CS 2012 "Sustainable river restoration: the case of the Thur in Niederneunforn"

The TdCS of the Spring Term 2012 was organized within the CCES Project RECORD and the follow-up project RECORD CATCHMENT. RECORD (CATCHMENT) tries to increase the mechanistic understanding of coupled hydrological and ecological processes in near-river corridors of restored rivers. 

Content

The case area of the TdCS 2012 was the area between the external page bridge of Rohr and external page Niederneunforn (Canton Thurgau) and external page Altikon/Thalheim (Canton Zurich). For this area the following questions were answered:

(i) What effects did the river restoration projects since 1993 have?
(ii) How are these effects perceived by the public and different stakeholders?
(iii) What can we learn for future river restoration projects?

People

The following researchers and research groups participated in 2012:

1. Prof. Dr Mario Schirmer, Water Resources and Drinking Water, Eawag, Dübendorf. PhD students: Behnam Doulatyari, Vidhya Chittoor Viswanathan
2. Dr Michael Stauffacher, Natural and Social Science Interface, ETH Zürich. Post-Doc: Dr Roman Seidl

• Students: Jasmin Bernasconi Management, Technology & Economics-MTEC; Andreas Busa Human-Environment Systems-HES; Alejandro Caballero Guzman HES; Mert Duygan HES; Virginia Ghisla HES; Markus Glatt HES; Aurelia Kollros HES; Gianna Lazzarini HES; Tobias Langenegger HES; Simon Martin HES; Cédric Marty MTEC; Andreas Rösch HES; Kathrin Steinmann HES; Joan Suris Miret HES; Robert Weibel HES; Thomas Zumbühl HES
• Headship: Dr Michael Stauffacher & Prof. Dr Mario Schirmer
• Main partners from practice (Td Board, Begleitgruppe): Dr Marco Baumann (Abteilungsleiter Wasserwirtschaft und Wasserbau, Kt. Thurgau); Felix Gredig (Vize-Gemeindeammann Neunforn); Jörg Schönenberger (Gemeindepräsident Altikon); Caroline Hofer Basler (Gemeindepräsidentin Thalheim); Ulrich Göttelmann (Abteilung Wasserwirtschaft/Wasserbau); Marcel Tanner (Leiter Ressort Wasserbau); Dr. Andreas Scholtis (Ressortleiter Grundwasser); Geri Schwager (Forstamt Thurgau); Paul Herrmann (Alt-Gemeindepräsident Altikon).

Timetable

• Monday, 5 December 2011, 13-15: First information for students
• 17–18 February 2012 (2 full days): Two preparation days (just before the semester starts)
• 22 February – 30 May 2012 (plus additionally approx. 5 hrs. homework/week): 14 Wednesday afternoons
• 10–13 April 2012 (just after Easter; 4 full days):_ Block week
• 4–22 June 2012 (three full weeks): Three block weeks (just after the semester end)
• Event to present final results for all participants: 21 June 2012 (19.00-20.30)
  

Products

Brochure (in German)

Rösch, A. Seidl, R. & Stauffacher, M. (2013): Nachhaltige Flussrenaturierung – Die Situation der Thur in Niederneunforn. ETH-IED Fallstudie 2012. TdLab: Zürich. doi: external page 10.3929/ethz-b-000628970