Case study:Austria River Mur - Strategic river management for considerations in the power and water management sector in Styria/Austria

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Location: 47° 23' 45.38" N, 15° 16' 11.14" E

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Economic aspects, Environmental flows and water resources, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydropower, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Land use management - forestry, Monitoring, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality
Country	Austria
Main contact forename	Jörg
Main contact surname	Raderbauer
Main contact user ID	User:9984
Contact organisation	freiland Environmental Consulting Civil Engineers Ltd.
Contact organisation web site	http://www.freiland.at
Partner organisations	Office of the Styrian Government - Department 14 Watermanagement, resources and sustainability
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

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Project summary

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The objectives of the previously mentioned projects at the Mur is the recovery of natural rich structured river habitats , the reconnection of cutoff meander, the restoration of the river continuum, the protection of existing and the development of new alluvial forests by connecting existing stocks to the fluvial dynamics and the population’s awareness raising for the river habitat. The restoration, improvement and long-term protection of natural wetlands and rivers, is a prerequisite for establishing rare and endangered water dependent animal and plant species. In addition, these measures serve the requirements of the water protection management to increase the retention capacity at flood discharges. To reinforce the already implemented stepping stones and their effects from the previous projects and for the creation of a continuous restructured section, the new LIFE+ areas of follow-up projects were deliberately selected in the vicinity of previous projects. For the purpose of documenting and ensuring the success of the projects, the measures and their synergy effects are scientifically studied in monitoring programs, which will continue until 2015. Up to now major success could be achieved by the measures implemented for improving the structural diversity of the Mur and the Enns. Acquisition and reactivation of flooded areas contributed to the passive flood protection, this has been proven already at the flood event in June 2013 - in spite of higher water flows than in 2002, reduced flooding and less damage were reported in 2013. Due to intense public relations the population deeply appreciated the projects and the habitats.

Through spatial integration of the measures, the cumulative effect for the river habitat goes far beyond its sum of the individual measures. The projects are an important step onto a nature-oriented liveable future on the Upper Mur and the Mur, and many more should follow.

To overcome the conflict between hydropower expansion and nature protection or recreation/tourism, management plans have been established for the rivers Enns, Mur and Mürz. These plans have been aligned between energy providers and river experts. The core objective of these plans is to balance the interests of the energy sector and those of river protection and restoration, focussing on river-ecological aspects.

When setting up these plans, hydropower potentials have been juxtaposed with ecological goals that considered potentially affected protected species and areas, their ecological state as well as water management aspects. Where ecological measures for conservation and/or improvement of river-bound habitats have already been implemented, river stretches are excluded from any future hydropower use. Hence, already restored areas along the rivers Enns and Mur that have been supported via EU-programs are disclosed as ecological priority zones. Apart from the aforementioned designations, measures for poor ecological stretches have been defined. Special focus is given to the concept of “stepping stones” with its up- and downstream effects. Stepping stones bridge hardly restorable stretches and therewith provide an efficient and cost-saving concept for mitigation measures. The measures focus mainly on biological qualities, the primary criteria of the ecological status assessment.

The management plans provide a binding planning framework until 2022 and a regulation framework for hydropower projects at the mentioned rivers. Likewise, ecological interests are safeguarded for the long-term. Precious and pristine stretches of rivers are protected from encroachments and the perspective of further river restorations is enabled. The management plan for the river Mur is the basis for the enactment of a so called “regional program” of the Austrian Water Management Authority.

Water management plans (German: Gewässerbewirtschaftungspläne, BWP) represent the first planning instrument of this kind at province level in Austria and demonstrate that the involvement of the key stakeholders in the planning process succeeds in a mutually acceptable result, which enables to match the requirements of different policies and different interests.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Strategic river management for considerations in the power and water management sector in Styria/Austria - Overview Strategic river management in Styria/Austria ©freiland

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Site Edit site 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 Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) 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 Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) 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 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 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 Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information