Case study:Floodplain restoration in the River Traisen

This case study is pending approval by a RiverWiki administrator.

Approve case study

 

0.00

(0 votes)

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

Location: 48° 11' 21.14" N, 15° 42' 59.79" 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 Floodplain restoration in the River Traisen\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECountry:\u003C/b\u003E \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/index.php?title=Austria\" title=\"Austria\"\u003EAustria\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 Hydromorphology\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Floodplain restoration in the River Traisen","link":"","lat":48.1892051,"lon":15.7166073,"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.life-traisen.at/lt/en/project-life-traisen
Themes	Environmental flows and water resources, Hydromorphology
Country	Austria
Main contact forename	Gerd
Main contact surname	Frick
Main contact user ID
Contact organisation
Contact organisation web site	http:///www.life-traisen.at/"http:///www.life-traisen.at/" has been identified to contain an invalid "/www.life-traisen.at/" authority or path component.
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

This case study hasn’t got a picture, you can add one by editing the project overview.

Project summary

Edit project overview to modify the project summary.

The River Traisen, one of the largest Danube tributaries in Lower Austria along the largest alluvial forest in Austria. However, the River Traisen is a heavily modified water body following the construction of the hydropower plant, Altenwörth, in 1976.

The regulated river is missing aquatic and terrestrial habitats that are usually found on flood plains. The connection between the river and the surrounding riparian forest is cut off. This situation leads to an unfavourable conservation status for the whole Natura 2000 site. High waters of the regulated Traisen rarely reach the surrounding habitats because of flood protection dams.

This project aimed to restore the River Traisen into a meandering river that is connected with the nearby wetlands of the Natura-2000 area of the Tullnerfeld floodplains, increasing habitats diversity and accessibility for fish.

Restoration actions involved: the (1) establishment of a meandering river to increase diversity of flow and habitats, the(2) creation of manifold structures in the water-land transition section of the river banks, the (3) creation of a floodplain along the new course of the river with frequently flooded sites, (4) to restore large-scale flooding zones and maintain the alluvial forest, connecting connect numerous floodplain, (5) construction of free passages in the river and cross-links on the floodplain area for fish and other water species.

Monitoring surveys and results

Edit project overview to modify the Monitoring survey and results.

The project is expected to implement its measures on a 12.5 km stretch of the meandering River Traisen with dynamic banks and natural riparian forest areas. It is also expected to create a new running water habitat at mean-flow of some 69 ha, where dynamic riparian development can take place. It is expected that diversity in habitat types will increase from 6% to approximately 100%. At least 40 fish species will benefit from this measure, of which 25 species are listed in annex II of the Habitats Directive.

In 2009, comprehensive biological investigations took place in the floodplain area. A number of plant and animal species from eight specific categories were examined for the surveys on the current status with regard to the environmental impact declaration. In the process it was revealed that the area is much more diverse than originally assumed, based on the data available.

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

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