Environmental Management of Rivers and Wetlands

On successful completion of this short course you will be able to:

• Explain the natural characteristics of rivers and how they can be influenced by human activity
• Understand the linkage between ecological, chemical and hydro-morphological aspects of a river
• Discuss the ecological and hydromorphological processes that determine the ecological status of a river
• Understand the interactions between wet land water status and plant community structure
• Gain knowledge of the links between the watercourse, soil properties, climate and position of the water table
• Appreciate the legal framework and directives that underpin river management in UK and EU
• Design and present the case for different management options for the protection, restoration, rehabilitation and/or maintenance of a case river and/or wetland to achieve improved ecological status
• Communicate findings in a professional manner in written and visual forms within the specified time-frame.

• River management objectives and ecological status
• Policy and legal framework (eg. WFD)
• Rivers behaviour; Flow types, determination of channel roughness
• Distinction between wetland and wet land. Types of water table control problem
• Water budgets
• Plant responses to water table change. Plant community mosaics in shallow water table situations
• Hydraulic conductivity and drainable porosity
• Biological communities in rivers and processes determining ecological status; and flow regime requirements
• Flow regimes; Flow duration and frequency; Estimation of low flows; the HOST classification of soils
• River restoration and rehabilitation.