Something had to be done: what was called for was a masterplan for the entire region that would regulate the disposal and treatment of effluent and provide drainage and flooding protection. So in 1899, towns, municipalities, mining and industrial interests joined forces to found the »Emschergenossenschaft«, Germany’s first ever water management association, in order to rectify this ecological predicament. Since subsidence through mining had repeatedly inflicted grave damage on the subterranean sewer system the Emschergenossenschaft decided to convert all the existing watercourses into open sewer channels. The hitherto meandering Emscher river and its tributaries were now straightened, shortened, deepened and lined as semi-trapezoid channels with concrete shell floors and side panels to facilitate a faster, more flexible and economical removal of wastewater.