RECONECT Thur River Basin

Description

Description of the Demonstrator

The river Thur is prone to flooding.

Recently, various NBS river restoration measures have been proposed and established aiming at improving not only flood protection but also the ecological status of the river and the riparian zone.

Context Environmental and Geographic context, climate conditions and problem description concerning hydro-meterological risks.

The river Thur is located in NE Switzerland, draining the front ranges of the Swiss NE Limestone Alps (S of the Lake Constance basin).

It is a tributary of the river Rhine which flows into the North Sea. The river Thur is the largest Swiss river without a natural or artificial reservoir and exhibits discharge and water level fluctuations similar to unregulated alpine rivers: low discharge: 3 m3s-1; annual mean discharge: 23.3 – 76.4 m3s-1; peak flows up to 1100 m3s-1.

Snowmelt and strong rainfall events in the pre-alpine headwaters cause a rapid increase of discharge. The Thur catchment is prone to flood-related problems and has very sensitive areas (e.g. urbanized areas with industries and camping sites).

To reduce the risk of flooding, various NBS have been already implemented or are under construction throughout the catchment. In this sense, the river Thur flood risk management plan, focusing on NBS as priority actions, is a good example of the implementation of the EU Flood Directive 2007/60/EC to mitigate flood risks.

Samenvatting (Dutch description)

RECONECT Thur River Basin

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About the author

Floris Boogaard

• Submitted 2066 projects
• Expert at Water
• Netherlands

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