Abstract
An altered bedload balance in rivers results in most cases in significant impairment of native animals, plants, and their habitats.
The Swiss Water Protection Ordinance requires the rehabilitation of the bedload regime of watercourses that have a significant impairment, caused by an altered bedload regime. The aim of a bedload regime rehabilitation is to remove significant impairments caused by installations and to restore a channel form, gravel deposits and a heterogeneous substrate that are as close to nature as possible.
Hence, for renaturation projects, it is necessary to know how much bedload is required in the watercourse in order to reduce the significant impairments. Here, typical morphological structures and river dynamics, which are strongly related to the bedload balance, are essential to be considered.
With the help of physical model tests, new insights will be gained in order to be able to determine the required bedload for future renaturation projects.
Project manager
Deputies
Partners & Finances
Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland
Duration
From 2022.03.01 to 2023.11.30
