River Restoration: a European picture Bruna GUMIERO ECRR (European Centre for River Restoration) CIRF (Italian Centre for River Restoration)
ECRR who are we? A researchers and practitioners network MISSION Enhance Ecological river restoration throughout Europe. VISION RR is an integral part of sustainable water management. www.ecrr.org ACTIONS ECRR is connecting people and organizations working on river restoration (network / platform) ECRR supports development of good practices of river restoration.
EUROPEAN DIRECTIVES WFD 2000/60 91/676/EEC (Nitrates) 2006/118/EC (Groundwater) 92/43/EEC (Habitat) 2007/60/EC (Flood risk) 79/409/EEC (Birds) 2008/56/EC (Marine strategy)
WFD-objectives Prevent deterioration and achieve a GES Work with the river and not against it Water management based on river basins Participatory planning and Socio-economic analyses Set specific deadlines for Member States to protect aquatic ecosystems Basin Branch Floodplain Ecotope 4
The WFD management approach Three Six Year Cycles 2013-16 Monitor Implementation Evaluate state of environment Continual Assess pressures & impacts 2005 2010-13 Enact measures Asses risks, costs & benefits 2007 2010 Finalise Programme of Measures 2009 Propose Actions Determine objectives 2008
PROBLEMS AND CONFLICTS IN EUROPE 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% East-E. West-E. North-E. South-E. nature fishery safety against flooding shipping water supply irrigation drinking water hydropower
Northern Europe Hydropower and dams (env. flow) Recreational use vs economic vs natural HMW
Norwegian watercourses = hydropower
Environmental flows Minimum flows Summer and winter flows No minimum flows 1950 2020
HYDROPOWER: CONFLICTS AND OPPORTUNITIES The recent debate concerning the better efficiency of hydropower plants and the renewal of licences of use, offers chances to combine the renovation with river restoration measures.
Voluntary persons in fishery management & restoration work
. Houting-project Remove 13 obstacles Give access to an additional 130 km new river habitats Eliminate mortality of drifting fry past fish farms Create new spawning grounds Restore approx. 30 km river Create 470 ha new nursery areas Purchase of commercial netting rights Breed fry temporarily to secure the gene pool Highlight the importance of watercourses to Danish nature
Houting-project
Eastern Europe Water and sediment pollution Navigation Natural resources
World Bank project Kalimok Bulgaria Bulgaria Wetlands Restoration and Pollution Reduction Project
Bulgaria Wetlands Restoration and Pollution Reduction Project Kalimok-Brushlen Protected site 6 000 ha Kalimok marsh (after restoration) ~ 1 850 ha Kalimok and Brushlen former marshes ~ 35 000 ha
Navigation and WFD "Joint Statement on Inland Navigation and Environmental Sustainability in the Danube River Basin"
Consensus building process: navigation The goal of the process was to agree upon a Statement that will provide a set of guiding principles and criteria for development and maintenance of navigation in the Danube (and some tributaries), in a way that effectively protects and improves the environmental situation
Rescue of Sturgeon Species by means of Transboundary Integrated Water Management in the Ural River Basin The high economic and social values of sturgeon allow the combination of both ecological and socioeconomic aspects of sustainable development.
Western Europe Habitat degradation and fragmentation Flood protection Navigation
Large floods in Germany since 1990 Year River basin Damage [million ] 1991 Danube 43 1993 Rhine 530 1994 Saale 153 1995 Rhine 280 1997 Oder 300 1998 Mosel 128 1999 Danube 412 2002 Elbe, Danube 12.000 2005 Danube 185
Flood 2002: Damages Germany Czech Republic Fatalities 21 15 People affected 337.000 affected 35.000 evacuees in Dresden 220.000 evacuated 50.000 evacuees in Prague Economic loss 12 billion 3 billion And other damage devastating damage to many cultural heritage monuments all 3 subway lines severely affected
ROOM FOR RIVER The project area of the Room for the Rivers program (from Albert, 2008). Example of Room for the River : creating new side channels in the floodplain (from Albert, 2008).
Canalization Hydropower and dams Water shortage Pollution Southern Europe from: www.jiznicechy.org from: www.panda.org
Model of channel evolution the types of channel adjustment A B the bed erosion in the River Mur, could be halted for about 60 years by the widening of the river bed from 85 m to about 200 metres over a length of 1.1 km III (m) II IV (m) I II I Increasing incision Increasing narrowing III (i) IV (i)
Drought and abstractions (IPCC - WISE, 2008) Summer rains will become scarcer and summer temperatures will rise. Summers could be 6 degrees Celsius hotter in Spain and Portugal by 2070 Total water abstraction in the EU27 about 247,000 million m3/y. 44% is used for energy production, 24% for agriculture, 17% for public water supply and 15% for industry.
Drought and abstractions EU can reduce its use of water by 40% through measures in a number of sectors. Once all water saving options have been exploited new sources of water supply can be considered. the European Commission launched a project ( Assessment of alternative water supply options ): 1) desalination, 2)wastewater re-use, 3)ground water recharge and 4) rainwater harvesting.
Your water, your life. Plunge into the debate!