Website: www.sednet.org
Compiled by: Marjan Euser (marjan.euser@tno.nl)
Subscription Service: SedNet Secretariat (marjan.euser@tno.nl)
Disclaimer: SedNet is not responsible for faults due to incorrectness of info in this newsletter
Previous issues: www.sednet.org

CONTENTS

SedNet conference on 7-9 October 2009, Hamburg, Germany
The Role of Sediments in Coastal Management

The issue of Sediment Management is rising on the European agenda. Sediment topics will be an element of River Basin Management Plans to be published in 2009 under the Water Framework Directive. Sediment Management is one element of a European Working Group on Estuarie Management, organised by DG Environment of the EU Commission. Sediments are explicitly mentioned in new EU legislation, like the Directive on Environmental Quality Standards in the field of water policy, the Marine Strategy Directive, and the Waste Directive.
In Europe the largest amounts of sediments have to be dredged in the North Sea region, where the natural sediment regime in the sea leads to high sedimentation in ports, harbours and waterways. Additionally, sediments gain in importance due to sea level rise and loss of fine grained sediments in the Wadden Sea.
On this background SedNet organises its 6th International 2-day Conference on Sediment Management in Hamburg. Here still ongoing river restoration challenges coincide with dredging needs and sediments play a central role. The region is a good example to discuss cross-cutting science-policy issues.
At the beginning of the conference a report will be given from the SedNet Round Table Discussion on “Implementation of sediment management issues into the first RBM Plans”.
On day 3, after the conference, a Special Session under the title “Managing the Elbe Estuary” will cover local challenges and solutions.

Special Session on 9 October 2009:
Managing the Elbe Estuary
In the Port of Hamburg regular dredging is necessary to maintain safe water depths for navigation. In the 1980’s when contamination of Elbe sediments was on a high level a comprehensive dredged material management concept was developed. Central element is land treatment and disposal of dredged contaminated Elbe sediments.
Nowadays challenges have changed. The port is situated at the upper end of the Elbe estuary, about 100 km away from the North Sea. Nature conservation objectives to preserve and enhance the precious estuary ecology are sought to be combined with needs of navigation and water depth maintenance. Today the larger part of dredged sediments is relocated in the aquatic system. Special nature conservation measures can also lead to reduction of sedimentation and thus of dredging needs.
In a Special Session “Managing the Elbe Estuary” this concept will be explained in 4 plenary presentations. After that a site visit will show the land treatment and disposal facilities. Participants will see the world’s largest operating dredged material treatment facility METHA. Here 1 million cubic meters of sediments are separated into sand and silt, the silt is dewatered. After this it is safely stored in a special confined disposal site or is beneficially used. Also the Francop disposal site will be part of the visit.
The detailed conference program is available from www.sednet.org.

Environmental Quality Standards for Sediments

Early this year SedNet gave an official response to the Draft Technical Guidance for Deriving Environmental Quality Standards under the Water Framework Directive, published in December 2008. In an earlier phase, the SedNet Steering Group sent recommendations to EU working groups giving advice to the European Commission on how to derive sediment-EQS for organic pollutants. These recommendations are also based on the discussion in the session on sediment quality standards in the SedNet Conference held in Oslo, May 27th-29th 2008.

SedNet eNews special on RBMP

If you missed the eNews special on SedNet’s observations on sediment management in River Basin Management Plans, you can find a copy here.

SedNet event 2010

Prof. Alexandra Katsiri of the National Technical University of Athens volunteered to be the nucleus for a local organising team for a SedNet conference in 2010 in Greece.
This will cover again all sediment related issues, from science over management to policy. Its special focus should be on the Mediterranean region. A subject like the management of tailing dam sediments and spills from mining activities can be dealt with, which is of special importance for Greece. There management of dredged material is another “hot issue”.
With the SedNet link to UNESCO-ISI also world-wide issues may be addressed.
More information will become available in October 2009. For the time being the SedNet Steering Group is seeking for more interested individuals and institutions in the Mediterranean countries who would like to support this event.

SEDAG – Sediment Advisory Group

The work groups are not limited to SETAC members. Every person interested in sediments and in the specific topics can join. The work groups are just starting to initiate activities and post information on the SETAC Communities web page at communities.setac.net (from here, log in to reach the SEDAG Communities web page). For example, the work group on Guidance on PAHs in Aquatic Environments held its first meeting on November 19, 2008 at the Tampa Convention Center, and the minutes of this meeting are available on the SEDAG Communities web page. Information on how to access and use the SETAC Communities Portal is available at: http://www.setac.org/node/156. Please contact the work group chairs directly to join a work group. For general information about SEDAG, contact Susanne Heise at Susanne.heise@haw-hamburg.de.
See also: http://eusoils
Lessons learned in RiskBridge on sediment risk governance

The final conference of the EC FP6 Coordination Action (CA) project RiskBridge (www.riskbridge.eu) was held in Brussels on 26-27 March 2009. The objective of RiskBridge is to build robust, integrative inter-disciplinary governance models for emerging and existing risks. This is done by comparing and exchanging of experiences in six different ‘risk fields’: biotechnology/stem cell research, radioactive waste, nanotechnology, climate change, electromagnetic fields and sediments.

The members of the ‘sediment risk field’ (Ramon Batalla, Jos Brils, Matjaz Mikos, Henk Senhorst, Adriaan Slob, Jaap van der Vlies and Rick Wenning) characterized sediment risk governance as “the culmination of consideration of the many options that stakeholders and institutions, both public and private, together apply to the management of sediment”.

It is evident that a certain level of uncertainty will always remain in the context of sediment management. Society may accept this uncertainty with the understanding that a flexible, adaptive approach to management actions will be adopted as new information becomes known. This may be one of the most important policy changes to consider for managing sediments in Europe.

Based on the exchange of experiences reported by other participants in RiskBridge working in the 5 risk fields in addition to sediments, it is evident that a thorough analysis and shared perception by stakeholders of what constitutes a “problem” is necessary for addressing actual or perceived risks associated with technologies and events. Further, stakeholders need to have a common understanding of the “sense of urgency” when they develop and implement responses to risk. These two conditions (problem definition and problem response) are absolute prerequisites for any process of change in response to risk governance by whatever methodology available in science and policy. To frame this conclusion differently: it is evident from the RiskBridge program — and particularly the sediment risk field — that the quality of the answer or response to risk depends on the quality of the question or reaction to the condition of risk. Thus, society, policy makers, and decision makers need to take the time for thorough problem framing and for gradual building of risk governance models that are inclusive. “Inclusive” means competent, knowledge based, cost effective, fair, and consultative by involving all stakeholders and by integrating their concerns and perceptions.

Inspired by the projehtp and its outcome, the ‘sediment risk field members’ prepared a series of papers that will be submitted shortly (as one series) to the peer reviewed SETAC journal “Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management” (IEAM, see: www.setac.org).

German Working group on “Sediments and Water Quality”

The Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) is the largest chemical society in continental Europe with members from academe, industry and other areas. The society was founded in 1949 but builds on a long tradition that began in 1867 when its first predecessor organization, the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft was founded in Berlin. The work of the society is structured by divisions and working groups, among them the Waterchemical Society. Under the umbrella of the Waterchemical Society in 2002 a working group on “Sediments and Water quality” was established. The recent meeting of this group was held in February 2009 in Berlin. There the group continued to discuss processes affecting the sediment quality in rivers.

Sediment dynamics within a typical groyne field of the River Elbe

River sediments store large quantities of hazardous contaminants, because in the past, large quantities of pollutants were discharged by e.g. sewage and mining waters into the rivers. Many contaminants, such as heavy metals and organic micropollutants, are adsorbed to fine-grained sediments. Particle bound contaminants were deposited and accumulated over years in regions of low flow velocities – such as groyne fields. In recent years, the immission of pollutants has been reduced drastically. As a consequence, the older contaminated sediments are covered by less polluted younger deposits. Investigations on sediments in groyne fields of the River Elbe showed a significant increase of pollutant concentration with depth.

The amount of deposited sediments within groyne fields is subject to a large variability, depending on discharge conditions and suspended matter concentrations in the past. In periods with normal discharge, mainly deposition of suspended matter occurs, whereas extreme flood events may remobilize the sediments and transport them downstream to the Estuary/Sea. The Middle Elbe has around 3000 groyne fields constructed particular to the river banks to maintain a desired navigation channel. It is expected, that each groyne field store a large amount of highly polluted sediments. Therefore, the groyne fields in the River Elbe can be regarded as temporal sinks and sources of pollutants. The floods in 2002 and 2006 have illustrated this drastically.

In order to quantify the sedimentation/erosion dynamics within a typical groyne field of the River Elbe, the University of Stuttgart monitored in cooperation with the ELANA Company the sediment volume within a groyne field near Magdeburg over the last 4 years. The first measurement in December 2005 delivered a sediment volume of 650 m³. After the big flood event in spring 2006, the bed morphology was surveyed again with a volume of 590 m³. The decrease of 60 m³ maybe attributed to the erosive discharge conditions during the flood event. In April 2007 and July 2008 an increase of the sediment volume was observed (total volume: 598 m³ resp. 610 m³), which indicates that deposition processes dominated after the flood in spring 2006. An analysis of the gauged discharge data supports this assumption, because after April 2006 no erosive flood was recorded.
The investigation illustrates the importance of groyne fields for the sediment transport in rivers. Therefore the quantification of polluted groyne field sediments potentially available for erosion is essential for assessing the environmental impact on the water body and the soil of the floodplains.

Contact:
Dipl.-Geoecol. Th. Jancke, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Hydraulic Engineering; jancke@iws.uni-stuttgart.de

Biogeochemistry of a minerotrophic fen during a water table fluctuation

Peatlands cover only a small surface area, yet they store about 24 % of the world’s soil carbon stocks and have thus acted as a significant carbon sink since the last deglaciation. As mineralization in peatlands depends to a large extend on hydrological conditions and temperature, climate change scenarios of increasing temperatures and altered precipitation patterns in temperate regions can be expected to affect this carbon sink function. On the other hand, peatlands contribute also to the natural global methane emissions, with methane being produced in the permanently waterlogged soil. Therefore, the consequences of climate change for biogeochemistry of peatlands is of great interest.
Within the framework of the DFG Research Group FOR 562, a minerotrophic fen located in North-Eastern Bavaria (elevation approx. 750 m, mean annual precip. 1020 mm) was subjected to an intensified drought and rewetting cycle to simulate a dry summer with a heavy precipitation event. To understand the impact of such events on peatlands, we traced below ground redox sensitive species, CO2 and CH4 concentrations. We hypothesized that a drying and rewetting cycle would renew alternative electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration in the soil after being rewetted. Furthermore, methanogenesis would be temporarily suppressed due to preferential reduction of alternative electron acceptors, such as nitrate, ferric iron and sulfate. Additionally, aerobic mineralization during drought could enhance peat decomposition.
Inducing a drought phase by means of lowering the water table via drainage and using a temporary roof construction successfully aerated the peat soil and alternative electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration were provided through re-oxidation of ferrous iron and sulfides. Due to the dense nature of the fen peat, lowering the water table had, however, hardly any effect on total soil respiration. Nevertheless, a water table fluctuation of about 50 cm sufficed to provide electron accepting capacity to support anaerobic respiration for about 100 days. One may thus derive from this study that more pronounced water table fluctuations due to climate change may effectively fuel anaerobic respiratory activity in peat through provision of alternative electron acceptors. Methanogenesis was also temporarily suppressed during drought, an effect that lingered on for a time scale of 1-3 months after rewetting of the peat and thus re-onset of anaerobic conditions. Locally, however, methanogenesis became a viable process in distinct micro-niches before complete reduction of alternative electron acceptors on the soil horizon scale. The observation of fastest recovery of methane production in the uppermost soil underlines the importance of labile carbon compounds provided by the vegetation. In this uppermost part of the profile – probably also relevant for emission – the microbial community was apparently well adapted to redox fluctuations.
Using analysis of hydrogen concentrations, mass balancing on the horizon scale and isotope analysis of CO2 and CH4 we concluded that distinct redox processes under these fluctuating conditions proceeded in distinct micro-niches. Fluctuating redox conditions thus created and renewed redox boundaries fuelling anaerobic respiration by provision redox gradients to be exploited by microbial metabolism. It may be concluded that systems affected by redox fluctuations, i.e. through aeration or provision of oxygen rich waters, can support a wide range of microbial respiratory pathways apparently proceeding in parallel, but separated on a very small aggregate scale. This may be expected to cause a high efficiency of decomposition processes, causing probably further degradation of fens. On the other hand, in river sediments characterized by distinct redox micro-habitats, such a zonation may be favorable for effective removal of contaminants.

Contact:
Dr. Klaus-Holger Knorr; Dept. of Hydrology, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany (kh.knorr@uni-bayreuth.de, http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/fg_bp/)

Venice Platform Initiative

SedNet is one of the signatories of the Venice Platform Declaration. The subscribing parties, representatives of maritime, marine and coastal networks, respond to the invitation of the European Commission to engage in a cooperation process, which will support European Maritime Policies in several ways: by assisting in the definition of policy priorities related to coastal and maritime matters; by cooperating on issues of common concern; by taking greater benefit of the widespread available knowledge and experience in Europe; by making a more efficient use of mutual resources and investments.
In particular, the Platform intends to organize a Stakeholder Forum to voice at the European level the shared objectives and concerns of the network organizations and seeks to achieve a permanent and constructive dialogue with the different authorities and more specifically the European institutions.
The next steps of the initiative will be explored and discussed at the workshop “An all embracing stakeholder platform for a holistic maritime policy”, that will be held at the Maritime Day on 19 May in Rome (http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/maritimeday/index_en.html).

News from PIANC, the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure

Water Framework Directive

PIANC has set up a web page about the Water Framework Directive with plenty of useful information: http://www.pianc.org/euwfd.asp

Launch of PIANC’s ‘Working with Nature’ position paper

Since their October 2007 meeting in Japan, PIANC’s EnviCom has been working to prepare a new PIANC position paper entitled Working with Nature. The paper has evolved through an iterative process involving not only EnviCom members but also PIANC’s partner associations on EnviCom, particularly CEDA and IADC.

Working with Nature calls for an important shift in thinking in our approach to navigation development projects to help deliver mutually beneficial, ‘win-win’ solutions. It promotes a proactive, integrated approach which:
● focuses on achieving the project objectives in an ecosystem context rather than assessing the consequences of a predefined project design;
● focuses on identifying win-win solutions rather than simply minimising ecological harm.

Working with Nature thus considers the project objectives firstly from the perspective of the natural system rather than from the perspective of technical design. However, Working with Nature does not mean that we no longer achieve our development objectives: rather it ensures that these objectives are satisfied in a way which maximises opportunities and – importantly – reduces frustrations, delays and associated extra costs.

The paper discusses the extent to which the Working with Nature concept can already be put into practice, as well as some of the outstanding challenges. It also recognises that developing and delivering such win-win initiatives will take more innovation and imagination in some cases than in others. Notwithstanding such challenges, PIANC is convinced that the rewards of Working with Nature will extend far beyond the natural environment into social and economic aspects.

The full text of the Working with Nature paper can be read at
http://www.pianc.org/downloads/envicom/Working with Nature final position paper-e.pdf

EuroGeoSurveys

EuroGeoSurveys is the Association of the Geological Surveys of Europe.
Objectives of EGS are, amongst others, to jointly address issues of common interest and to provide technical information to the EU and to national decision makers.
Recently a Geochemial Atlas of Europe has become available onwww.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas; it is also available on CD.
Other interesting activities: working Group Geochemistry, EU-SEASED database about marine sediments, detailed maps of hotspots (useful for those who are working on ecological quality standards).
More info at www.eurogeosurveys.org or download a presentation about EGS via www.sednet.org

Evaluating risks from contaminated soil: a standardised approach
(From DG Environment’s News Alert Service)

In 2005, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) initiated a long-term research network to promote the development of common risk assessment tools for contaminated land in Europe. Under HERACLES (Human and Ecological Risk Assessment for Contaminated Land in European Member States) researchers investigated the methods, used by Member States, to determine possible dangers from contaminated soils, to human health and the environment.
Research focused on three areas, or pillars, of risk assessment:
• Relative Risk Assessment – methods used to identify contaminated sites at a regional level
• Screening Risk Assessment – methods for setting screening or threshold values of contaminants in soil
• Site-specific Risk Assessment –site level assessment of contamination risks to human health and the environment

The study found that only three countries, Germany, Finland and The Netherlands, had approved guidelines on assessing ecological risks of contaminated land. However, many Member States have or are developing ecologically based threshold soil concentrations, although these have yet to be fully integrated into soil quality standards.
Wide variations in the procedures for ecological risk assessments were found across European countries. The researchers attributed these differences primarily to political and scientific factors, with regulatory, social, cultural and geographical influences also contributing to non-standardised approaches. Political decisions influence the importance given to assessing ecological risks: for example, which species are considered to be at risk from contaminated soils in a particular area.
However, possibilities exist for harmonising the scientific and technical elements of risk assessments, creating standard tools for soil risk assessment across the EU.
One major difficulty is determining ecological damage at individual sites. Other studies have shown that a TRIAD concept, based on combining evidence from risk assessments of soil contamination in three areas: chemical, toxicological and ecological, could be implemented as part of the harmonisation process. The researchers suggest development of the TRIAD approach could play an important role in standardising site-specific risk assessment tools.

See also: http://eusoils.jrc.it/ESDB_Archive/eusoils_docs/other/EUR22805.pdf (A JRC Scientific and Technical Report)
Source: Swartjes, F.A., Carlon, C., de Wit, N.H.S.M. (2008). The possibilities for the EU-wide use of similar ecological risk-based soil contamination assessment tools. Science of the Total Environment. 406: 523-529.
Contact: FA.Swartjes@rivm.nl

Recently published

“Contaminated Sediments” in the series “The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry”, Vol. 5 : Water Pollution, Part 5T.
Kassim, Tarek A.; Barceló, Damia (Eds.) – ISBN: 978-3-540-88013-4

When discussing the issue of contamination of the aquatic environment, water pollution is still the major aspect that has been regulated and extensively studied, but poor attention has been devoted to sediments. Sediments have been described as the sink or storage place and a source for contaminants entering river systems through various pathways. But bottom sediments have various functions in the environment, such as providing habitat for many aquatic organisms, and are an important component of aquatic ecosystems.
This volume of the Handbook deals with various aspects of sediment contamination such as the fate and behaviour of persistent organic pollutants, the application of sediment toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) protocols, and the various ways to degrade toxic pollutants from sediments. Overall the book provides readers the fundamental knowledge needed to better understand the complex issue of contaminated sediments.
http://www.springer.com/environment/air/book/978-3-540-88013-4

Handbook on Integrated Water Resources Management in Basins
The handbook, the first of this kind on this topic, is addressing, as a priority, basin managers, water professionals and representatives of public authorities – governments and local authorities – who have to make decisions related to water management and who must protect aquatic ecosystems, while trying to limit conflicts between the various users. The handbook also concerns non-governmental stakeholders (NGOs, professional organizations, users’ associations, etc.) concerned by water uses or environmental protection and which are involved in activities in basins.

The advices provided in this document can be applied in basins, whatever the situation (developed or developing countries, wet or arid climate, national or transboundary river basins) or the method used for water governance.

The English and French electronic versions of the Handbook can be downloaded free of charge from the INBO and GWP websites:
http://www.riob.org/gwp/handbook/GWP-INBOHandbookForIWRMinBasins.pdf – (1,290 MB).

The printed version or CD-ROM can be requested free of charge, within the limit of the available stock, by E-mails to gwp@gwpforum.org orriob@riob.org

Published by:
• the Global Water Partnership (GWP), an international network which aims at water safety in the world. www.gwpforum.org and
• the International Network of Basin Organizations, www.inbo-news.org.

PIANC has recently published 2 new reports:

PIANC publication “Dredging management practices for the environment – A structured selection approach”, EnviCom report of WG 100 – 2009
The Working Group Envicom was set up as a forum for development of prudent guidance for selection of management practices designed to provide environmental protection in dredging projects. The report provides guidance for consideration and selection of management practices for environmental protection based on objective science and engineering-based factors and specifications. It describes in brief the full process of a dredging project from conception to the operational phase and indicates where and how in this process the essential decisions on the implementation of management practices should be taken. An additonal CD-ROM provides detailed descriptions of potential management practices and comprehensive information.
An article about the report can be found at
http://www.terra-et-aqua.com/dmdocuments/terra114_1.pdf

PIANC publication “Dredged material as resource”
EnviCom report of WG 104 – 2009
Contrary to conventional wisdom, most dredged material is clean, natural product and, far from being a waste, can be an important environmental and economic resource, as shown in two case studies: the rehabilitation of a brownfield at Fasiver, Belgium and the creation of a wetland in Wallasea, UK.
An article about the report can be found at
http://www.terra-et-aqua.com/dmdocuments/TA112_1.pdf

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Calls for Abstracts

Multiple Stressors – Novel methods for integrated risk assessment, Aarhus, Denmark, 28-30 September 2009

Papers in the following areas are welcomed:
• integration of environmental and human risk assessment
• assessment of chemical mixtures and combinations of chemicals and natural stressors
• understanding complex exposure scenarios, and
• understanding the cognitive and knowledge-related, social and contextual aspects of integrated risk assessment.

Papers that focus on the development of advanced methods in areas such as tracking the fate of chemicals, the effects of chemical mixtures and combinations of natural stressors and chemicals, toxicokinetics, toxicogenomics, modelling, social science and data handling will be particularly welcome. This applies especially where such methods have potential for improving environment and human health by reducing the risk from chemical exposure.
Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 June 2009.
More info at http://nomiracle.jrc.ec.europa.au

GreenRemediation
Incorporating Sustainable Approaches in Site Remediation
International Conference on 9-10 November 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark

The objective of the GreenRemediation Conference is to improve the awareness of green remediation solutions among environmentalists and decision makers. Main topics are:
• Policy Drivers
• Decision Support Tools
• Sustainable Remediation Technologies

The conference is organized by Danish EPA, Information Centre on Contaminated Sites – DANISH REGIONS and The Capital Region of Denmark in collaboration with the consultancy companies NIRAS, GEO, COWI, Rambøll and DMR. The Scientific Committee is formed by representatives from US EPA, Austrian EPA and scientific capacities from the Nordic countries, Austria, France the UK and the US.

Deadline for abstracts is 8 June 2009. Conference programme will be available from June 30, 2009.
More information and abstract guidelines are available athttp://www.polytec.dk/GreenRemediation

Upcoming events

2009:
27-30 May 2009: Global Change – Challenges for Soil Management. Venue: Tara Mountain, Serbia.
Organized by the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, Belgrade University, World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research, European Society of Soil Conservation.
For more info please contact miodrag.zla@sbb.rs or mizlatic@yahoo.com

28-29 May 2009: Seminar on Synergies between River Restoration and River Management – Natura2000 and Ramsar sites, Lelystad, the Netherlands. Organised by the European Centre for River Restoration (ECRR). www.ecrr.org

24-25 June 2009: Final conference of SOCOPSE – Source Control of Priority Substances in Europe, Maastricht, the Netherlands. SOCOPSE aims at supporting the implementation process for the Water Framework Directive, by providing guidelines and decision support tools for the management of priority substances. www.socopse.eu

22-23 June 2009: A Short Course in Catchment Management; organised by the University of Sheffield, UK. More info at www.sheffield.ac.uk/csc/news

30 June – 3 July 2009: Fourth International Symposium on Contaminated Sediments: Sustainable Management and Remediation. Ireland.
http://www.irtces.org/isi/

30 July – 3 August 2009: International Advanced Training Workshop on Integrated River Basin Management, Beijing, China. Organised by IRTCES.
http://www.irtces.org/

19-21 August 2009: The Water Framework Directive – Sharing experiences and meeting future challenges, Stockholm, Sweden. (In the framework of the World Water Week.)
19 August: Open seminar. 20-21 August: Meeting of River Basin District Authorities.
http://www.worldwaterweek.org andwww.vattenmyndigheterna.se/vattenmyndigheten/wfd_conf/index

6-12 September 2009: Workshop on “Sediment problems and sediment management in Asian river basins”, Hyderabad, India.www.appliedhydrology.org/iahs/

14-16 September 2009: 3rd International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.http://donko.civil.tohoku.ac.jp/icec2009/index.html

20-23 September 2009: 27th meeting of the International Association of Sedimentologists, Alghero, Sardinia, Italy with a session on Marine Applied Geology and Sedimentology – The Factors Influencing Sedimentary Deposits in the Coastal Zone.
For more info you can contact the organizers: Sergio Cappucci (sergio.cappucci@enea.it) and Carl L. Amos (cla8@noc.soton.uk) or visitwww.ias2009.com

21-24 September 2009: 2nd REP-LECOTOX workshop “Trends in Ecological Risk Assessment”, Novi Sad, Serbia.

23-25 September 2009: REMTECH; 3rd edition of the Remediation Technologies Exhibition in Ferrara, Italy. www.remtechexpo.com

28-30 September 2009: Multiple Stressors – Novel methods for integrated risk assessment, Aarhus, Denmark.Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 June 2009. http://nomiracle.jrc.ec.europa.au

7-9 October 2009: 6th International SedNet Conference “The Role of Sediments in Coastal Management”, co-organised by Hamburg Port Authority. Hamburg, Germany. Program at www.sednet.org.

5-6 November 2009: Dredging tools for the future. CEDA Dredging Days 2009, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.http://www.cedaconferences.org/dredgingdays2009

9-10 November 2009: Green Remediation Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The call for abstracts is open until 8 June 2009.http://www.polytec.dk/GreenRemediation

2010:
26-28 April 2010: Integrated River Basin Management Conference; action programs and monitoring under the Water Framework Directive. Lille, France.
http://www.WFDLille2010.org

9–14 September 2010: A conference of the World Organisation of Dredging Associations, WODCON XIX, Beijing, China. Organised by EADA in association of its Chinese Chapter, CHIDA.
A Call for Papers will be issued early 2009. See furtherhttp://www.woda.org/

2011:
19-23 June 2011: 12th International Symposium on the Interactions between Sediments and Water, Dartington, Devon, England. Organised by the International Association for Sediment Water Science (IASWS)
http://www.IASWS.org and www.geog.plymouth.ac.uk/IASWS2011

SedNet secretariat:
Mrs. Marjan Euser
Deltares / TNO
P.O. Box 342
NL-7300 AH Apeldoorn
The Netherlands

E-mail marjan.euser@tno.nl

Website: www.sednet.org
Compiled by: Marjan Euser (marjan.euser@tno.nl)
Subscription Service: SedNet Secretariat (marjan.euser@tno.nl)
Disclaimer: SedNet is not responsible for faults due to incorrectness of info in this newsletter
Previous issues: www.sednet.org

CONTENTS

SedNet conference on 7-9 October 2009, Hamburg, Germany
The Role of Sediments in Coastal Management

The The issue of Sediment Management is rising on the European agenda. Sediment topics will be an element of River Basin Management Plans to be published in 2009 under the Water Framework Directive. Sediment Management is also an important part of the work of a European Working Group on Estuary Management, organised by DG Environment of the EU Commission. Furthermore, sediments are explicitly mentioned in new EU legislation, like the Directive on Environmental Quality Standards in the field of water policy, the Marine Strategy Directive, and the Waste Directive.
In Europe the largest amounts of sediments have to be dredged in the North Sea region, where the natural sediment regime in the sea leads to high sedimentation in ports, harbours and waterways. Additionally, sediments gain in importance due to sea level rise and loss of fine grained sediments in the Wadden Sea.
On this background SedNet organised its 6th International two-day Conference on Sediment Management in the city of Hamburg to which 150 sediment experts participated.
In Hamburg ongoing river restoration challenges coincide with dredging needs and sediments play a central role. The region is a good example to discuss cross-cutting science-policy issues.
At the beginning of the conference a report was given from the SedNet Round Table Discussion on “Implementation of sediment management issues into the first RBM Plans”.
On day 3, the day after the conference, a Special Session with the title “Managing the Elbe Estuary” was held, covering local challenges and solutions in sediment management.
A poster session formed part of the program during 7-8 October. Springer and the Journal of Soils and Sediments were sponsoring a prize for the best poster. The prize consisted of 250 Euros of Springer books and a free online subscription to the Journal of Soils and Sediments.
The winning poster was “Measurement and modeling of polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation from sediment for a marine polychaete and response to sorbent amendment” by Elisabeth Janssen, Stanford University, USA.
On the website – www.sednet.org – you will find the abstracts and slides of the presentations.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Report and Key-note presentations”
The conference was opened by Axel Netzband, Chairman of SedNet, and Jens Meier, managing director of the Hamburg Port Authority as co-organiser of the conference.
It was followed be a report from the SedNet Round Table Discussion “Implementation of sediment management issues into the first RBM Plans”, given by Piet den Besten, SedNet Steering Group.
(see separate article further down in this newsletter).

The title of the presentation of Francois Kremer, European Commission / DG Environment was “Natura 2000 and estuaries”. Estuaries and coastal zones are among the most productive ecosystems of the world, with both high ecological and economic values. As Natura 2000 sites they are subject to the protection regimes under the ‘Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and/or the ‘Wild Birds Directive’ (79/409/EEC). Inevitably there will be occasions where port and waterways developments and Natura 2000 conservation objectives collide. The directives lay down procedures for ensuring that such developments are done in a sustainable way that is compatible with the conservation of species and natural habitats for which the Natura 2000 sites have been designated.
Since now more than two years the European Commission has been working with stakeholder organisations and environmental NGOs with a view to developing guidelines and recommendations on the implementation of the EU nature legislation in estuaries and coastal zones and for avoiding conflicts between Natura 2000 objectives and economic development needs. Human activities in estuaries include ports & navigation, dredging, sand mining, fisheries, industry, wind farms, flood protection, recreation, urbanism, etc.
Mr. Kremer acknowledged the concept of ‘Working with nature’ of PIANC, the World Association for Water borne Transport Infrastructure. The concept has a focus on achieving project objectives in an ecosystem context rather than assessing consequences of a pre-defined design (-> integrated management) and on identifying win-win solutions rather than simply minimising ecological harm (-> partnership).
So the title of the next presentation “Building with nature” of Martin Scholten, IMARES, The Netherlands, fit perfectly well. EcoShape is a Dutch National Innovation Programme for the time period 2008-2012, partners are from both science, industry, and administration. The main objectives are to develop scientifically sound design rules and norms enabling ‘building with nature’ using practical examples.
Mr. Scholten reported about a shift towards an ecosystem based approach: Ecodesign based on the natural dynamics. It means a turn around from a defensive approach to minimize environmental impacts to an offensive approach in order to optimize full economic and ecologic potential. This means to design a project on the basis of understanding the ecosystem dynamics and functioning as well as on the understanding of ambitions, opinions, concerns and discourse amongst stakeholders in the social system.
A project should be planned in coherence with other functions, such as coastal defence, aquaculture, sand and gravel extraction, land reclamation, nature development or restoration, etc. In the planning it should be determined how natural processes can be used and stimulated to achieve the goals. Project execution should give room for adaptation of the project.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Conceptual approaches”
The SedNet Roundtable that preceded the Conference recognized the need of developing conceptual models of sediment fluxes and contaminant transport to provide a better understanding of the system. In this respect the session on conceptual approaches provided a good overview of actions taken in Canada and UK to create a basis for sustainable sediment management.
Suzan Roe presented the assessment and management framework of sediments in Canadian waters, which is currently under development by the Canadian federal government in cooperation with provincial governments. The aim is to incorporate into the framework the elements of existing assessment and management tools. Within the framework, sediment quality guidelines may be adjusted to account for intended use (i.e., in cases of pollution prevention, a high level of protection is desired while for remediation of contaminated sites, a clean-up target that will help restore ecological function is required).
Kevin Black informed on a management framework that will provide stakeholders in UK with guidelines for the management of contaminated marine sediments in UK waters. The framework will collect information on all relevant data, liability issues, impacts of legislation, pollution prevention methods, contaminated sediments disposal options and future research areas. The implementation of the framework in the UK ports and harbours will reflect the principles of sustainable environmental management.
Sediment risk ranking and management framework and tool development and evaluation was presented by Susan Casper. Adapting DPSIR-based sediment models developed for a number of catchments and a sediment-specific adaptation of the relative risk model, a generic framework is under development in UK to support decision-making in deriving a catchment sediment management plan. This includes evaluation of measures for reducing risk to catchment management objectives in support of the WFD.
Sabine Apitz discussed different aspects of building a decision framework for management of a dredged material in light of a specific scientific and political situation. Various factors influencing the decision framework performance such as chemical action levels, selection of biotests, combination of data and tests and reference conditions changes were addressed.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Management and Policy”
The session on Management and Policy began with a keynote of Beate Ratter (University of Hamburg / GKSS, Germany) on people’s perception of natural hazards. Beate Ratter concentrated on coastal geoharzards and here especially on the storm surge that hit Hamburg in 1962. For a hundred years (1855–1962) there had not been an extreme flood event. Subsequently, people were little aware of that risk, and the city was unprepared to fight the water and to protect its people. Since today, the flood of 1962 is well imprinted on people’s minds even though there have been higher water levels since then which – due to higher dikes – did not do much damage. Only recently, an extensive new urban area, the “HafenCity” (harbour city) has been allowed to be built in the Hamburg port area – at the water front.
The keynote was followed by a presentation of Amy Oen (NGI, Norway) which continued along the line of public risk perception. Giving details on a controversial sediment management disposal site in Oslo harbour, Amy demonstrated the importance of including the public and addressing its perception in making decisions on sediment management options. Conclusions have been drawn from the challenges, that the process in Oslo had to face, and consequences for coming remediation projects in e.g. Bergen include the establishment of a stakeholder panel early in the process and transparent multicriteria decision making to identify potential remediation alternatives. (Presentation: “Sediment and Society: assessing approaches for including stakeholder interests and contaminated sediment management”).
The next talk by Andrea Barbanti (Thetis SpA, Italy) also demonstrated experiences and lessons learned from former activities, in this case sediment management in the Venice lagoon (“The sediment management issue in the Venice lagoon: lessons learned and future perspectives”). Andrea focussed in his talk on the challenge to connect science and policy making with the final goal of having scientifically sound management solutions. His major criticism being that the technical protocol used for assessing dredged material is outdated and should have been revised for quite some time. He gave conceptual, technical, and administrative recommendations on what to change but clarified the present limitations and difficulties. He concluded that more sustainable and holistic approaches with an updated scientific base would be needed in order to come up with an improved sediment management concept that would help to preserve and restore coastal ecosystems such as the Venice lagoon in future.
Jos Brils (Deltares, the Netherlands) ended this session describing “The EU environmental policy shift towards sustaining of ecosystem services and its possible implications for sediment management”. Jos demonstrated the shift from conservation of single species in the 1970s to preservation of ecosystem services which we know today to be – together with the protection of biodiversity – the core of EU environmental policy. He stated that so far application of the underlying concepts has been scarce – especially for sediment management issues. Often the matrices sediment, soil and water all contribute to specific ecosystem services complicating the issue. A way forward would be to carry out a comparative analysis of projects and real world cases concerned with these topics in order to extract from there a practical guidance to facilitate implementation of the EU environmental policies.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Risk and Monitoring”
The session started with a presentation of Oscar van Dam focusing on hydro morphological challenges in the WFD and the link to sediments. Both quantity and quality of sediments are closely interfering with hydro morphological conditions and thus with the ecological potential of a water body. Sediments are an essential part of hydro morphological monitoring but the way that it is included differs a lot and should be improved if the data needs to support the implementation and evaluation of a program of measures. Typical measures, which are clearly linked to sediment as part of the hydromorphology, are dredging activities and the creation of new habitats by sand suppletion.
Monitoring the ecotoxicological risk of sediments is not incorporated in the WFD, but several other international guidelines focusing on dredged material emphasise the importance of ecotoxicological testing of the sediments in addition to chemical, physical and biological characterization as was shown by Carolin Floeter. However the results of the ecotoxicological sediment assessment in the Port of Hamburg that was carried so far was linked with high uncertainty. The results showed high variability and the classification itself was based on the result of the most sensitive test, irrespective of the results of the other tests. Therefore a new concept is under construction in which the ecotoxicological risk assessment is better harmonised and validated.
Birgit Schubert gave an overview of chemical monitoring of sediments and suspended solids in estuarine environments in Germany. This monitoring is mainly carried out in function of dredging activities and to study the transport of fine particulate matter. The results showed clearly that sediment quality is improving in the estuary in downstream direction, but also that recently deposited sediments are containing lower concentrations of metals such as cadmium. This can be explained by an increased upstream transport of marine particulate matter into the estuary but also due to the fact that the suspended solids coming from upstream river basins are less contaminated.
Transport of contaminated sediments was also the focus of the presentation of Jos Van Gils. It was shown that due to the mixing of cleaner marine suspended solids with contaminated freshwater suspended solids in the estuarine environments, net fluxes of contaminants to the North Sea are overestimated if these take not into account this mixing. It was shown also that achieving the Water Quality Objectives (WQO) for priority pollutants in coastal waters in 2015 or even 2027 can only be successful when the transport of contaminated suspended solids and the exchange of contaminants between water, suspended solids and the sediment is considered. This was clearly shown by the timeframe that TBT concentrations are exceeding the WQO in the years after 2008 when the application of TBT containing antifouling paints is. Exceedence will occur much longer due to the interaction between the water and the sediment.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Sediment Management”
This session comprised of four talks. It started with a key-note presentation given by Giovanni Cecconi who considered the role of sediments as a fundamental resource in coastal areas, especially in systems affected by sea level rise and erosion. Based on the results of works conducted in the Venice lagoon during more than twenty years he demonstrated that wind, wave and tide driven sediments can settle and be stabilized by stimulating natural processes creating a variety of structuring and self-preserving habitats, such as beaches, dunes, salt marshes, eel-grass prairies, and inter-tidal flats. The second presentation by Yves M.G. Plancke focussed on the morphological management of the Western Scheldt. The concept developed by an expert team from the Antwerp Port Authority aims both at improving the morphological status of the estuary and at reducing the quantity of dredged material. Since 2002 the new strategy is being investigated a pilot project on the Walsoorden sandbar. The present results are promising both in terms of economy and ecology. The following presentation was given by Gunnel Göransson. She emphasised the role of extreme events, partly caused by climate changes, and their impact on the risk for mass failure. How prepared are we to meet such events? Based on the climate change scenarios for the Swedish west coast, calculations clearly indicate an increase in the risk for mass failure of sediment. Possible hydraulic effects as well as effects to the water quality have to be considered, which in term may have consequences for a variety of uses. Tools are needed to manage such events of low frequency but high magnitude. In his last presentation, Renaat de Sutter dealt with climate change and socio-economic impacts on the long-term sediment balance in the Belgian part of the North Sea. Preliminary results of two ongoing projects were presented. The one project aims at differentiating the anthropogenic climate change effects from the natural evolution at the North Sea scale. The other focuses on sedimentation/erosion processes on different scales both in terms of geography and time.

SedNet conference 2009: Session “Sediment Balance and Transport”
This session comprised of 3 presentations.
The first presentation by Jens Laugesen dealt with the use of tracer particles as a new technique to monitor and quantify transport of contaminated sediments. This was tested in two studies in Norway. These studies show that it is a promising technology. The method needs however a large amount of sediment samples which have to be analysed for tracer particles to be able to give good results. A further refinement of the technology is necessary.
The second presentation by Sabine Gerbersdorf focussed on biological engineering and its consequences for sediment stability and floc entrainment and transport. The study shows that bacterial assemblages cannot be neglected when considering mircrobial sediment stabilization and secondly, that a change in abiotic conditions can affect their stabilization potential significantly. This is of particular importance when considering the expected changes due to climate change in the future. Next to this the characteristics of the eroded flocs have shown distinct patterns depending on the biological origin, with severe consequences to sediment transport and –deposition.
The last presentation by Benjamin Dewals showed a modelling system, handling the wide range of time scales involved in sediment transport processes. It described a modelling system dedicated to depth-averaged simulations of flow and sediment transport, as support for sustainable management of sediments. As a result of the flexibility offered in the levels of coupling between flow and sediment transport models, stable and accurate numerical solutions are obtained for predictions of erosion and sedimentation patterns in the short, medium or long term, considering both bed load and suspended load.

SedNet conference 2009: Special Session “Managing the Elbe Estuary”
In a Special Session “Managing the Elbe Estuary” on Friday, 9th October 2009, participants of the SedNet conference were invited to learn about the tidal Elbe and its environmental and economic importance for the port of Hamburg. Comprehensive maintenance operation for a safe navigation and environmental protection of the sensitive natural habitats along the 100km long tidal Elbe is a challenging task for all involved stakeholders. The related management concepts and their diverse aspects were the key issues of this special session which was attended by 75 participants.
Heinz Glindemann from Hamburg Port Authority held an illustrative introductory speech on challenges and visions affiliated with the Elbe estuary from a user’s perspective. Hydrodynamic changes during the past decades claim permanent attention to the Elbe estuary and the port of Hamburg, especially in terms of water level and sediment management. As part of his speech Heinz Glindemann introduced the “Tideelbe” concept which combines the elements (1) attenuation of the tidal energy through river engineering, (2) implementation of more tidal volume and (3) an optimized sediment management of the river. New measures such as the pilot project “Spadenlander Busch” were presented to demonstrate the possibility for improving the hydrological situation of the river Elbe through new tidal areas within the city of Hamburg (www.tideelbe.de).
The following presentation by Harro Heier from the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) articulated the need for tools to improve the predictability of river basin processes and sediment management strategies, especially under consideration of future tasks such as the sealevel rise because of climate change. Due to Harro Heyer this could be achieved through the analysis of more tidal parameters on the basis of mathematical model results.
An overview on the Natura 2000 managementplan for the Elbe estuary was given by Elisabeth Klocke, Ministry for Urban Development and Environment, Hamburg.
The crucial issue of sediment management within the area of Hamburg and its harbor was shown in respect of relating environmental issues. An integrated concept including the steady adjustment of the relocation strategy and monitoring scheme in reconciliation with environmental administrations and NGOs was suggested.
Sediment management measures in the port of Hamburg were presented by Claudia Flecken, head of the division Port Infrastructure, Hamburg Port Authority. The presentation clarified, that dredging operation is a key element for guaranteeing safe navigation in the port of Hamburg. Hamburg Port Authority implemented a land treatment concept which includes operation of the METHA, the largest treatment plant for dredged material worldwide.
Finally participants of the Elbe Session were given the opportunity to visit the METHA plant and the Francop land disposal site for sediments. The fieldtrip was accompanied by presentations of Heinz-Dieter Detzner (Overview), Ulrich Döring (METHA) and Hubert Urich (Francop land treatment).

SedNet Round Table Discussion
on River Basin Sediment Management

Linked to the Hamburg SedNet Conference, a Round Table discussion was held 6 and 7 October 2009. This Round Table discussion built on the results of the SedNet Round Table Discussion on River Basin Sediment Management held in Venice in 2006 (see/roundtable). In the SedNet e-newsletter special on river basin management plans (spring 2009 – see our website – pdf) the SedNet steering group concluded: “These few pages on WFD compliant River Basin Management and sediment management show a great variety. The river basins are different in size and challenges, and the solutions are as diverse as the recognition of sediments in the plans is.”

On this background SedNet organised another Round Table discussion preceding the Hamburg conference. The goal was to discuss the position of sediment management in water management and in regional or local developments and to explore new pathways to effectively link sediment management initiatives to RBMP’s.

The invited participants represented river commissions, governmental bodies, water agencies, port authorities, research institutes, consultancies, NGO’s, etc. Rivers represented where Douro, Ebro, Danube, Sava, Drava/Mura, Elbe, Rhine, Scheldt and Thames. The program of the Round Table was based on the outcome of a questionnaire sent earlier to the participants and an illustrative river basin case. During two days, a large number of topics were covered: holistic system understanding, dealing with uncertainty, better linkage of sediment management to WFD objectives or to other plans, communication (especially about the link between sediments and ecosystem integrity), stakeholder involvement and ecosystem services as a model to help the stakeholder process.

A report about the outcome of the Round Table discussion will be prepared and is intended to be available spring next year. It is also thought to be base for the development of a guidance document that should explain how to include sediment management in River Basin Management Plans, with examples that demonstrate how sediment management makes RBM more effective.

Sediments in river basins
From the perspective of SedNet, the European Sediment Network

Published in the Journal of Soils and Sediments: Volume 9, Issue 5 (2009), Page 393.

Introduction
Since its foundation in 2002, it has been the aim of SedNet, the European Sediment Network, to communicate on the importance of sediments at both the scientific and the political level. The unusual but beneficial property of SedNet is that, in the steering group, scientists work alongside harbour managers and representatives of environment administrations, which results in sometimes necessarily controversial, but always constructive discussions. With the round table event in Venice in 2007, we facilitated an exchange amongst stakeholders from a number of European rivers on the integration of sediment-related issues into River Basin Management Plans (RBMP), as required by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). In 2009, we organize another round table in order to examine recent experiences with regard to addressing sediment issues at the river basin scale.
In the interim, in May 2008, a conference was held in Oslo, Norway, which focused on experiences and scientific assessments of sediment management issues at local and river basin scales. The major conclusions from this conference can be viewed at/events/sednet-conference-2008/. A short introduction to the conference was presented by Förstner and Heinrich (2009), and a special issue on the Norwegian cases addressed at the conference will be published in Journal of Soils and Sediments in 2010.
Why then this article? As all presentations and abstracts can be downloaded from /library/sednet-conference-5/, we will not summarize each presentation. Instead, with this article, we would like to draw the conclusions from the individual sessions further and put them into the perspective of the scientific and political discussion 1 year after the conference.

Full article available on SpringerLink.

Sediment Management Plan Rhine – Summary

In 2005, analysis of dredged material from the Upper Rhine indicated a too high degree of sediment contamination. Thus, in 2005 a coordinated sediment management plan for the Rhine was commissioned. The result we now dispose of is the first plan for an international river basin district giving a global survey of the contamination of sediments in the main stream of the Rhine and in its main tributaries.
The sediment management plan for the Rhine is based on the following classification:
(1) In a first step, the most important contaminants and the areas polluted by them were identified.
(2) In a second step, sedimentation areas with more than 1000 m³ of contaminated sediments were identified. These sedimentation areas are called „areas of concern“, if there is no natural or man-made risk of re-mobilisation.
(3) In a third step it was investigated, in how far a re-mobilisation of contaminated sediments is liable to detrimentally impact the good status of water bodies further downstream. For these investigations, the assessment of the risk of re-mobilisation due to floods, wind, and anthropogenic impacts (dredging, navigation) plays an important role. In cases of considerable contamination and great amounts of sediments liable to be re-mobilised the area is classified as area presenting a risk.
18 of the 93 analysed sedimentation areas have been classified as „areas of concern“, 22 as areas presenting a risk. For areas presenting a risk, decontamination measures will be presented while it is recommended to intensively monitor the “areas of concern”.
The summary can be dowloaded here.

We will NOT achieve the WFD objectives

TThis is likely to remain reality unless we boost our ambition and boost our willingness to learn-by-doing. In its final events in Brussels (16 November) and Mechelen (17 & 18 November) the EC FP6 project RISKBASE advocated that the actual improvement of the ecological quality of our river basins, and thus sustaining of the ecosystem services they provide, calls for a different approach to river basin management. This approach involves the integrated application of the three key-principles to risk-based management: informed, adaptive and participatory.

Informed: a sound understanding of the functioning of the natural soil-sediment-water system and of its interaction with the social system is the basis to river basin management. EC projects, like FP6 AquaTerra and Modelkey, have delivered new, natural system understanding, relevant to support the achievement of the WFD objectives. They identified not yet (1st RBMPs) addressed sources of risk and deliver knowledge for improving of the effectiveness of measures. AquaTerra demonstrated, for example, that contaminated ground water hinders good status achievement of surface water and that flooding mobilizes historic contamination from floodplain soils and river bottom sediments, thus hindering status achievement. A remaining and ongoing challenge is to connect this new science to management and policy making.

Adaptive: we have to learn-by-doing as social/natural systems are extremely complex and dynamic and can respond in non-linear and unexpected ways.

Participatory: involvement of stakeholders will improve management, e.g. because they may bring in local knowledge. However, involvement of stakeholders calls for the use of a common language to enable participation. RISKBASE believes that the ‘ecosystem services’ approach provides that language.

RISKBASE has observed that leading initiatives, like the management of the Llonsko-Polje catchment (part of the Sava basin in Croatia), already demonstrate some of these aspects. However, more well coordinated and monitored pilot projects (aimed at stepwise improving of the effectiveness of measures) are needed to transform our general framing and develop best practice. The WFD also demands that we learn from the experiences in the 1st RBMP. In WFD, annex VII (page 67) it is stated: “The first update of the river basin management plan and all subsequent updates shall also include: … an assessment of the progress made towards the achievement of the environmental objectives, … and an explanation for any environmental objectives which have not been reached.”

By the end of 2009 a brochure/booklet will be made available via the RISKBASE website in which the key-messages are further elucidated. The more detailed motivation and duly scientific underpinning of the key-messages can be found in a scientific book that will be published by Springer next year. For more information, please visit the RISKBASE website or contact the RISKBASE coordinator: Jos Brils, email:jos.brils@deltares.nl

LOICZ Report: Dynamics and Vulnerability of Delta Systems

The LOICZ report entitled “Dynamics and Vulnerability of Delta Systems” discusses the changes and vulnerabilities of world deltas resulting from anthropogenic alteration of upstream freshwater and sediment inflows; anthropogenic alteration of sediment and water routing through deltas; hydrocarbon and groundwater extraction from deltas; sea-level change; and the increased frequency of extreme climate events. Download here (pdf).

CHR UNESCO ISI Rhine sediment report

ThRecently published: “Erosion, Transport and Deposition of Sediment – Case Study Rhine”.

Full reference
CHR, 2009. Erosion, Transport and Deposition of Sediment – Case Study Rhine. Spreafico M., Lehmann C. (Eds.). Contribution to the International Sediment Initiative of UNESCO/IHP. Report no II-20 of the International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin (CHR). ISBN 978-90-70980-34-4.
The report can be ordered or downloaded via this link (scroll down to II-20).

Risks from cohesive sediments under projected climate change

SProjected climatic conditions for Germany may favour both increased flood frequencies and severities, which in return may lead to a re-mobilisation of contaminated sediments in rivers. The research project „Risks from cohesive sediments“ is part of the recently established research program KLIWAS (2009-2013) by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. The project aims to develop tools for estimating and mitigating risks from cohesive sediments by an integrated research approach that combines the expertise of the scientific fields of environmental chemistry and hydraulic engineering. The research area covers the Rhine and Elbe catchments. The Upper Rhine has been identified as an “area of risk“ by the International Commission for The Protection of the Rhine because of historic hexachlorobenzene contaminations. Similarly, the Mid-Elbe is focussed on because of heavy metal and PCB pollution.
The methodology comprises laboratory sorption experiments for deriving basic physico-chemical parameters of pollutants, time-continuous, in-situ measurements of suspended matter based on turbidity as well as acoustic backscatter, and the application of various hydraulic transport models (HT-models) within a model cascade. Regional climate projections are used within KLIWAS as input for hydrologic catchment models to produce runoff and water level data. This output is then used to run different HT-models on various scales. The 3D-model SSIIM is employed for small-scale simulation of the Upper Rhine impoundments to estimate re-suspension and sedimentation of hexachlorobenzene. The MIKE software suite is used for modelling the Mid-Elbe including the complex interaction of the open stream and groyne fields. Finally, the SOBEK River model that was developed by DELTARES is used for long term, meso-scale simulations of particle bound contaminant transport. The work is conducted in close collaboration with environmental agencies, research centers, and universities; e.g. the Elbe modelling is conducted by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. The project contributes to a fundamental understanding of river systems that is essential for successful river sediment management.

Contact
T. Pohlert, G. Hillebrand, V. Breitung, S. Vollmer
Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Am Mainzer Tor 1, PO Box 200253,
D-56002 Koblenz, Germany
Email: pohlert@bafg.de

German Working group on “Sediments and Water Quality”

PThe Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh) is the largest chemical society in continental Europe with members from academe, industry and other areas. The society was founded in 1949 but builds on a long tradition that began in 1867 when its first predecessor organization, the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft was founded in Berlin. The work of the society is structured by divisions and working groups, among them the Waterchemical Society. Under the umbrella of the Waterchemical Society in 2002 a working group on “Sediments and Water quality” was established. The recent meeting of this group was held in November 2009 in Frankfurt/Main. One of the topics dealt with the role of stable isotopes in following sediment dynamics.

Stable isotopes as natural tracers for river and sediment dynamics
Stable isotopes ratios of water (¹⁸O/¹⁶O, D/H) and carbon (¹³C/¹²C of dissolved inorganic, and particulate as well as dissolved organic carbon) were analysed in various river systems including the St. Lawrence (Canada) and the Lagan River (N. Ireland) and the Elbe River in Germany. For instance, mass balances calculations with stable water isotopes helped to outline the relative importance of water masses in an ecologically important embayment in the St. Lawrence River. It showed that despite inland influxes of a small stream and groundwater input, the main channel of the St. Lawrence had a strong influence on this ecosystem most times of the year. This has important implications for transport of chemical goods on the main channel. Discrepancies between stable isotope ratios of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) showed that most of the suspended sediment carbon was generated inside the St. Lawrence River through phytoplankton activity. In a similar manner such mass balances showed contributions for estuarine and inland river water as well fluxes as groundwater in the Elbe River (Germany) during the millenium flood in 2002. In another study on the Lagan River in Northern Ireland a noticeable influence of carbonates on the dissolved load of inorganic carbon could be demonstrated via stable carbon isotope analyses. Further differentiation between photosynthetic enrichment in ¹³C of the DIC might be outlined with stable isotope analyses of dissolved oxygen. The presented studies show that stable isotopes are ideal biogeochemical tracers to quantify exchanges of water masses as well as turnover of carbon in rivers and suspended and bottom sediments. Such techniques can further apply to German rivers with particular focus on smaller river systems that have more potential to clearly outline endmembers of influence.

Contact
Professor Johannes Barth, PhD
Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Geologie, GeoZentrum Nordbayern,
Schlossgarten 5, D- 91054 Erlangen / Germany
Email: barth@geol.uni-erlangen.de

Terra et Aqua

Terra et Aqua Is a free magasin published by the International Association of Dredging Companies. Sediment experts can find regularly interesting articles in the magazine.

Please click link below to download Terra et Aqua 115:
http://www.terra-et-aqua.com/dmdocuments/terra116_complete.pdf

Sinking deltas could increase risk of flooding worldwide
(From DG Environment’s News Alert Service)

73 per cent of the world’s 33 major river deltas are sinking, according to new research. Results indicate that the sinking is worsened by the impacts of human activity, such as upstream sediment collection caused by reservoirs, dams, accelerated sediment compaction, and control of river channels.

About 500 million people live in or near river deltas, which are formed when rivers deposit sediment as they flow into the sea. The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change¹ report concluded that many deltas will experience sea level rises due to climate change. The effects of twentieth century development and population growth will also increase the risk of deltas flooding. The EU’s Floods Directive aims to assess and manage areas at risk of flooding, including coast lines².

The research analysed high resolution satellite data, historical maps and infrared images of 33 world river deltas. Four of these were EU deltas, in Italy, France, Poland and Romania. The results indicated that 85 per cent of deltas experienced severe flooding in the past decade, causing 260,000 km2 of land to be temporarily submerged.

The study investigated the possible role of compaction of sediment in the increase in flooding, particularly compaction caused by human activities, such as removal of gas and water, trapping of sediments upstream in reservoirs and floodplain engineering. For example, the Po Delta in Italy subsided 3.7 metres in the twentieth century; 81 per cent of this is attributed to methane mining. This research is the first to estimate the volume of sediment delivered to the deltas both before and after substantial human activity.

The results demonstrated that sediment delivery has been reduced or eliminated at the majority of the deltas. Much of this can be attributed to upstream damming, e.g. in the Ganges (India) and the Mekong (Vietnam). Another factor is the reduction in the number of side channels. The number of distributary channels has dropped for 13 of the major deltas, including the Vistula (Poland) and the Nile (Egypt) which both suffered a 70 to 80 per cent reduction in distributary channels.

This reduction in sediment delivery has caused deltas to sink and makes them more vulnerable to flooding from sea level rises. A few deltas have remained largely unchanged over the twentieth century, such as the Amazon (Brazil) and the Congo (Western Africa).

The research also identified three categories of delta, listed in order of increasing risk of flooding:
1. Those with decreasing sediment deposition that can no longer keep up with local sea level rise, e.g. the Vistula (Poland), the Brahmani (India) and the Godavari (India)
2. Those with decreasing sediment deposition plus accelerated compaction of sediment, e.g. the Ganges and the Mekong.
3. Those with virtually no sediment deposition or very high compaction of sediment, e.g. the Po (Italy), the Rhone (France) and the Nile (Egypt).

Altogether, the surface area of delta that is vulnerable to flooding could increase by 50 per cent under IPCC projections for sea level rise in the twenty-first century. The flooding will increase further if sediment continues to be trapped upstream by reservoirs and other human activities.

1. See www.ipcc.ch
2. See http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/flood_risk/index.htm

Source: Syvitski, J.P.M., Kettner, A.J., Overeem, I. et al. (2009). Sinking deltas due to human activities. Nature Geoscience. Doi: 10.1038/NGE0629

Contact: james.syvitski@colorado.edu

Additional information
• The EU Floods Directive
• Results of the EU Eurosion project in the brochure ‘Living with coastal erosion in Europe: Sediment and Space for Sustainability’
• SedNet (The European Sediment Network)

Sediment pollution should be included in water quality assessments
(From DG Environment’s News Alert Service)

tThe quality of surface water is best assessed using the status of both the water and underlying sediment. A recent study concluded that water bodies risk being misclassified if sediment assessment is not included, which can lead to unnecessary recovery costs.

Under the Water Framework Directive¹ (WFD), Member States are required to achieve at least ‘good water status’ for surface water (inland, estuarine and coastal water bodies) in Europe by 2015. Surface water quality is assessed on both its ecological status and chemical status. Ecological status includes the physical and chemical conditions that affect the water’s biological quality, such as nutrients and oxygen levels. The chemical status is also determined according to levels (or environmental quality standards (EQS)) of important pollutants, including metals, found in the water, as listed under the EC’s Directive² on priority dangerous substances.

In this study, Spanish researchers investigated the quality of Basque coastal and estuarine waters in northern Spain. The study focused on the long-term trend (from 1995-2007) of water and sediment contamination by metal pollutants (arsenic, cadmium, copper, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead and zinc) and the response of these areas to water treatment programmes.
In addition, the chemical status of these water bodies was assessed using two approaches: (1) following the principle of ‘one out, all out’ under the WFD, whereby any metal in waters over the EQS will result in the whole station failing to achieve the chemical status (and for concentrations below the EQS, the chemical status is met), and (2) Combining the chemical quality of both the surface waters and the underlying sediment, using a methodology proposed by these researchers.

The river catchments, estuaries and coastal waters of the study area have been polluted by urban and industrial discharges, particularly from iron ore mining in the region. Additional pollution comes from the construction of ports, dredging, sediment disposal, and land reclamation. Emission control measures and water treatment programmes have been implemented to help tackle these pressures.

Using the first approach, few of the water bodies achieved good status, and the percentage of systems meeting this status falls over time. Using the second approach, more than 50 per cent of the water bodies achieved ‘good status’, with the percentage of systems meeting this status remaining steady over time.

The researchers argue that the second approach is more accurate in assessing chemical status as it is better at discriminating between less polluted water, which has less impact on wildlife, and that which is highly polluted. In addition, this approach reflects the drop in pollution of river catchments in recent years, which has improved water quality in many bodies.

By considering both water and sediment analysis in determining the status of water quality, resources could better be targeted at those bodies of water where levels of pollution have a greater negative effect on fish and other living organisms in the water. However, the researchers say further research is needed on EQS measurements in water and the interpretation of chemical concentrations of contaminants in sediments.

1. See: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/index_en.html
2. See:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:348:0084:0097:EN:PDF

Source: Tueros, I., Borja, A., Larreta, J. et al. (2009). Integrating long-term water and sediment pollution data, in assessing chemical status within the European Water Framework Directive. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 58:1389-1400.

Contact: itueros@azti.es

First phase of Hudson River dredging project complete
(From the US-EPA website)

The dredging work of the first phase of the Hudson River cleanup concluded in late October, after five-and-a-half months of dredging in a six-mile stretch of the Upper Hudson River near Fort Edward in New York State.

General Electric Co. (GE) conducted the dredging, with EPA oversight, and the company targeted 265,000 cubic yards (cy) of PCB-contaminated sediment. During Phase 1, dredging occurred 24 hours a day, six days a week, with the seventh day reserved for maintenance and make-up time for unplanned project interruptions. Dredging was conducted 133 days between May 15 and October 26, 2009. Backfilling and capping in some areas will continue through November 2009, until the Champlain Canal closes for the season.

Phase 1, the first year of dredging, was designed to address approximately 10 percent of the material to be dredged over the six-year project timeframe. At the end of Phase 1, an estimated 293,000 cy of PCB-contaminated sediment had been removed from the river. Although the volume of dredged sediment exceeded established goals for Phase 1, not all of the dredge areas originally targeted for Phase 1 were completed, (10 out of 18 areas were completed) due to sediment contamination in some areas that was deeper than expected. The presence of woody debris and PCB oil in the sediment also made the Phase 1 work challenging. Phase 2 will begin with the dredge areas that could not be completed during Phase 1.

Rail transport of the dewatered sediment from GE’s processing facility to a PCB-approved landfill in Andrews, Texas will continue through fall and winter 2009. Habitat reconstruction work will be conducted in the completed Phase 1 areas in spring 2010. Phase 2 will start full production only after an evaluation of Phase 1 is made and reviewed by the public and an independent panel of experts. Phase 2 is expected to begin in 2011 and will address the remaining contamination over five years.

Annual conference European Geosciences Union

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual conference is probably the main annual conference in Europe for sediment research. In 2010, the conference will be in Vienna again and will run between 2nd and 7th May 2010. There are many sessions dedicated to sediment-related research, mainly in the Hydrological Sciences (HS) and Geomorphology (GM) divisions. Below are some of the main sediment-related sessions. The call for abstracts is open to the public. The deadline for submission is early January 2010. For further details, please see here.

Upcoming events

2010:
26-28 April 2010: Integrated River Basin Management Conference; action programs and monitoring under the Water Framework Directive. Lille, France.
http://www.WFDLille2010.org

2-7 May 2010: European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual conference, Vienna, Austria.
http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2010/sessionprogramme

11-13 May 2010: 2nd International Symposium on Sediment Management, Casablanca, Morocco www.amce.ma

23-27 May 2010: SETAC Europe annual meeting, Seville, Spain.
Abstracts can be submitted until 30th November 2009.
http://seville.setac.eu/

9–14 September 2010: A conference of the World Organisation of Dredging Associations, WODCON XIX, Beijing, China. Organised by EADA in association of its Chinese Chapter, CHIDA.
A Call for Papers will be issued early 2009. See furtherhttp://www.woda.org/

22-24 September 2010: ConSoil 2010 – 11th UFZ-Deltares/TNO conference on the management of soil, groundwater and sediment. Call for abstracts open until 21 December 2009. http://www.consoil.de

2011:
19-23 June 2011: 12th International Symposium on the Interactions between Sediments and Water, Dartington, Devon, England. Organised by the International Association for Sediment Water Science (IASWS)
http://www.IASWS.org and www.geog.plymouth.ac.uk/IASWS2011

SedNet secretariat:
Mrs. Marjan Euser
Deltares / TNO
P.O. Box 342
NL-7300 AH Apeldoorn
The Netherlands

E-mail marjan.euser@tno.nl

Website: www.SedNet.org
Compiled by: Marjan Euser (marjan.euser@deltares.nl)
Subscription Service: SedNet Secretariat (marjan.euser@deltares.nl)
Disclaimer: SedNet is not responsible for faults due to incorrectness of info in this newsletter
Previous issues: www.sednet.org/newsletter

Contents

• Deadline Call for abstracts 12^th SedNet Conference
• 5^th Meeting SedNet WG Sediments in Circular Economy
• JSS Open-Access papers on sediment
• PIANC Survey on implementation of Sediment Beneficial Use
• Beneficial use of sediments: Case studies
• IMMERSE Transnational Estuary Exchange Lab
• Flemish Sediment Management Concept 2022-2027
• Upcoming events

Click here for a pdf of the newsletter   

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1 December 2020
12^th International SedNet Conference, Lille, France
“Sediment Challenges and Opportunities due to Climate Change and Sustainable Development”
on 29 June – 2 July 2021 

co-organised by BRGM

Please see the conference webpage https://sednet.org/events/sednet-conference-2021/ for the full text of the Call for Abstracts and the template for submission of abstracts.

SedNet Working Group “Sediments in Circular Economy”

The 5^th meeting of the SedNet WG “Sediments in Circular Economy” (WGCE5) was held as a videoconference on November 5^th. It was attended by 43 participants from 11 countries.

The program began by 6 technical presentations, followed by lively Q/A sessions:

• Pilot projects for beneficial use: the Port of Rotterdam SURICATES sediment relocation project (Deltares and Port of Rotterdam – Arjan Wijdeveld and Marco Wensveen)
• Pilot projects for beneficial use: Bowling SURICATES sediment land restoration, tidal and flood protection project (Scottish Canals and Strathclyde University – Keith Torrance and Richard Lord)
• Dehydration equipment as a support for beneficial use of dredged sediments (IXSANE, Tristan Debuigne and Mohammed Boumahdi)
• Mineral processing techniques as a support for beneficial use of sediments (CTP, Mathieu Henry)
• The impact of gas on sediment rheology (Julia Gebert, Florian Zander, TU Delft)
• Sediments (contaminated) behind dams and river restoration – mass stabilization processing, and beneficial use. Case Study: Gorge Dam, Ohio (Eric Stern, Montclair State U. and Tipping Point Resources Group and Robert Miskewitz, Rutgers U., USA)

Then followed two updates on Emerging compounds and sediment management – contaminants under recent focus, PFAS and microplastics.

A work session was held on the White paper on Circular Economy and Beneficial Use of Sediments currently elaborated by the WG.

The current Green Deal call for research proposals was discussed and gave opportunities for SedNet members to network and express interest in joining consortia.

An update was provided on the 2021 SedNet conference in Lille, France, and its Circular Economy session. The call for papers was reminded.

Would you like to get involved in the SedNet WG “Sediments in Circular Economy”? Then please contact the SedNet Secretariat. Information on previous meetings of the WG can be found here.

JSS Open-Access papers on sediment

All 7 papers from the forthcoming (December) issue of the Journal on Soils and Sediments on “Advances in sediment science and management” are now available on the JSS website and all but one are open-access and available to all. The weblinks are below:

• Soil erosion and sediment dynamics in the Anthropocene: a review of human impacts during a period of rapid global environmental change
  weblink
  Contact Philip N. Owens
• Characterisation of road-dust sediment in urban systems: a review of a global challenge
  weblink
  Contact Kevin G. Taylor
• River and harbor remediation: “polluter pays,” alternative finance, and the promise of a “circular economy”
  weblink
  Contact P. Spadaro
• Ecotoxicological testing of sediments and dredged material: an overlooked opportunity?
  weblink
  Contact Susanne Heise
• Including sediment in European River Basin Management Plans: twenty years of work by SedNet
  weblink
  Contact Jos Brils
• Sediment source fingerprinting: benchmarking recent outputs, remaining challenges and emerging themes
  weblink
  Contact Adrian L. Collins
• Linking temporal scales of suspended sediment transport in rivers: towards improving transferability of prediction
  weblink
  Contact Kim Vercruysse

PIANC Survey on implementation of Sediment Beneficial Use

The EnviComWorking Group 214 (WG214, Sediment Beneficial Use) of PIANC has prepared a survey on how Sediment Beneficial Use is implemented globally, which you can find using the following link:  PIANC WG 214 Sediment Beneficial Use Survey. This survey and working group are in large part a follow-up of the recent CEDA Working Group on Beneficial Use of Sediments and it is closely related to the SedNet working group on Sediment and Circular Economy.

We wish to ask all SedNet members with interest or association to Beneficial Sediment Use to complete this survey by November 15.

The survey should not take more than 20 minutes of your time. Our hope is to compile results of the survey and to include those results in the guidance document we are preparing on Sediment Beneficial Use. Results will be published without individual attribution to protect everyone’s privacy. Please take a moment to complete this on-line survey at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your time and interest in this subject.

Contact: Luca Sittoni and Victor Magar, Co-Chairs PIANC EnviCom WG214

Beneficial use of sediments: Case studies

The Working Group on the Beneficial Use of Sediments (WGBU) of CEDA (Central Dredging Association) and its associates collected 38 cases in connection with the preparation of two papers:

• Sustainable Management of the Beneficial Use of Sediments. Information Paper
• Assessing the Benefits of Using of Contaminated Sediments. Position Paper

The cases were undertaken in 11 countries, over the last 30 years, with the focus on the last decade.

Members of WGBU invite the professional community to share their experiences with the CEDA community. Submitted case studies will be reviewed by the WG and uploaded to the website of CEDA.

See the website of CEDA for more information.

Next IMMERSE Transnational Estuary Exchange Lab (TEEL), online on 24 November 2020

IMMERSE aims to accelerate the implementation of large-scale measures that address multiple estuary management challenges, while increasing their cost-efficiency and enhancing stakeholder commitment. More information is available on the project website: https://northsearegion.eu/immerse/

In order to advance development and transfer of solutions across estuaries in the North Sea Region, IMMERSE is organizing an online TEEL on the topic of sediment management in estuaries and estuary governance structures and processes. Presentations and discussions will focus the development of innovative methods and how sediment management strategies can contribute to improving the quality of estuarine systems. This event was originally planned in person for April 2020, and the programme has been adapted to an online format using audience interaction tools and interactive discussions to share transnational knowledge and experiences.

A draft programme is available on the event page. The day will be organized around three sessions:

• Introductory session: ‘Transnational Estuary Exchange: Introducing IMMERSE and the Eems-Dollard estuary’: 9:30 – 10:30
• Breakout session I: ‘What works in sustainable sediment management strategies?’: 11:00 – 13:00
• Breakout session II: ‘Estuary Governance Structures and Processes’: 14:00 – 16:00

This is the second in a series of region-wide events organized by the IMMERSE project. Information and outcomes from the 1st TEEL, held in June 2019, are available here.

Contact Clare Waldmann (cw@sustainable-projects.eu)

Flemish Sediment Management Concept 2022-2027

The draft of the (first) “Flemish Sediment Management Concept 2022-2027” is available at https://sgbp.integraalwaterbeleid.be/beheerplan/achtergronddocumenten/vlaams-sedimentbeheerconcept for public consultation until the 14^th of March 2021. It is a “background document” to (the draft of) the Flemish River Basin Management Plan 2022-2027. Part of the text of the Sediment Management Concept is integrated in the River Basin Management Plan.

The document is in Dutch, with a summary in English. The English summary can be found as “chapter 0” on pages 13 till 19. For those who wish to read the whole document in English we advise to use Google translate. Remarks or suggestions for improvement are welcome and can be mailed to: Edward Van Keer (edward.vankeer@mow.vlaanderen.be).

After the public consultation the draft will be revised based on the remarks MOW will receive. The River Basin Management Plan (and background documents) should be approved by the end of 2021.

Upcoming events

24 November 2020: IMMERSE Transnational Estuary Exchange Lab on the topic of sediment management in estuaries and estuary governance structures and processes. Online event. Click here for more info.

26 November 2020: Online International symposium The Future of Sand.
Organised by KNGMG, De Lichtkogel and Rijkswaterstaat (NL).
See the programme.
Register before 20 November at lichtkogel@rws

25-28 January 2021: Battelle’s 11th International Conference on Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Call for Abstracts

10-11 February 2021: Addressing Climate Change Challenges with Sediment Management – Joint SedNet-NaCC Workshop
https://sednet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NavClimate-SedNet-call-for-presentations.pdf
Deadline for abstracts was 31 October 2020

9-12 June 2021: ContaSed2020, University of Bern, Switzerland.
2nd International Conference on Contaminated Sediments. ContaSed2020 will focus on organic and inorganic sediment contaminant classes including microplastics, emerging contaminants, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants.
Deadline for abstract submission is 26 January 2021.
More info at the conference website

14-18 June 2021: AquaConSoil – International Conference on Sustainable Use and Management of Soil, Sediment and Water Resources. Digital event. See LinkedIn and Twitter pages for updates.
Contact: aquaconsoil@deltares.nl

21-25 June 2021: A series of webinars organised by I.S.Rivers – Integrative Sciences & sustainable development of Rivers conference. See www.isrivers.org

29 June – 3 July 2021: 12^th International SedNet Conference, Lille, France
“Sediment Challenges and Opportunities with Climate Change, and Sustainable Development Goals”
Deadline for abstracts: 1 December 2020
Conference webpage: https://sednet.org/events/sednet-conference-2021/

29 June – 3 July 2021: 7th International Symposium on Sediment Management (I2SM), Lille, France.
The symposium is organised by IMT Lille Douai, parallel to the SedNet conference.
Deadline for abstract submission: 15 January 2021.
Further info about the symposium (incl. the template for abstracts) can be found on https://i2sm2020lille.wp.imt.fr/

14-15 September 2021: 11^th Rostocker Baggergutseminars (in German)
See website seminar.

Disseminated by SedNet secretariat  – email  marjan.euser@deltares.nl

Website: www.sednet.org
Compiled by: Marjan Euser (marjan.euser@deltares.nl)
Subscription Service: SedNet Secretariat (marjan.euser@deltares.nl)
Disclaimer: SedNet is not responsible for faults due to incorrectness of info in this newsletter.
Previous issues: www.sednet.org

CONTENTS

Developments membership SedNet Steering Group

The SedNet Steering Group is pleased to announce that recently BOKU joined the SG:

BOKU – University of Vienna
The Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering of BOKU University Vienna, especially the working group of Prof. Habersack has a leading position in science in the field of river monitoring, physical and numerical modelling and river engineering. One central focus of the research is the determination, improvement of process understanding, modelling and management of sediments (suspended sediments and bedload), where integrated sediment monitoring methods and new numerical models have been developed. This is also reflected by the Christian Doppler Laboratory on Advanced Methods in River Monitoring, Modelling and Engineering, led by Prof. Habersack. By coordinating many national but also EU projects within this field insights in local sediment transport processes and on the river basin scale sediment regime were gained.
Due to the interdisciplinary structure of SedNet – including science, policy making, industry – the participation in this network provides insights into a more holistic approach to the topic sediment and sediment management. The cooperation between SedNet and BOKU enhances the exchange of knowledge and gained experiences and encourages defining future cross-border actions and projects.

The SedNet Steering Group is sad to inform that this spring we also lost a member: Sue White of Cranfield University. Susanne Heise wrote, on behalf of the SedNet Steering Group, an In Memoriam.

In Memoriam Sue White On March 14 this year, we lost a dear colleague and a valued member of the SedNet Steering Group: Sue White. I’ve had the privilege of working frequently with Sue in recent years, beginning when she volunteered to join two SedNet work groups, “Sediment management on river basin scale”, led by Phil Owens, and “Sediment risk management and communication”, which I led at that time. There she was: A small, English, soft-speaking woman with a passion for science, soil and sediment, who was a professor of Integrated Catchment Management and would soon become head of Cranfield University’s Integrated Environmental Systems Institute.Between 2002 and 2004, within the SedNet project, the SedNet working groups held a number of workshops, lots of discussions, and wrote several books. You could always rely on Sue for new views, well elaborated concepts, strategic thinking, and a strong will to get the message across – preferably in English English as opposed to American English or European English.Sue started her career by becoming a civil engineer at the University of Liverpool. She did her MSc in Water Resources Technology at the University of Birmingham, her PhD at the University in Exeter. Sue worked in many countries on soil erosion, soil conservation and sediment management such as the US, Nepal, India, Philippines, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania. However, it was her 3 years in Saragossa, Spain, which she told me about frequently, and where she maintained strong friendships.Sue became member of the SedNet Steering group in 2006 and impressed us all with her quick wit, her polite but clear way to state her point and stand her ground, and her delightful English humor. It was on the night of March 27th, 2006, during the SEDYMO conference in Hamburg, when a tornado caused blackouts that Sue told me by candlelight that she considered her research and her publications as her legacy to the coming generations of sediment and soil researchers. She was only partly right. Another legacy is our memory of Sue White, the person, the colleague, the friend.

Integrated sediment management concept adopted for the Elbe basin

For the first time, a comprehensive sediment management concept was developed in support of the management planning in a large international river basin. The concept is highly inspired by the work of SedNet since 2002.

The Elbe stands for a transboundary European Region with a long and intensive industrial and mining tradition. Around 56% of the entire catchment area is used intensively for agriculture. Dynamic developments took place since the political changes in the late 1980s. Despite having been, and in some respects still is, a heavily polluted river, the Elbe stands out among large central European rivers for its natural resources, e.g. for its wetland and floodplain forest habitats.

The first Elbe management plan prepared under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) highlights contamination and insufficient hydromorphological conditions as two of the most important supra-regional issues in water resources management. The plan underlines that contaminated sediments and unbalanced sediment conditions are among the main reasons for the failure to meet the WFD management objectives. As a consequence, the states cooperating in the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River (ICPER) decided to develop a sediment management concept in preparation for the second management cycle, and a Czech-German expert group was established in late 2009. Working structures were formed under the responsibility of the Czech Ministry of the Environment and the German River Basin Community Elbe on the Czech and German sides, respectively. With these working structures it was possible not only to integrate all relevant environmental and management perspectives but also to activate a broad scientific and technical expertise. For example, in Germany more than 30 experts from different fields of knowledge contributed to the working process at different stages.

The sediment management concept of the Elbe, approved now by the member states of the ICPER, considers the deficits of the sediment regime in terms of both chemical and ecological status and with regard to supra-regional management objectives. The sediment management challenges in the Elbe catchment relate to both quality and quantity. Therefore, one of the basic decisions of the ICPER was to integrate all aspects of the sediment regime into a single concept. Using significant indicators, river basin-oriented risk analyses are performed in terms of sediment quality, sediment quantity, hydromorphology and navigation. The last represents a group of sediment-dependent uses with high economic relevance. Based on the results of these risk analyses, management options to overcome the identified deficits are suggested in a priority order. Priorities are set based both on general and aspect-specific criteria. Furthermore, the relative order of management priority depends on the character and the intensity of possible interrelations between the different aspects.

The concept will be published in German and Czech languages
(www.ikse-mkol.org). An extended English summary will be available in the second half of 2014.

Contact: Dr. Peter Heininger – heininger@bafg.de
Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG)
56068 Koblenz, Am Mainzer Tor 1, Germany

Results of the research programme KLIWAS

The research programme KLIWAS, initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS), assessed climate-induced impacts on waterways in the mid- and late 21st century in quantitative and qualitative regards. The ultimate objective was to identify ecologically and economically practical options for adaptation to possible future climatic conditions.

KLIWAS considered the rivers Rhine, Elbe, Danube, Weser, and Ems as well as the German coastal waters and the North Sea. Ensembles of several global and regional climate models were established, combined with several cause-effect models, and model outputs were evaluated.

Core efforts of KLIWAS research were to identify uncertainties in available models and to show the spans over which the results of the projections which were computed within KLIWAS are spreading for the purpose of providing well-founded consultation to political decision makers in the ministries of transport and of the environment. In this context, the achieved methodological and scientific advances were described, and key statements were formulated. These statements refer to the periods 2021–2050 (near future) and 2071–2100 (distant future). As far as possible the results are related to a reference period, mostly the time from 1961 to 1990. Moreover, there were cases when regional differences were highlighted. Then an assessment of the vulnerability of the system “navigable waterway” against climate change followed. Special attention was paid to the intensity of climate variations, their relevance for the operational routine of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration in Germany (WSV) and – derived therefrom – to options for adaptation and recommendations for practical applications.

For instance, projections of the influencing factors „river discharge“ and „sea-level rise“ were examined for influences of climate-induced changes on the sediment budgets of the North-Sea estuaries. The projections of the river discharge of the River Elbe in the distant future indicate a slight, but not significant trend towards more frequent occurrences of phases of persistent low river discharges. In view of this finding and in combination with a sea-level rise, it cannot be ruled out that the upstream directed transport of sediment will intensify in the distant future, e.g. in the Elbe estuary, so that increasing volumes will have to be dredged. Recommended adaptation options for river-engineering and sediment management to the projected future conditions were the creation of additional flood plains and an optimised dredged-material management strategy that is better fitted to the upstream river discharge situations and that is additionally supported by the creation of sediment traps. Regarding the quality of the sediments that will be dredged in the future, only the most unfavourable out of five projections suggests deterioration.

The consequences for dredged-material management were also examined in terms of climate-induced changes in the water quality at the coasts and in inland waterways with the associated health risks. Moreover, subjects of studies were the environmental behaviour of construction materials in hydraulic engineering as a possible source of sediment pollution and climate-related modified patterns of organic contaminants in consideration of changing sources of pollution. KLIWAS had a project life from March 2009 to December 2013.The Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), the Deutscher Wetterdienst – DWD (Germany’s national weather service), the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), and the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) cooperated in 30 closely linked projects.

The final reports about the projects will be available at the end of June 2014 via: www.kliwas.de
Some results have already been published in a List of Products.

Danube River Research And Management (DREAM)

There is an urgent need to integrate use and protection of the Danube River in a sustainable way. Research is of fundamental importance to derive monitoring strategies, modelling and engineering solutions to improve measures suited to reach a win-win situation between economic use and environmental protection of the Danube River. This will be strongly related to the Danube River Basin Management Plan.

An important aim of DREAM is to enable research of hydrodynamic, sediment transport, morphodynamic and ecological processes by means of adequate hydraulic laboratories, that provide a significant discharge (up to 10 m³/s without pumping) and space (large scale models).

Further aims of DREAM are to establish commonly agreed field study sites and stations along the Danube River to calibrate and validate physical and computer based models as well as to develop and test advanced river engineering measures under 1:1 conditions, the construction of a research vessel and the establishment of a network of Danube river research institutions

The cooperation of research institutions along the Danube River is intended to improve scientific progress and to stimulate the transfer from Basic Research to the Knowledge Society.
DREAM leads to a basic improvement of research infrastructure and cooperation between research institutions in the Danube basin. The two new laboratories combined with existing ones will offer a unique possibility for large scale physical laboratory investigation allowing fundamental and applied research.

Contact: Univ. Prof. DI Dr. Helmut Habersack –helmut.habersack@boku.ac.at
Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Methods in River Monitoring, Modelling and Engineering,
Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering,
Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment ,
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna,
Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Tel. 0043 1 3189900 101

Marker Wadden restoration project

Markermeer (Lake Marken, 70,000 ha), situated in the centre of the Netherlands, is one of Europe’s largest fresh water lakes and a true paradise for (migratory) aquatic birds. Due to the construction of the Lelystad to Enkhuizen dike road in 1976, Lake Marken became separated from Lake IJssel. Originally it was planned to reclaim Lake Marken as the last polder in the IJssel area, but this idea was abandoned in 2003 in favor of nature development and fresh water storage. In the following decades the ecological quality in Lake Marken continuously deteriorated, as a consequence of high concentrations of suspended solids that were generated by erosion of silty sediments at the the bottom of the lake. creating anaerobic and dark conditions.

Funds (50 M€) have now been raised by the national and provincial governments as well as a grant from a national lottery, enabling an innovative restoration project aiming to create ”Wadden Sea” like islands by ‘building with sediments’. A 10,000 ha archipelago of artificial islands and sandbanks will be developed, creating diverse habitats (e.g. mud flats, reed marshes and marsh forests) for fish and aquatic bird life. Silt layers that have destroyed mussel banks by smothering will be removed and used as a building material. A ‘sediment engine’ will be created by dredging channels that are several metres deep, that will trap sediments and improve water quality. This ambitious restoration project is expected to start in 2016.

A short video (in Dutch) is available on the Marker Wadden restoration project.

Meeting Belgium and Dutch Ecosystem Services communities

On April 22nd 2014 the members of the BElgium Ecosystem Services (BEES) community and of the Netherlands Community of Practice on Ecosystem Services (CoP-ESD) – met in Antwerp, Belgium.

The aim of the meeting was to get to know each other better and explore if and where BEES and CoP-ESD can share ecosystem services experiences as neighbours. As European member states Belgium and the Netherlands both share the commitment to implement action 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy, which, amongst others, requires to assess and map the status and economic value of ecosystems and their services in our national territories.

At the meeting BEES and CoP-ESD discussed how to make the outcome of this shared activity of use to local and national policy practices, e.g. in support of sustainable, regional development. This resulted in a few concrete recommendations.

For further information please contact: Jos.Brils@Deltares.nl

2014 Riverprize

The International RiverFoundation is accepting applications for the 2014Australian Riverprize, IRF European Riverprize and Thiess International Riverprize awards.
Riverprize is the world’s most prestigious environmental award, giving recognition, reward and support to those who have developed and implemented outstanding, visionary and sustainable programs in river management.
Applications can be submitted online , and any organisation involved in river, wetland, lake, or estuary restoration or protection is encouraged to apply for a Riverprize.
Applications will be judged by a panel of experts on criteria including the integration of programs, collaborative approaches and demonstrated achievements.
Click here for further information
Click here to apply now

The Thiess International Riverprize and Australian Riverprize applications closed on 9 May, whilst the European Riverprize applications close on 30 May.

CAP sediments: a new tool for a sustainable management of marine sediment

How to manage dredged marine sediments, polluted by trace contaminants, once stocked out of water?
The local authority (Conseil Général du Var) was pioneer on this topic, proposing the SEDIMARD83 project a few years ago. This project led to the setting up of a pilot treatment site in the Toulon Bay. More than sixty treatment combinations were successively tested to decontaminate the sediments and try to increase their value.

Now, the follow up of this project, which ended in 2009, is the building up of a marine sediments treatment center.
Another outcome of this project is the implementation of a digital library « CAP Sédiments », which aims to capitalize, to share, and popularize all the researches and works done on this topic since the beginning of the 2000’s in relation to Mediterranean sediments.

« CAP Sédiments » is a national scale French project, co-directed by INSA of Lyon (National Institute of Applied Sciences) and Insavalor Provademse ; supported by institutional partners, such as French Ministery of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.
A dedicated website has been launched in the end of 2013. Currently in French, its content will be soon extended to all the Mediterranean area and translated into English (« CAP Sédiments MED »).

For further information: www.cap-sediments.fr

New Contaminated Sediment Guidance Documents Published

Two new good practice guidance documents have been developed to assist contaminated sediment practitioners in Europe. The two documents are aimed at complementing existing publications in use globally, including SedNet publication Contaminated sediments in European river basins (2004). The first publication, Guidance on Characterising, Assessing and Managing Risks Associated with Potentially Contaminated Sediments: Report E1001 (Energy Institute and CONCAWE, 2013), draws together experience and learning from more than twenty years of investigation, assessment and remediation of sediment sites affected by contamination from across the globe, with a focus on the EU. It provides information and advice on the legislative and regulatory frameworks governing the assessment of sediment sites affected by contamination, an overview of a tiered assessment process which can be adopted, design of investigation strategies including selection of investigation tools, risk assessment tools and remediation solutions. A review of global experience in the risk management of contaminated sediment sites is also incorporated, with case studies and key points of learning from each example. The second, complementary publication, Supplementary Guidance for the Investigation and Risk-Assessment of Potentially Contaminated Sediments: A Companion Volume to Energy Institute / CONCAWE report E1001 (CONCAWE and Energy Institute, 2013) further investigates the techniques and solutions which can help reduce uncertainty in the assessment of potentially contaminated sediments. The publication promotes the use of an iterative process of Conceptual Site Model (CSM) development, data collection, data evaluation and CSM refinement. To aid development of the CSM, a detailed overview of the theory relating to contaminant sources, fate and transport and receptor exposure in the sediment environment is provided, alongside practical examples of data collection and analysis techniques to help draw meaningful conclusions. Risk-based assessment is described throughout the publication, entailing four tiers of assessment, which progress from a qualitative assessment (Tier 0) through to a detailed cause-attribution assessment (Tier 3). The publication also discusses the real challenge in quantifying actual risk – whether to humans or other living organisms – from contaminants in the sediment environment.

For further information, including copies of the publications, please contact the Energy Institute, CONCAWE, author Katy Baker (katy.baker@arcadis-uk.com) or technical advisor Jürgen Thomas (j.thomas@arcadis.de)

Upcoming events

11-15 May 2014: 24th Annual Meeting of SETAC, Basel, Switzerland, with sessions on “Sorption and bioavailability of organic chemicals: mechanisms and applications in innovative remediation”, “Effects of multiple stressors and salinization on aquatic ecosystems under water scarcity”
www.basel.setac.eu

19-22 May 2014: Battelle Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds (Monterey, California)
www.battelle.org

5-6 June 2014: South Baltic Conference on New Technologies and Recent Developments in Flood Protection, Gdańsk, Poland
www.dredgdikes.eu

1-5 September 2014: 15th World Lake Conference (WLC15), Perugia, Italy: “The Mirrors of the Earth – Balancing Ecosystem Integrity and Human Wellbeing”, organised by ILEC and USMA.
Call for Abstracts open until 31st March 2014.

3-5 September 2014: River Flow 2014 – International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
http://riverflow2014.epfl.ch

9-10 September 2014: Workshop BEST – Durability of geo-constructions containing stabilised/solidified contaminated soils or sediments, Stockholm, Sweden.
Organised by the Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI) and Luleå University of Technology (LTU). Please register any eventual interest in enrolling by sending an e-mail at your earliest convenience, however no later than the 5th of June 2014, to Josef Mácsik, LTU/Ecoloop, josef.macsik@ecoloop.se

15-18 September 2014: The 17th International Riversymposium has an overarching theme of ‘Large River Basins’. There is hardly a better location to hold this conference than in Canberra in the Murray-Darling Basin – where much of Australia’s A$13 billion water reform implementation and large basin planning has occurred since 2007.
http://www.riversymposium.com

17-19 September 2014: 4th International Symposium on Sediment Management (I2SM), Ferrara, Italy
http://i2sm.remtechexpo.com

17-19 September 2014: 3th International Conference on Sustainable Remediation 2014, Ferrara, Italy
www.sustrem2014.com

22-26 September 2014: Littoral 2014 – Facing present and future coastal challenges.
Jointly organized by the Coastal Research & Planning Institute of Klaipeda University Marine Science & Technology Center, the Baltic States Office of EUCC – Coastal and Marine Union and Association Baltic Valley, Lithuania.
http://balticlagoons.net/littoral2014

14-15 October 2014: ESETAC Europe Special Science Symposium (SESSS) on the Bioavailability of organic chemicals: linking science to risk assessment and regulation.
Symposium will be held in Brussels. Programme available athttp://sesss10.setac.eu

20-21 October 2014: Final SCARCE International Conference: River Conservation under Water Scarcity: Integration of water quantity and quality in Iberian Rivers under global change, to be held in Tarragona, Spain. All information and online inscription can be found at the SCARCE web site:www.scarceconsolider.es

11-14 December 2014: IAHS/ICCE 2014 international symposium – Sediment Dynamics: From the Summit to the Sea, New Orleans, USA.
www.rnr.lsu.edu

12-15 January 2015: Battelle 8th International Conference on Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments, New Orleans, Louisiana USA.
www.battelle.org/sedimentscon

8-13 March 2015: ContaSed – International scientific conference on Contaminated Sediments: Environmental Chemistry, Ecotoxicology and Engineering, Switzerland.
ContaSed is co-organised by the Division of Chemistry and the Environment of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) and by Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. The conference venue will be at Monte Verità the meeting platform of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zurich (ETH Zurich) near Ascona in Southern Switzerland: www.csf.ethz.ch
www.contased.org

9-12 June 2015: 13th International AquaConSoil Conference on sustainable use and management of soil, sediment and (ground)water resources, Copenhagen, Denmark
AquaConSoil is organized by Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ and Deltares. Local co-organizer of the event is a consortium consisting of Danish scientists, policy makers, planners and practitioners, headed by the ATV Foundation of Soil and Groundwater.
www.aquaconsoil.org / LinkedIn Group AquaConSoil

6-9 September 2015: ECSA 55 – Unbounded boundaries and shifting baselines: Estuaries and coastal sees in a rapidly changing world, London, UK
More info will soon be announced at www.estuarinecoastalconference.com

Disseminated by:

SedNet secretariat:
Mrs. Marjan Euser
Deltares
P.O. Box 85467
NL-3508 AL Utrecht
The Netherlands
E-mail marjan.euser@deltares.nl