TIDE | EMECS 9 Baltimore USA August 2011

Management plans for European

estuaries for restoring and protecting

their ecological functions

INTRODUCTION

The TIDE Project

The Channel and the North Sea

North Sea

Channel

Scheldt | NL,BE

Weser | DE

Elbe | DEHumber | GB

EUROPE

TIDE Partners

Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies, Hull

Environment Agency

Elbe | DE

Weser | DE

Scheldt | NL,BE

Humber | GB

Rijkswaterstaat

Flemish Authorities, Department of Mobility and Public Works

Antwerp Port Authority

University of Antwerp

Hamburg Port Authority (Lead Partner)

Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency

Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

University of Bremen

To turn integrated management and

planning into a reality in these four

estuaries

= working with nature

TIDE Objective

TIDE Financing

• 3.7 m EUR, supported by 50% by ERDF financed INTERREG IV B North Sea

Programme

• Implemented between

January 2010 and

December 2012

Transnational Cooperation

• TIDE brings together partners

from ports, environmental

organizations, local

government and researchers

• Estuaries work with input from

Regional Working Groups

(experts representing various

stakeholders)

• Transnational working groups

are set up for each study topic

within TIDE

• Advice is sought from the

transnational Project Advisory

Board

PRESENTATION OF THE FOUR

EUROPEAN ESTUARIES

• Elbe

• Weser

• Scheldt

• Humber

Concept for a sustainabledevelopmentof the Tidal Elbe River as an arteryof the metropolitan region Hamburgand beyond

Dr.-Ing. Hans Peter Dücker Dr.-Ing. Hans-Heinrich WitteDipl.-Ing. Heinz Glindemann

Hamburg

The Elbe

From a « natural » to

a shipping estuary

Development of

the mean high

water and mean

low water as

annual values

and 19-year-

average

values at the tide

gauge St. Pauli

in comparison to

the

anthropogenic

measures and

the development

of the water

surface areas in

the port of

Hamburg

Development of the

dredging amounts in

the Tidal Elbe River

area of Hamburg

River engineering measures

as milestones for a future

action plan for the Tidal Elbe

RiverThe sediment management concept

therefore intends to relocate fresh, noncontaminated sediments in areas where there is less possibility for them to return to the place where they were dredged.

Sediment management concept

The Weser

Restoration of riverbanks

• 13 hectare area in

lower Weser

presently

protected from

flooding by

summer dike

• Partial opening of

dam, stopping

agricultural use

and reshaping the

terrain to allow

development of

natural tidal

floodplain habitats

Pilot Projects in the Weser

Measures to revitalise aquatic

and semi-aquatic ecotops

around former branches of

Weser

• Assessment of different options

• Selection of best possible

approach (hydrological and

ecological)

Southern part of the anabranch „Rechter Nebenarm“ during flood

and ebb tide (Credit: KÜFOG 2010)

Identification of areas

suitable for the

reestablishment of hard

substrate habitats based on:

- Historical location of habitats

- Current regime

- Stability of area

- Sediment properties

- Potential for colonization

- Fishery practices

Restoration in the Weser

Recreating hard substrate underwater habitats in

the Outer Weser

The Scheldt

THE SCHELDT

21.863 km²

10.431.016 inhabitants

(477 inh/km²)

Increasing risks of

inundation

Profile through the valley

Scheldt (Belgium)

Area and % intertidal

area

After P. Meire, 2008

After P. Meire, 2008

Depolderisation

Tide level regulation

The Humber

Source: Environment Agency

Humber Estuary, UK – flood risk

relative SLR = SLR + isostatic rebound

Photos: Environment Agency ‘Win-win-win situation’

Public Safety - Economy - Environment

75ha of wetland @€10.6M

Habitat Creation

Restoration / set-back / managed realignment / depolderisation

Habitat Restoration - Managed Realignment

Humber Estuary - Chowder Ness, June 2006

THE « TIDE APPROACH »

Challenges and perspectives

TIDE Approach

• Account for ecological,

economic and societal needs

• Interlink multiple processes,

efforts and investments already

taking place

• Use knowledge and solutions

generated in previous projects

(HARBASINS, SedNet,

New!Delta)

• Link to existing management

plans and EU Directives

Similar Challenges:

Sediments

• Increasing sediment transport,

requiring more maintenance

dredging and improved sediment

management

Comparison of Sediment

Dredging and Relocation

StrategiesBringing a central challenge

of all four estuaries – the

sediment dredging and

relocation strategies – into

joint focus:

• Collection of data regarding

traffic areas, maintenance,

type of dredging, disposal

sites, alternative utilization,

etc.

• Estuary internal evaluations

and recommendations

Similar Challenges:

Ecosystem Functions

• Endangered estuarine ecosystem

functions: flood regulation, coastal

protection, water purification, plant

and animal habitats

Similar Challenges:

Frame Conditions

• Increasingly challenging legal

and global economic framework

– EU Directives (Birds and Habitat, Water

Framework)

– Economic prosperity and big port

development

• Climate change

TIDE Focus Areas

ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION

• Zonation schemes

• Ecosystem Services in the context of TIDE estuaries

• Historical development of estuaries

• Interestuarine comparison: hydrogeomorphological functions, oxygen and water quality

• Carrying capacity and management for habitats and birds

ESTUARY GOVERNANCE

• Inventory of governance

• Inventory of uses / conflict matrix

• Communication schemes

PRACTICAL MEASURES

• Analysis of human interventions

• Comparison of sediment dredging and relocation strategies

• Dealing with uncertainties in environmental assessments studies (EAS)

• Estuary specific pilot initiatives

Learning from the others‘ experiences and

drawing useful knowledge for future planning

and implementation processes

• Identification and selection of examples from

each estuary

• Collection of detailed information on basis of

jointly agreed criteria (measure targets,

monitoring, effectiveness, maintenance efforts,

zonation, costs, legislative assignment, public

acceptance, conflicts and synergies, etc)

• Comparative analysis and recommendations

• Development of an online database for public

search, making available extracts of the

information collected

Analysis of

Human Interventions