COLLABORATIVE PROJECTLARGE SCALE INTEGRATING PROJECT

ENV.2011.2.1.2-1 HYDROMORPHOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES OF WFD

GRANT NO. 282656

Contact: Tom Buijse (e-mail: tom.buijse@deltares.nl)

__________________________________________________________________

11th WG F meeting, 19 April 2012, Bucharest, RomaniaDr. Stefano Mariani (ISPRA, IT)

REstoring rivers FOR effective catchment Management

Partners

No. Participant organisation name Short name

Country

1 Stichting Deltares (Coordinator) Deltares Netherlands 2 Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek B.V. – Alterra Alterra Netherlands 3 Aarhus University – National Environmental Research Institute AU-NERI Denmark 4 Universitaet fuer Bodenkultur Wien BOKU Austria 5 French Research Institute for agricultural and environmental engineering Cemagref France 6 Danube Delta National Institute for Research & Development DDNI Romania 7 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Eawag Switzerland 8 Ecologic Institut gGmbH Ecologic Germany 9 Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries IGB Germany 10 European Commission Joint Research Centre JRC Italy 11 Masaryk University MU Czech Republic 12 Natural Environment Research Council – Centre for Ecology & Hydrology NERC-CEH UK 13 Queen Mary, University of London QMUL UK 14 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU Sweden 15 Finnish Environment Institute SYKE Finland 16 University of Duisburg-Essen UDE Germany 17 University of Hull UHULL UK 18 Università di Firenze UNIFI Italy 19 Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM Spain 20 VU University Amsterdam, Institute of Environmental Studies VU-IVM Netherlands 21 Warsaw University of Life Sciences WULS Poland 22 Centro de Estudios y Experimentacion de Obras Publicas CEDEX Spain 23 Dutch Government Service for Land and Water Management DLG Netherlands 24 Environment Agency of England and Wales EA UK 25 Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale ISPRA Italy

25 partners from 14 European countries

core partners

applied partners

67 participants

Kick – off meeting (Florence, 28 Nov – 1 Dec 2011)

Overall aim of REFORM

To provide a framework – improve success of HYMO restoration measures– to reach cost-effective ecological targets of rivers

Success = HYMO sustainable, Ecol effective, and Socio-Economic potential

Cost-effective = optimisation of ecosystem health, goods and services

Thus REFORM will develop protocols and procedures– to monitor biological response to HYMO change with greater

precision – to support the design of PoM for the WFD, in particular the 2nd

RMBPs (2015)– to integrate restoration better with socio-economic activities.

Objectives of REFORM

APPLICATION1. Select indicators for cost-effective monitoring2. Improve tools and guidelines for restoration

RESEARCH1. Review existing information on river degradation and restoration2. Develop a process-based hydromorphological framework3. Understand how multiple stress constrains restoration4. Assess the importance of scaling on the effectiveness of

restoration5. Develop instruments for risk and benefit analysis to support

successful restoration

DISSEMINATION1. Enlarge appreciation for the benefits of restoration

Naturalprocesses

Degradation

WP 1 Meta-analysis

WP 6 Applications and tools

WP 2Hydromorphological

and ecologicalprocesses and

interactions

WP 4Effects of river

restoration

WP 5 Restoration

potential and strategy

WP

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WP 8 Consortium coordination and management

WP 3 Effects of

hydromorphologicalchanges on rivers

and floodplainecosystems

Restoration & Mitigation

Review existing information onriver degradation and restoration

Develop a process-based and ecologically relevant

hydromorphological framework

Understand how disturbed sediment dynamics and multiple stress

constrains restoration

Assess the importance of scaling and catchment conditions on the effectiveness of restoration

Develop instruments for benchmarking, end-points, risk and benefit analysis

to support successful restoration

Translate science to practiceSelect indicators for cost-

effective monitoringImprove tools and guidelines

for restorationEnlarge appreciation for the

benefits of restoration

http://wwwlife-donau-ybbsat/

http://webarchivenationalarchivesgovuk/20110303155229/http:

/wwwstreamlifeorguk/

http://wwwhammde/lifelippeauehtml

http://wwwlife-wachauat/

http://wwwnaturstyrelsendk/Naturoplevelser/Beskrivelser/Vestjylland/SkjernEnge/Skjern_Riv

er_Wetlandshtmwww.wwf.se/flodparlmussla

Count of ProjectName ProgrammeGlobal objective INTERREG LIFE Grand TotalFlood management 20 1 21Integrated River Basin Management 26 1 27River & floodplain restoration 17 114 131Water quality improvement 4 1 5Species conservation and management 14 55 69Grand Total 81 172 253

Reviewing existing information

Examples of EU funded River River restoration projects

GEOGRAPHY

Google Maps shows location project boundaries

– key features of the project supported by text of photos

THEMEDatabase

– essential facts (defined by project partners and end-users)

– to filter Google Maps for relevant case studies – to LIVELINK case studies, pressures, measures,

biological and hydromorphological quality elements

River Restoration WIKI based on FORECASTER geowiki

multilevel information storage to facilitate searching

WIKI summarises essential info in a standard ToC– Google translate gives a immediate and quite well understandable translation

Background links to inter-/external info sources in any language

GEOWIKI tool developed by FORECASTER (1st IWRM-Net joint call)

Geographical locations are shown in Google Maps Project boundaries with key features of the project supported by text

or photos

Name of the project: Country (pop up) River Name (free text) Site Name (free text)Location (Lat; Lon) River typology (EU Water Framework Directive Type A)

Altitude (pop up; 3)Catchment area (pop up; 4)Geology (pop up; 3)

National code river type (free text)

Biological quality elements (tick box; 4)Hydromorphological quality elements (tick box; 7)

Pressures (tick box; 21)Measures (tick box; 60)

Project size (km; ha)Approximate costs (tick box; 4)

Synergy (free text)Status (pop up check) Period of realization

Evaluation (tick box; 4)

FORECASTER geowiki

Process-based hydrological framework

• HYMO assessment more pattern- then process-based.

• Interplay HYMO processes, geology and vegetationstructure riverine landscapes

• Processes essential to rejuvenate channels, riparian zones and floodplains

• Distinguish spatial and temporal scales

Sediment dynamics

So far WFD implementation insufficient attention to sediment dynamics

REFORM will address the consequences of– Too little sediment (e.g. impoundment trap sediment)– Too much and too fine sediments (e.g. siltation of gravel-beds)– Side-effects of restoration: re-distribution of polluted sediments

Case studies: “Flagship” restoration vs. “normal” restoration

Catchment with large restoration measure(s)

Catchment without large restoration measure(s)

(Long) restored reach

Degraded reach upstream

Short restored reach

Degraded reach upstream

REFORM makes use of existing data.

Besides additional new data will be collected in 9 catchments

Restoration scale and catchment conditions

Do dimensions influencerestoration success?

Do catchment conditionssupport or constrainrestoration and direct the choice of measures?

– Flow regimes of water and sediments

– Barriers– Colonisation potential from source

populations– Water and sediment quality

(nutrients, micropollutants)

I II III

Cause• Restoration

Effects• Habitats• Biota• Ecosystem services

„Spoiling variables“•Land use•Pollution•Colonization potential

Economy•Project costs•Societal benefits

Benchmarking, end-points

THE CHALLENGE OF PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW RULES TO SUSTAIN RIVER ECOSYSTEMS

Angela H. Arthington, Stuart E. Bunn, N. LeRoy Poff, and Robert J. Naiman

Ecological Applications 2006 16:4, 1311-1318

There is a need to benchmark whenrestoration is successful.

There is a need to set realistic end-points for restoration

…

This is however often not done

Synergy between ecological restoration and ….

• Flood protection (Room for Rivers, Ecoflood)

• Navigation (parallel dams; wave action)• Agriculture (land use of riparian zones;

sediment dynamics)• Hydropower (Environmental flows;

hydropeaking)

To …

Expand the potential for restorationSupport the intercalibration of Good

Ecological Potential of heavily modifiedand artificial water bodies (ECOSTAT)

Interaction with end-users

Communication & Dissemination Strategy (March 2012)End-user groups: policy makers, practitioners,

scientistsStandard

– Website, Newsletters (2/yr), Policy Briefs (3)

Advanced– WIKI linking theory to practice and experience– Interactive preparation of end-user workshop– Interaction with ECOSTAT

Events– interactive end-user workshop (Feb/Mar 2013)– local workshops in case study catchments (tbd)– summer school (2015) – final conference (2015)

Cooperation with …

make use of earlier research projects(e.g. REBECCA, WISER,

FORECASTER)

RESTORE (LIFE+ Information & Communication)

European Centre for River Restoration(ECRR)

WFD Common ImplementationStrategy WGs: ECOSTAT, HYMO,

FLOODS, ect. + SPI

Advisory Board of REFORMJohan Kling, Margaret Palmer,

Hervé Piégay, Peter Pollard,

Ursula Schmedtje, Bas van der Wal

Thank you for your attention

coming soon (April 2012): www.reformrivers.eu

English summary

• Ecological side effects of river regulation insufficiently known.• REFORM is a 4-year large integrated research project coordinated by Deltares

and has 24 partners from 14 European countries.

REFORM will …..• develop and improve instruments and guidelines to enlarge the success and

cost-effectiveness of restoration and mitigation measures.• develop and improve protocols and procedures to monitor the biological

responses to hydromorphological changes with greater precision and sensitivity.

• provide this information through a web-based toolkit for river restoration.• will deliver the first set of results early 2013 to support PoM for 2nd RBMPs. • Project website ready April 2012.

Deliverables

WP1 Meta-Analysis Planning WP5 Restoration potential and strategy Planning

D1.1 Review on eco-hydromorphological methods Oct 2012 D5.1Review of methodologies for benchmarking and setting end-points for restoration projects Apr 2013

D1.2Review on effects of pressures on hydromorphological variables and ecologically relevant processes Feb 2013 D5.2

Cost effective restoration measures that promote wider ecosystem and societal benefits Apr 2014

D1.3Review on ecological responses to hydromorphological degradation and restoration Feb 2013 D5.3

Effects of climate and land use changes on river ecosystems and restoration practices Oct 2014

D1.4Inventory of the cost of river degradation and the socio-economic aspects and costs and benefits Oct 2013 D5.4

Risks and uncertainty of different restoration strategies and options analysis Apr 2015

D1.5 Final Summary reports about metadata management Oct 2015 WP6 Applications and tools

WP2 Hydromorphological and ecological processes and interactions D6.1Synthesis of interim results for practical application to support the compilation of the 2nd RBMPs Apr 2013

D2.1Multi-scale framework and indicators of hydromorphological processes and forms Oct 2014 D6.2 Methods, models, tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers Jul 2015

D2.2Influence of natural hydromorphological dynamics on biota and ecosystem services Jul 2014 D6.3

Guidelines and decision support for cost-effective river-floodplain restoration and its benefits Oct 2015

D2.3Framework to analyse ecosystem services provided by European river systems Oct 2013 WP7 Knowledge dissemination and stakeholders participation

WP3 Effects of hydromorphological changes on river and floodplain ecosystems D7.1 Communication and Dissemination Strategy Jan 2012

D3.1Impacts of hydromorphological degradation and disturbed sediment dynamics on ecological status Oct 2013 D7.2 Project website: structure and functionality Apr 2012

D3.2Understanding biological responses to degraded hydromorphology sediment dynamics and multiple stress Oct 2014 D7.3 Proceedings of the End-user workshop Mar 2013

D3.3 Evaluation of candidate indicators for case studies including uncertainty Oct 2014 D7.4 Lecture notes of the summer school Apr 2015

D3.4Guidance on how to identify impacts of hydromorphological degradation on riparian ecosystems Oct 2014 D7.5 Proceedings of the final conference Aug 2015

WP4 Effects of river restoration D7.6 Newsletters and project leaflet (8; every 6 months)D4.1 Field protocols and associated database Apr 2012 D7.7 Policy Briefs and policy discussion papers (3; every 16 months)D4.2 Evaluation of hydromorphological restoration from existing data Oct 2013D4.3 Report on the results of the hydromorphological and ecological survey Apr 2014D4.4 Report on the results of the socio-economic survey Apr 2014D4.5 Fact sheets for restoration projects Oct 2014