Europeans have been invited to throw themselves into the river on Sunday for their first ”Big Jump,” a day called to advocate clean and living waterways through public awareness events across 12 European Union countries.
The sponsor, the European River Network (ERN), wants to ”return the rivers to the citizens and bring back the 19th-century tradition of river swimming”, said director Roberto Epple.
The group, which has a website at www.bigjump.org, is campaigning for compliance with an EU directive that member states restore a ”good level” of quality in all their surface waterways as well as groundwater by 2015.
The commitment of EU citizens to cleaner rivers is essential given that ”we know today that … probably half of these waters won’t attain this goal and extensions to the deadline will be needed,” according to a statement by ERN, which is headquartered in the central French city of Puy-en-Velay.
Between 200 000 and 300 000 people are expected to take part in 200 events across 12 EU countries involving 30 waterways, although some may be cancelled in Austria because the Danube is in spate, Epple said.
The day will see group swims, aquatic ballet performances, debates on river water quality, educational games, a pageant of old-fashioned swimsuits, cultural shows, riverbank walks and sporting events.
The ”Big Jump” has its origins in a successful pilot project in 2002 on the Elbe, where 55 official swimming areas were opened along the 1 000km of the river, which has its source in the Czech Republic and empties into the North Sea.
About 100 000 people turned out for the event.
Epple said that many European rivers are beginning to become suitable for swimming once again, a sign that clean up efforts are bearing fruit.
The Elbe and the Rhine, which were among Europe’s most polluted rivers during the 1980s, are leading the way, now boasting more than 100 species of fish.
The two rivers will have 65 and 21 swimming areas, respectively, for Sunday’s events.
Hamburg, in northern Germany, has a resort nicknamed Hafencity where EU flag-bearing swimmers will dive from a pontoon into the Elbe.
German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin will kick off the festivities with a water pistol filled with water from the river, according to Matthias Sobottka, spokesperson of the city’s water services.
Berlin plans to mark ”Big Jump” day by unveiling an ambitious project entitled ”Spree 2011” aimed at ”turning the Spree River into a swimming paradise,” said spokesperson Joerg Welke.
Epple lamented that the 140 official swimming areas to be used in France on Sunday were 25% fewer than those in Germany because of problems obtaining permission from local administrations.
The ERN plans a ”River Olympics” in five years to carry out a joint assessment of the state of Europe’s rivers. – Sapa-AFP