5-day shortcourse: "River Restoration: Fluvial-Geomorphic and Ecological Processes"
The course emphasizes understanding geomorphic process as a sound basis for
planning and designing river restoration projects and programs. It covers
general principles and case studies from a wide range of environments, with
specific applications and field visits to Mediterranean and mountain
environments. The course and course materials are in English, but draw
heavily on river restoration and management experiences in France and
elsewhere in the EU, complemented by experiences in North America.
The innovative European Union legislation, the Water Framework Directive
was based in part on river-basin management practices underway in France
since the 1960s. The shortcourse is held near rivers in which managers have
undertaken innovative environmental management practices, e.g., to restore
sediment loads, provide a “space of liberty” (floodway or channel migration
corridor) for rivers, restore former channel habitats, increase minimum
discharge downstream of dams, remove dikes and riprap bank protection, and
preserve riparian forests. There are tremendous opportunities to learn from
comparing experiences implementing the WFD in Europe with the longer and
more extensive experience in river restoration in North America.
The shortcourse features detailed analysis of lessons learned from
comprehensive programs to restore more natural flow regimes on the Colorado,
Trinity, San Joaquin, and Truckee rivers in western North America, to
restore sediment loads on the Sacramento River system, the Rhine and Drome,
and to restore floodplain connectivity and former channel habitats along the
Rhine, Rhone, Ain, Missouri, and Sacramento rivers. The course also
addresses key issues in managing delta environments starved of sediment by
upstream reservoirs, reviewing ongoing planning to restore sediment delivery
to combat subsidence in the Mississippi Delta. The course emphasizes
learning opportunities from completed projects and programs through
systematic post-project appraisal, providing critical data for informing
adaptive management programs, assessing economic benefits of river
restoration programs, and assessing the ecological status of rivers under
the WFD. The innovative 10-year monitoring programs implemented by the
Bonneville Environmental Foundation are reviewed, along with consideration
of essential questions to be addressed in assessing restoration project
performance. Recent experiences in river restoration in Europe and
North America provide many opportunities to learn from the complementary
nature of restoration approaches and the experiences to date.
Contact information |
Hervé Piégay (CNRS Lyon) and Matt Kondolf (UC Berkeley)
(email: info@institutbeaumont.com ; rrc@CRANFIELD.AC.UK) |
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Event type | Training |
File link |
http://institutbeaumont.com/ |
Source | River Restoration Centre |
Subject(s) | HYDRAULICS - HYDROLOGY , POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT |
Relation | http://www.semide.net/initiatives/dce |
Geographical coverage | France |
Address | Beaumont du Ventoux, Provence, France |
Organizer | Hervé Piégay (CNRS Lyon) and Matt Kondolf (UC Berkeley) |
Target audience | International |
Period | [23/06/2008 - 27/06/2008] |
Status | Confirmed |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH , FRENCH |