What is "emschergenossenschaft"

The Emschergenossenschaft is the oldest and biggest public German water board, („Wasserwirtschaftsverband”) located in Essen ( North Rhine-Westphalia/ Germany) and responsible for the 865 km² Emscher catchment with 2.2 Mio. citizens. The main tasks are wastewater discharge and treatment, flood protection, groundwater management, settlement of claims caused by hard coal mining, river restoration and protection of ecosystems.