The Danube Riparian Forest Neuburg-Ingolstadt officially inaugurated its restoration activities on Danube Day (June 29th), with Bavarian state minister for environment and health, Dr. Markus Söder.
This river section is highly degraded by river regulation and the barriages Bergheim and Ingolstadt; the floodplain forests are cut off from the river itself. Now, dynamic processes are initiated again with the help of three measures:
1.) An 8 km river bypass has been created, connected also to other waterbodies of the area, to ensure longitudinal continuity of this river section.
2.) An effluent weir has been modernized to allow ecological man-made floodings of 100 ha of riparian forest – until now the weir did allow water connectivity between river and floodplain area only at water levels of a 5-years-flood.
3.) A new low water level management system was implemented for the area around the barriage Ingolstadt: The ground water level is un-naturally high due to the barriage, which was now changed by drainage channels and accompanying measures.
With the new systems in place, monitoring will be started and maintained for many years to measure the influence of these restoration activities. The experience of the Danube Riparian Forests Neuburg-Ingolstadt will provide valuable input also to the experience compilation and analysis regarding river restoration projects, which is done by the DANUBEPARKS partners.
