Abstract
In an attempt to restore the water quality in tidal rivers, governments around the world invest a lot of money in reconverting reclaimed agricultural land to tidal marshes. In North-West Europe, more than 140 tidal marshes have already been restored and scientists predict that many more will follow in the coming decades. Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that restored tidal marshes do not contribute to the water quality improving function to the same extent as natural marshes. Researchers found that due to the historical agricultural land use, the soil got compacted, hindering the flow of groundwater in the area. The reduced groundwater flow is thus probably the reason for the observed difference in water quality improvement. Nevertheless, the differences in groundwater dynamics between restored and natural tidal marshes are still poorly understood. In this research, we want to unravel this missing link. We will study the soil properties, the groundwater flow and the nutrient fluxes at the same time in both a natural and a restored marsh along the Scheldt estuary in Belgium. We will use these results to develop a computer model. With this model, we will determine the optimal soil properties of restored marshes in order to optimize their effect on water quality improvement. In cooperation with the water engineering sector, we will translate the optimum to viable design criteria that will ameliorate the water quality improving function of future restored tidal marshes.
Researcher(s)
Research team(s)
Project type(s)