Case study:Skjern River Project

0.00

(0 votes)

To discuss or comment on this case study, please use the discussion page.

Location: 55° 54' 13.10" N, 8° 26' 25.42" E

Edit location

Loading map...

{"format":"googlemaps3","type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"limit":50,"offset":0,"link":"all","sort":[""],"order":[],"headers":"show","mainlabel":"","intro":"","outro":"","searchlabel":"... further results","default":"","import-annotation":false,"width":"auto","height":"400px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":14,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[""],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"showtitle":false,"hidenamespace":true,"template":"Location map popup","userparam":"","activeicon":"","pagelabel":false,"ajaxcoordproperty":"","ajaxquery":"","locations":[{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E Skjern River Project\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECountry:\u003C/b\u003E \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/index.php?title=Denmark\" title=\"Denmark\"\u003EDenmark\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Status:\u003C/b\u003E Complete\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThemes:\u003C/b\u003E Social benefits\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Skjern River Project","link":"","lat":55.90364,"lon":8.440394,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"}]}

Left click to look around in the map, and use the wheel of your mouse to zoom in and out.

Project overview

Edit project overview

Status	Complete
Project web site	http://www.SkjernEnge.dk
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Social benefits
Country	Denmark
Main contact forename	Niels Dahlin
Main contact surname	Lisborg
Main contact user ID
Contact organisation	The Nature Agency, Danish Ministry of the Environment.
Contact organisation web site	http://http://www.mim.dk/eng/
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Project picture

Project summary

Edit project overview to modify the project summary.

In within a catchment area of 250,000 hectares, the River Skjern (in western Jutland) is the largest river in Denmark in terms of water flow. Previous to human alteration, there was a huge expanse of marshland (4,000 ha) with a mixture of reed-swamps, meadows, meandering watercourses and shallow lakes at mouth of the river.

The delta area constituted the habitat for thousands of migratory bird species and also for stable breeding populations of bittern ("Botaurus stellaris"), black tern ("Chlidonias niger") and corncrake ("Crex crex"). Other species (i.e. European otter ("Lutra lutra"), Atlantic salmon ("Salmon salar"), etc.) were also relatively common until the 1960’s, following the straightening and channelizing of the Skjern and the cultivation of the marshland. This had negative impact on wild flora and fauna species, and dealt to water quality issues with severe effects of the fish and waterfowl populations of Ringkoebing Fjord.

In 1987, the Danish government decided to launch a major strategy to restore marginal areas to their former natural state and to introduce more compatible land use. The River Skjern was to be the milestone of this strategy.

The part involving restoring areas of conservation value of the Skjern was brought as a LIFE-Nature project in January 2001. The "Restoration of habitats and wildlife of Skjern River" aimed to restore 875 ha of the river valley and to improve biological diversity over 1,600 ha by re-introducing grazing. Construction work in the river bed and its tributaries was undertaken for re-meandering 20 km of the river along a more natural course. This enhanced nutrient retention capacity of the river system and enhanced the physical conditions of the site.

By the end of project in December 2004 about 1,200 ha of grassland were established, which was less than originally foreseen (1,600 ha). The reason is that the restoration work finally resulted in increased areas of floodplain. However, these extended wetland areas have benefited important species such as the spotted crake ("Porzana porzana"), avocet (Recurvirostra spp.) and bittern (Ardeidae spp.) and consequently will lead to more enhanced nature conservation.

Monitoring for the assessment of the ecological conditions in the restored area started in 2000. From 2004, the environmental monitoring programme for the project area became part of the national environmental monitoring programme (NOVANA). This surveillance monitoring is more extensive compared to the 2000-2003 monitoring programme for the Skjern River project area.

The River Restoration Centre would like to thank Niels Dahlin Lisborg from the The Nature Agency (Danish Ministry of the Environment) for providing the information and photographs for this case study.

Monitoring surveys and results

This case study hasn’t got any Monitoring survey and results, you can add some by editing the project overview.

Lessons learnt

This case study hasn’t got any lessons learnt, you can add some by editing the project overview.

Image gallery

Edit Image gallery

Removal of an old pumping station

Bulldozing of the new river course

Excavation of the new river course

The new wetland

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Jutland and Funen River basin Skjern Subcatchment River name Area category Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Maximum altitude (m) Dominant geology Ecoregion Dominant land cover Waterbody ID Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Skjern Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed 2004/12/31 Total cost category Total cost (k€) 37926811.0037,926,811 k€ <br />37,926,811,000 € <br /> Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure River straightening and channelization, cultivation of the floodplain Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Social and tourism amenities Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Barrier removal Floodplain / River corridor Creation of wetland Planform / Channel pattern Re-meandering Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Monitoring strategy Social measures (incl. engagement) Creation of a working group and an advisory board were established with representatives from local and national authorities and NGOs. Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Fish Yes Yes No Yes No Improvement Invertebrates Yes Yes No Yes No Improvement Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Nutrient concentrations Yes Yes No Yes No Improvement [[]] No No No No No Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Riparian vegetation No Yes No Yes No Awaiting results European otter Yes Yes No No No Awaiting results Amphibians Yes Yes No Yes No Awaiting results Atlantic salmon Yes No No Yes No Awaiting results Birds Yes Yes No No No Improvement River water discharge and concentrations and transports of pollutants Yes Yes No Yes No Improvement Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description http://www.naturstyrelsen.dk/Naturoplevelser/Beskrivelser/Vestjylland/SkjernEnge/Skjern River Wetlands.htm The restoration of Skjern River - The National Forest and Nature Agency (Denmark) http://www.dmu.dk/udgivelser/faglige rapporter/nr 500-549/abstracts/fr531 uk/ NERI Technical report no. 531. Restoration of Skjern River. Summary of environmental monitoring results 1999-2003. Andersen, J.M. 2005. 96 pp. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.dspPage&n proj id=1725&docType=pdf Skjern River - Restoration of habitats and wildlife of the Skjern http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?hl=en&tab=ww#hl=en&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=LIFE+and+Europe%E2%80%99s+rivers+-+best+river+restoration+project&oq=LIFE+and+Europe%E2%80%99s+rivers+-+best+river+restoration+project&gs l=hp.3...1053.1053.0.2369.1.1.0.0.0.0.65.65.1.1.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.2.hp.EVLBf1hYbjw&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r gc.r pw.r qf.&bvm=bv.42261806,d.d2k&fp=8b73aa42326402c3&biw=1280&bih=929 LIFE and Europe’s rivers - best river restoration project Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information