Reference condition of river reaches for restoration: Oiartzun and Oria basins (Gipuzkoa)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17735/cyg.v30i1-2.43995Keywords:
river restoration, fluvial geomorphology, reference conditions, target image, Oiartzun and Oria watershedsAbstract
The development and application of a methodology for the identification of the morphological reference condition and target image for the morphological restoration in the Oiartzun and Oria basins (Gipuzkoa) is presented. The methodology started with the identification of the geomorphological homogeneous river reaches. Two reach-making processes were developed; one based on crossed variables by GIS tools and a second more exhaustive, basin level and based on fieldwork data. Based on data, the hydrogeomorphological state of each reach in relation to its “natural” condition has been assessed. This assessment was very useful to allocate to each reach another with a good or very good hydrogeomorphological condition which it was considered its reference condition. Finally target images were proposed for each reach, as well as feasible geomorphological restoration measures taking into account the sociodemographical pressure that implies most of the hydromorphological pressures and impacts. The application of the methodology on both Oria and Oiartzun basins showed that a 36% of the reaches are reversible and a 40% can be considered as reference condition reaches.
References
Amoros, C.; Petts, G.E. (eds., 1993) Hydrosystèmes fluviaux. Masson, Paris, 300 pp.
Brierley, G.J.; Fryirs, K.A. (1995). Geomorphology and river management. Applications of the River Styles Framework. Ed. Blackwell, Oxford, 398 pp.
Díaz Bea, E.; Ollero, A. (2005). Metodología para la tramificación y clasificación geomorfológica de los cursos fluviales de la cuenca del Ebro. Geographicalia, 47, 23-45.
Horacio, J. (2012). Caracterización geomorfológica de los ríos de Galicia mediante unidades litotopográficas. Geographicalia, 62, 35-66.
Horacio, J. (2014). Geomorfología fluvial en sistemas atlánticos: metodología de caracterización, clasificación y restauración para los ríos de Galicia. Tesis doctoral. Departamento de Xeografía, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 776 pp.
Ibisate, A.; Ollero, A.; Díaz, E. (2011). Influence of catchment processes on fluvial morphology and river habitats. Limnetica, 30 (2), 169-182.
Montgomery, D.R.; Buffington, M. (1997). Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 109, 596-611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1997)109<0596:CRMIMD>2.3.CO;2
Ollero, A.; Ballarín, D.; Díaz, E.; Mora, D.; Sánchez, M.; Acín, V.; Echeverría, M.T.; Granado, D.; Ibisate, A.; Sánchez, L.; Sánchez, N. (2008). IHG: un índice para la valoración hidrogeomorfológica de sistemas fluviales. Limnetica, 27(1), 171-188.
Ollero, A.; Ibisate, A.; Gonzalo, L.E.; Acín, V.; Ballarín, D.; Díaz, E.; Doménech, S.; Gimeno, M.; Granado, D.; Horacio, J.; Mora, D.; Sánchez, M. (2011). The IHG index for hydromorphological quality assessment of rivers and streams: updated version. Limnetica, 30(2), 255-262.
Pardo, I.; Gómez-Rodríguez, C.; Wasson, J.G.; Owen, R.; van de Bund, W.; Kelly, M.; Bennett, C.; Birk, S.; Buffagni, A.; Erba, S.; Mengin, N.; Murray-Bligh, J.; Ofenböeck, G. (2012). The European reference condition concept: a scientific and technical approach to identify minimally-impacted river ecosystems. Science of the Total Environment, 420, 33–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.01.026
Stoddard, J.L.; Larsen, D.P.; Hawkins, C.P.; Johnson, R.K.; Norris, R.H. (2006). Setting expectations for the ecological conditions of streams: the concept of reference condition. Ecological Applications, 16 (4), 1267-1276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2006)016[1267:SEFTEC]2.0.CO;2
Wyžga, B.; Zawiejska, J.; Radecki-Pawlik, A.; Hajdukiewicz, H. (2012). Environmental change, hydromorphological reference conditions and the restoration of Polish Carpathian rivers. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 37, 1213-1226.
