Link flood reduction with ecological restoration

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Link flood reduction with ecological restoration

Link flood reduction with ecological restoration03. Flow dynamics improvement

General description

The measures for ecological restoration projects in Europe on the River floodplains before the issue of WFD have been addressed to one or two river floodplain functions/services: water storage for flood mitigation, nature/biodiversity conservation or both (Marin et al., 1997; Vadineanu et al.,1998; Schiemer, 1999; Smits et al., 2000; Hughes F.M.R, 2000; Klijn and Duel, 2000; Cals and Drimmelen., 2000; Morris et al., 2005), nutrient cycling (Heiler et al.,1995) and less to the multiple ecological objectives as river system integrity and ecological status. More emphases was given to measures aiming to restore lateral connectivity between rivers and floodplains since 2001, aiming to improve ecological status and integrity of the rivers but also to restore water storage function of the floodplains. Concepts as ,,fluvial territory”, ,,room for rivers” ” or ,, free space for rivers”, ,,espace de liberté fluvial”, ,,erodible corridor”, or simply ,,wetland (or floodplain) restoration”, have been developed across Europe, supporting restoration of the connectivity between the river and its floodplain for multiple purposes, including flood reduction. The concept ,,Room for Rivers” was promoted in the Netherlands in 1996 as an alternative to a new round of dike raising to prevent floods (Silva et al., 2001; Buijse et al., 2002; Vis et al., 2003), whereas the term ,,Fluvial Territory” is related to the Spanish River Restoration Strategy, 2007 (Ollero et al., 2007; Ollero et al., 2009) which is an adaptation of the French ,,espace de liberte fluvial” and ,,erodible corridor”(Piegay et al., 1996; Malavoi et al., 1998; Piégay et al., 2005). Similarely, the Italian term ,,fascia di pertinenza fluvial” (Govi and Turitto, 1994). All these terms define flood strategies based on enlargement of the fluvial space that includes river bed, riparian corridor and the floodplain in their dynamics.

Applicability

The large-river floodplain restoration projects are long term undertakings. Beside the complexity of the floodplain ecosystems, the present land use and the degree of adverse effect of restoration works on economic activities or flood defense structures could hamper implementation. When looking at the reconstruction of a floodplain, first the function must be defined (Plateew et al., 2001). However, experience shows that political and socio-economical conditions (property, status of the area, political decision-makers) play a far more important role in implementation of floodplain restoration projects than the actual land use (Gunther-Diringer D., 2000). The private ownership is often a serious constraint for implementation and a limitation of the dimension in space.

Expected effect of measure on (including literature citations):

  • HYMO (general and specified per HYMO element)
  • physico � chemical parameters
  • Biota (general and specified per Biological quality elements)

Temporal and spatial response

Pressures that can be addressed by this measure

Cost-efficiency

Case studies where this measure has been applied

Useful references

Other relevant information

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