution of drinking water in Wallonia.

SWDE also operates hydropower plants in Eupen and Nisramont, while SPW MI operates the Gileppe hydropower plant.

Operating conditions and particularly handling curves significantly influence the volumes available for drinking water production, flood retention and hydropower production.

The SWDE and the SPW MI share the joint desire to implement the above-mentioned parliamentary recommendation, as a priority with regard to dams in eastern Wallonia. (Gileppe and Vesdre in Eupen)

The present contract is part of this dynamic: SWDE and SPW MI have appointed SWDE to intervene, on their collective behalf, as an adjudicator.