Session A9: Fish Migration Issues in a River in Transition
Location
Groningen, The Netherlands
Event Website
http://fishpassage.umass.edu/
Start Date
24-6-2015 5:15 PM
End Date
24-6-2015 5:40 PM
Description
Abstract:
The Vecht River is a low land river that has its origin in Germany, then crosses the border and runs through the Netherlands, ending in the IJsselmeer where eventually the new fishmigration river should make the connection with the sea. The river has been chanalized in the last century; meanders have been chopped off, weirs have been placed, natural banks have been replaced by non native rocks and fishways were added in the 1980’s. Since a few years now the waterboard has slowly started to undo the damage that has been done to the natural system.
Big questions are where to start a process like this; can we go back to how it was all the way, and what should the new dimensions of the Vecht be? New meanders should replace the old fishways, but are they ideally situated for optimal fish migration? And of course we need dead wood in our system once again, but our weirs don’t function with large pieces of wood banging against the structures.
We are facing new demands like sluices for recreational boating A wild water canoeing track and other uses of the river. And even if we are doing everything right we should be aware that our organisation only covers one part of the river and that for that reason we should be working together with our partners to connect the source to the sea.
This presentation will try to take you along our journey in restoring the river. We will show you the choices we’ve made, some of the successes we have had and also some mistakes we have made so far. We invite you to not only listen to what we have done so far, but also to help us in making the right choices by asking us the right questions…..
Session A9: Fish Migration Issues in a River in Transition
Groningen, The Netherlands
Abstract:
The Vecht River is a low land river that has its origin in Germany, then crosses the border and runs through the Netherlands, ending in the IJsselmeer where eventually the new fishmigration river should make the connection with the sea. The river has been chanalized in the last century; meanders have been chopped off, weirs have been placed, natural banks have been replaced by non native rocks and fishways were added in the 1980’s. Since a few years now the waterboard has slowly started to undo the damage that has been done to the natural system.
Big questions are where to start a process like this; can we go back to how it was all the way, and what should the new dimensions of the Vecht be? New meanders should replace the old fishways, but are they ideally situated for optimal fish migration? And of course we need dead wood in our system once again, but our weirs don’t function with large pieces of wood banging against the structures.
We are facing new demands like sluices for recreational boating A wild water canoeing track and other uses of the river. And even if we are doing everything right we should be aware that our organisation only covers one part of the river and that for that reason we should be working together with our partners to connect the source to the sea.
This presentation will try to take you along our journey in restoring the river. We will show you the choices we’ve made, some of the successes we have had and also some mistakes we have made so far. We invite you to not only listen to what we have done so far, but also to help us in making the right choices by asking us the right questions…..
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2015/June24/41
Comments
Presenting Author Bio: Iwan de Vries used to work in automation until he changed his career and started to work for the waterboard in 2006. Since then he is, among other things, an advisor in the design of waterways and fishways. Iwan also teaches the design of fishways to other professionals.