Case study:Skjern River Project

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

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Project overview

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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 National Forest and Nature Agency (Denmark)
Contact organisation web site	http://www.naturstyrelsen.dk/
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

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Project summary

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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 is 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.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Catchment and subcatchment

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Site

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Name
WFD water body codes
WFD (national) typology
WFD water body name
Pre-project morphology
Reference morphology
Desired post project morphology
Heavily modified water body
National/international site designation
Local/regional site designations
Protected species present
Invasive species present
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

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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

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Mitigation of a pressure
Hydromorphology
Biology
Physico-chemical
Other reasons for the project

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	Barriers removal
Floodplain / River corridor	Creation of wetlands
Planform / Channel pattern	Re-meandering of channel to increase nutrient capacity and improve physiscal condictions
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

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative

Biological quality elements

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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

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative

Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic

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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

Monitoring documents

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Image gallery

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Removal of an old pumping station

Bulldozing of the new river course

Excavation of the new river course

Overall view of the Skjern river during restoration

The new wetland

Overall view of the Skjern river after restoration

Flooding of the Skjern River after restoration

Additional documents and videos

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Additional links and references

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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

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