ECODYN ECOLOGICAL MODELLING OF RESTORATION SITES ALONG THE RIVER MEUSE

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ECODYN ECOLOGICAL MODELLING OF RESTORATION
SITES ALONG THE RIVER MEUSE

• Alexander Van Braeckel

Research Institute for Nature and Forest,
Brussels, Belgium
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Introduction Restoration

• Strongly constricted summer bed
• Channelized bed
• gravel mining in the riverbed ?active restoration

• Scenario Living Meuse
• Restoration of
• Riverbed widening
• bank and winter bed lowering
• Flooding regime frequency velocities
• Spontaneous processes
• Erosion and sedimentation
• Vegetation succession
• Restoration of
• hydraulic
• morphologic
• Biological processes

?
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From River Meuse to model

• Controlling variables
• Flood frequency and velocity
• groundwater influence, management

• Hydrological model
• MLW, Amplitude, MHW, MSW

• Hydraulic model
• Flood frequency
• velocity

Ecological model ECODYN
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Ecotope potentials in Ecodyn
Winter bed
Summer bed
Fysiotope
Pioneer mode

• Pioneer grassland of calcareous sandy or stony
  substrate (6110 and 6120) at 3000m³/s (1/115
  year)

• pioneer vegetation

Ecotope

• Forest mode
• germination
• establishing
• survival

• Management mode
• No management
• Extensive year round grazing

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Model result of Ecodyn

• Restoration measurement
• Fysiotopes for different scenario
• T0
• T10
• T50 after 3000m³/s
• Natura 2000 habitat types
• Ecotypes
• Evaluation

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Conclusion and future applications

• Conclusions
• For the River Meuse
• Water level at different discharges
• Velocity at different discharges
• Base for prediction of fysiotope distribution
• Integration of hydraulic and hydrologic models gt
  ecological information
• Ecological modelling is a helpful tool for
  evaluating different scenarios of restoration
  projects and Natura2000 habitat potentials
• Future applications
• Validation at the new restoration sites
• Further development of the grazing and management
  mode
• Application to other river systems

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Morphodynamic development of the River Rhine
near Neuenburg - results of the study
commissioned by ILN -

• Annette Schulte-Rentrop and Andreas Dittrich

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Restoration measures (questions)

• Are the measures sustainable for the given
  conditions?
• Morphodynamic development of the gravel island
  (1), old harbour (2), lowering area (3) Rhine
  gardens (4) ?
• Hydraulic forces and flow field
• Detection of erosion and sedimentation sites
• Assessment of critical sites

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Tasks (commissioned objectives by ILN)
Introduction

• 3D-numerical modelling of the flow from Rhine-km
  198.00 200.97 for 3 discharges and the island
  with/without vegetation
• Estimation of the morpho-logical situation if
  sediment is released from the French river banks
  and identification of erosion and sedimentation
  zones

River Rhine
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Summary

• Morphodynamic development without bed load
  material
• Rest Rhine stable, bed erosion only at less
  frequent discharges
• Gravel island and side arm stable at all
  discharges
• Side channel of the lowering area flush out of
  suspended sediment possible partly dynamics with
  bed erosion / deposition ? maintenance
• Old harbour sedimentation basin at all discharges
• Rhinegardens stable, no erosion deposition of
  fine sediments likely at high discharges

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Summary

• Morphodynamic development with bed load material
• ? Maintenance required!
• Rest Rhine transport and deposition of larger
  grain sizes at frequent discharges
• Depositions might occur in the side arm near the
  gravel island at all discharges
• Depositions in Rhine gardens at larger events
• Transport and depositions in inlet of side
  channel
• Old harbour sedimentation basin

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Building new rivers
Hans Hillebrand et al Innovation Network
Habiforum Freude am Fluss Conference 22-24
October 2008
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New rivers strategy Go with the flow, FaF,
Plimby
 
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Definition new river

• River was not recently there
• Physical course is dug out
• Summer and winter bed
• Also water transport with lower water supply
• Multifunctional
• Capable of carrying a substantial volume of water

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Possible locations of new rivers
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Conclusion

• New rivers
• Spatial quality
• Backbone, economic stimulus
• Water security
• Participation important for realization
• Can also lead to radical solutions
• Challenge connecting expert solutions with real
  participation