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RIVER HYDROMORPHOLOGY

RIVER HYDROMORPHOLOGY. EN 14614: GUIDANCE STANDARD FOR ASSESSING THE HYDROMORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF RIVERS. BACKGROUND. Hydromorphological assessment in rivers a relatively new discipline Techniques have been developed for rivers in a few countries (especially UK, Germany, France, Austria).

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RIVER HYDROMORPHOLOGY

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  1. RIVER HYDROMORPHOLOGY EN 14614: GUIDANCE STANDARD FOR ASSESSING THE HYDROMORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF RIVERS

  2. BACKGROUND • Hydromorphological assessment in rivers a relatively new discipline • Techniques have been developed for rivers in a few countries (especially UK, Germany, France, Austria)

  3. PROCESS • Work began following the CEN meeting in Peniche, 1998 • Series of workshops, including field workshop comparing national methods • Standard published in November 2004

  4. OUTLINE OF STANDARD ON RIVER HYDROMORPHOLOGY • Guidance standard • Follows same general layout of all CEN standards • Not intended as a detailed handbook of hydromorphology - guidance on how to apply a standard approach to hydromorphological assessment by using existing national methods or by developing new ones

  5. CONTENT OF STANDARD • Introduction, Scope, Definitions, Principle • Survey Requirements • River types • Dividing rivers into reaches • Survey strategy • Scale of surveys and evaluations • Timing and frequency of field surveys • Reference conditions

  6. OUTLINE OF STANDARD • Features for survey and assessment • Standard suite of features • Feature recording related to purpose and method of data gathering • Field survey procedure • Classification and reporting based on hydromorphological assessment

  7. OUTLINE OF STANDARD • Data presentation • Quality assurance • Training and quality assurance for survey and assessment • Training manuals • Data entry and validation • Bibliography

  8. CHANNEL FEATURES 1. Channel geometry 2. Substrates 3. Channel vegetation and organic debris 4. Erosion/deposition character 5. Flow 6. Longitudinal continuity as affected by artificial structures

  9. RIVER BANK AND RIPARIAN ZONE FEATURES 7. Bank structure and modifications 8. Vegetation type/ structure on banks and adjacent land

  10. FLOODPLAIN FEATURES 9. Adjacent land-use and associated features 10. Degree of (a) lateral connectivity of river and floodplain; (b) lateral movement of river channel

  11. USE OF STANDARD IN UK • Principles followed in identifying river reference conditions • Regulatory standards – in accordance with CEN standard

  12. RIVER HABITAT QUALITY ASSESSMENT WORK IN PROGRESS

  13. PURPOSE • WFD does not require hydromorphological quality classification • This proposed standard seen as an adjunct to WFD assessments • Aims to provide a standard, high-level, pan-European technique for river habitat quality assessment

  14. Introduction The assessment of river ‘quality’ in Europe has evolved over the past 20 years. From its original focus on organic pollution it now relies on methods for analysing a range of chemical and biological attributes. More recently, several European countries have developed systems for evaluating the hydromorphological features of rivers. The EC Water Framework Directive (WFD) has reinforced the need for this broader view of river ‘quality’ through its requirement for determining ‘ecological status’ based on macrophytes, phytobenthos, invertebrates and fish, supported by a range of hydromorphological and physicochemical descriptors. Publication of a Guidance standard for assessing the hydromorphological features of rivers (EN14614:2004) contributes both to the WFD, and to other aspects of river management, by describing a protocol for physical habitat assessment. However, there is also a need for standard approaches to assessing the quality of hydromorphological features. The standard described here has been designed to meet this need, and has applications for broadscale hydromorphological assessment as a diagnostic tool under the WFD, land-use planning and strategic environmental assessment, catchment appraisals for catchment management, and setting targets for river restoration work.

  15. PROCESS • Principally developed by a series of expert workshops (Vienna, Cardiff, Helsinki, Milan, Lyon in April 2006) • Main involvement from UK, Germany, Austria, with input from Italy and Finland (+France)

  16. SCOPE AND CONTENT • Scope, terms and definitions, principle • Feature categories • Scoring and weighting • Assigning classification terms (e.g. ‘near-natural’, ‘severely altered’) • Annex – protocol for scoring

  17. PROSPECTS • Following Lyon workshop (April 2006), revised text presented to TG 5 (June 2006) • Propose to ask for a ‘work item’ and then to proceed to informal consultation

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