Report

Guidance and decision support for cost-effective river and floodplain restoration and its benefits

The present report presents guidance and decision support for cost-effective river and floodplain restoration and its benefits. It serves as a portal to the web-based information system or wiki developed within REFORM and summarizes the contents, structure and functionality of this wiki. The wiki guides the planning process and design of cost-effective and hydromorphologically relevant restoration and its benefits. 

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

REFORM newsletters & leaflet

This document gives an overview of the REFORM newsletters and leaflets. All newsletters and leaflets are available online at the public website of REFORM (http://www.reformrivers.eu). For each item in the newsletter the teaser is given as well as the hyperlink to the full article.

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Fact sheets for restoration projects

 This deliverable D4.5 summarizes information and experiences for thirteen river types and lists meta-data analysis results based on 844 publications. The report starts with a summary of a literature meta-data analysis, using the REFORM river reach typology. The main component of the report deals with fact sheets and per river type provides a synthesis of restoration experiences describing best and efficient restoration practices, including promising restoration techniques and variables suited for monitoring restoration.

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Large river regulation and rehabilitation in Europe – six selected case studies

Large rivers have been selected as one of the satellite topics both within WP3 and WP4, because of their particular features which could not be analysed in the case study catchments framework. Large rivers are considered rivers with a catchment larger than 10,000 km2 and > 100 m3/s. This encompasses rivers such as the Danube, Rhine, Rhône, Ebro, Vistula but also major tributaries such as the Sava, Narew, and Main rivers. Most fulfil major socio-economic functions, which will remain strongly modified and thus direct the options for rehabilitation. Because of their multifunctional use, large rivers can often only be partially rehabilitated or mitigated to achieve Good Ecological Potential according to the Water Framework Directive. This report addresses both hydrological modifications and restoration (rehabilitation, mitigation) following a DPSIR approach for six case studies that are spread across Europe

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Policy discussion paper "Linking e-Flows to sediment dynamics"

Fluvial communities and their ecological integrity are the result of their evolutionary adaptation to river habitats. Flowing water is the main driver for development and maintenance of these habitats, which is why environmental flows (e-Flows) are needed where societal demands are depleting water resources. Fluvial habitats are not only the result of water flow, however, but are shaped by the combined interaction of water, sediments woody/organic material, and riparian vegetation. Water abstraction, flow regulation by dams, gravel pits or siltation by fine sediments eroded from hillslopes are pressures that can disturb interactions among water, sediments, and other constituents that create the habitats needed by fluvial communities. 

Present e-Flow design criteria are based only on water flow requirements. Here we argue that sediment dynamics need to be considered when specifying instream flows, thereby expanding the environmental objectives and definition of e-Flows to include sediments (extended e-Flows).

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Risks and Uncertainty in River Rehabilitation

Analyses of costs and benefits require the prediction of the effects of restoration measures and the quantification of societal values. Both of these estimates are uncertain. In this report, some of the key issues related to the assessment, description and quantification of uncertainty are discussed and guidelines are provided for considering uncertainty. 

This report provides a brief overview on the representation and quantification of uncertainty in scientific prediction followed by examples of typical risks associated with river restoration that could lead to unintended, adverse effects and in more detail, how uncertainty can be considered in CEA/CBA and in MCDA.

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

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

Rivers are highly complex ecosystems with interrelated processes between physical, chemical and biological components. River restoration efforts are put in place to overcome pressures from the development sector to improve river process and function, nevertheless, river restoration tends to encounter obstacles as a result of these societal demands. To stop restoration projects falling short of their objectives, there is a need to demonstrate and predict the effects of human activities on these components spatially and temporally.

The overall aim of this document is to provide guidance and tools for river managers to analyse the potential effects of degradation, restoration, climate and land use change to optimise benefits between cross-sectoral river services and ecological requirements whilst considering climate change effects. Failure to plan across the full array of ecological and socioeconomic co-benefits can have undesirable and unanticipated consequences.

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Methods, models, tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers - Part 5 Applications

Work Package 6 of REFORM focuses on monitoring protocols, survey methods, assessment procedures, guidelines and other tools for characterising the consequences of physical degradation and restoration, and for planning and designing successful river restoration and mitigation measures and programmes. Deliverable 6.2 of Work Package 6 is the final report on methods, models and tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers. This report summarises the outputs of Tasks 6.1 (Selection of indicators for cost-effective monitoring and development of monitoring protocols to assess river degradation and restoration), 6.2 (Improve existing methods to survey and assess the hydromorphology of river ecosystems), and 6.3 (Identification and selection of existing hydromorphological and ecological models and tools suitable to plan and evaluate river restoration).

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

The Geomorphic Units survey and classification System (GUS)

Work Package 6 of REFORM focuses on monitoring protocols, survey methods, assessment procedures, gudelines and other tools for characterising the consequences of physical degradation and restoration, and for planning and designing successful river restoration and mitigation measures and programmes. Deliverable 6.2 of Work Package 6 is the final report on methods, models and tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers. This report summarises the outputs of Tasks 6.1 (Selection of indicators for cost-effective monitoring and development of monitoring protocols to assess river degradation and restoration), 6.2 (Improve existing methods to survey and assess the hydromorphology of river ecosystems), and 6.3 (Identification and selection of existing hydromorphological and ecological models and tools suitable to plan and evaluate river restoration).

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Methods, models, tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers - Part 2 Thematic annexes

Work Package 6 of REFORM focuses on monitoring protocols, survey methods, assessment procedures, guidelines and other tools for characterising the consequences of physical degradation and restoration, and for planning and designing successful river restoration and mitigation measures and programmes. Deliverable 6.2 of Work Package 6 is the final report on methods, models and tools to assess the hydromorphology of rivers.

Work packages: 

Deliverables: 

Document type: 

File status: 

  • Final

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Report