REFORM - WP7

REFORM Policy Brief No.3 - A fresh look on effective river restoration: Key conclusions from the REFORM project

g_anzaldua — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 09:37:58 +0000

This is the third and final in a series of three Policy Briefs published by the REFORM project. This Policy Brief presents key conclusions and recommendations of the REFORM project, which are relevant for policy-makers involved in river basin management planning.

The key conclusions and recommendations address the following themes:
- REFORM hydromorphology framework
- REFORM hydromorphological assessment methods
- Remote sensing for river hydromorphological investigation
- Role of vegetation and floodplains
- Groundwater-river interactions
- Coupling hydromorphology to biotic responses
- Planning stream and river restoration
- Cost-benefit analysis of restoration measures
- Linking e-flows to sediment dynamics
- Restoration measures at project level and their effects

REFORM_Policy_Brief_No3.pdf

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Deliverables:

D7.7 Policy Briefs and policy discussion papers

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Dissemination material

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Final

Policy Brief:

REFORM newsletters & leaflet

tom.buijse@deltares.nl — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:57:44 +0000

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.

7.6_REFORM_newsletters and leaflets - FINAL.pdf

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D7.6 Newsletters and project leaflet

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Final

Policy Brief:

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

tom.buijse@deltares.nl — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 11:58:50 +0000

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).

We recognize that currently used biological assessment systems and metrics are not sufficiently sensitive indicators of ecological status of water bodies impacted by sediment and flow management. To overcome current limitations of available metrics that use biological quality elements (BQEs) in assessing flow related impacts, we are proposing alternative assessment criteria that include hydromorphological (HYMO) aspects. Our broadened definition of extended e-flows requires a broader set of protocols and tools derived from specific HYMO approaches (e.g. REFORM multiscale hymo framework).

To this aim, a framework for e-Flows assessment and identification of best strategies for fluvial restoration, including the context of rivers regulated by large dams, is presented.

7.7 Policy discussion paper III Linking e-flows to sediment dynamics FINAL.pdf

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D7.7 Policy Briefs and policy discussion papers

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Report

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Final

Policy Brief:

Policy discussion paper "Bringing groundwater to the surface"

tom.buijse@deltares.nl — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 12:50:27 +0000

This policy paper aims are to identify specific issues and raise awareness of the issues related to groundwater-river interactions by improving knowledge transfers to policy makers and water managers. Groundwater is a key factor in supporting ecological flows (Eflows), both concerning quantity and quality of surface water required for Good Status of aquatic ecosystems.

This policy paper is the result of discussions that took place at a 3-day expert workshop (Biebrza Valley, Poland, 15–17 September 2014) organized by the REFORM project on the relevance of groundwater-surface water interactions in European actions oriented at sustainable water management.

REFORM D7.7 Discussion_Paper_nr2 Bringing_Groundwater_to_the_Surface.pdf

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D7.7 Policy Briefs and policy discussion papers

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Report

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Final

Policy Brief:

Proceedings of the International Conference on River and Stream Restoration “Novel Approaches to Assess and Rehabilitate Modified Rivers”

tom.buijse@deltares.nl — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:28:27 +0000

These proceedings of the International Conference 'Novel Approaches to Assess and Rehabilitate Modified Rivers', which took place from 30th June to 2nd July 2015 in Wageningen (the Netherlands), contain the extended summaries of nearly all keynotes and oral presentations as well as several poster presentations. They are preceeded by a description of the scope, objectives and topics of the conference, feedback from the advisory and a visual impression of conference. The contributions are grouped within the six conference topics:

Assessment and rehabilitation of hydromorphological processes in rivers
Discerning the impact of hydromorphological modification from other stressors
Achievements by restoration and mitigation practices
How to improve the (cost-)effectiveness of river rehabilitation?
Benefits of river rehabilitation and synergies with other uses (flood protection, navigation, agriculture, hydropower)
Linking science to practice: tools to assess river status and guide rehabilitation to optimize river basin management

The much appreciated and successful scientific conference was organized to highlight the importance of the benefits of river restoration. 170 participants from 26 countries shared experiences, aspirations, challenges, analytical frameworks and new approaches to enhance the success of river restoration and to come to a better understanding of the consequences of hydro-morphological changes to the ecological status of running waters. The conference attracted universities and research institutes, environmental management organisations, NGOs and consulting firms in the field of river restoration. 15 keynote lectures from Europe, North America and New Zealand, 58 oral presentations in breakout sessions and 38 posters provided the ingredients and inspiration for animated conversations during the breaks.

Among others, evidence outlined by the conference speakers and participants gave fundamental insights into how rivers work, and presented a wide span of research from global to catchment and all the way down to the species level. It became evident that attention is shifting towards reflecting on the river in its full scope including the role of the riparian zone and the floodplain for ecosystem functioning. Keynote and oral presentations made a case for the need to develop more process-oriented restoration measures, and to consider hydromorphological changes and their evolution both in terms of space and time. A lot of inspiration for further work was given by presentations on the application of biotic indices for the assessment of river ecological conditions as well as by a multitude of case studies presented on the achievements by restoration and mitigation practices in Europe and beyond. The conference also provided a platform for exchanging experiences and ongoing work on the challenging issues of socioeconomic assessments related to river restoration, tools and strategies for more closely linking science to the practitioner level.

7.5_REFORM_conference proceedings.pdf

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D7.5 Proceedings of the final conference

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Conference proceedings

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Final

Policy Brief:

Lecture notes of the summer school ‘Restoring regulated streams linking theory and practice’

tom.buijse@deltares.nl — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 12:43:05 +0000

This deliverable presents the overview and structure of the REFORM 3-day summer school ‘Restoring regulated streams linking theory and practice’ for early career researchers and young scientists.

On the first day participants took part in a field excursion to river restoration projects in the vicinity of Wageningen in The Netherlands. On the second day they listened to a set of seven complementary lectures on river restoration and then provided interactive discussion. The lectures covered the following aspects: restoration planning, how does my river work?, what’s wrong?, hydromorphological and biological assessment and how can we improve through restoration? On the last day participants used the theory and information from the lectures to prepare and present their view on how to restore the streams visited during the field visit.

The summer school took place in Wageningen (The Netherlands) from 27 – 29 June 2015. Careful planning of the course has made it possible to use the course outputs for those interested in teaching river restoration, wherever river or stream restoration projects are available. The complete PowerPoint presentations and the video-recorded lectures are available online and can be used for teaching and training purposes.

7.4 Lectures notes summer school - complete.pdf

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D7.4 Lecture notes of the summer school

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Lecture notes

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Final

Policy Brief:

REFORM project leaflet - Czech version

g_anzaldua — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:05:57 +0000

Introducing the REFORM leaflet!
This document (one page, double sided, not folded) is ready to be printed and distributed at any event to provide a brief introduction and overview of the REFORM project as well as invite the reader to learn more on the project website.

Note that the leaflet is now available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Polish and Swedish.

reform_leaflet_Czech.pdf