As a symbolic action during our Fiere Rivers campaign, sewers in all regions would be tagged ” The sea starts here “. This is to make people aware of the consequences of waste in the water. Action was therefore taken in the various regions.
22 maart is het Wereldwaterdag en dat wilden we niet zomaar voorbijdrijven. In Vlaanderen, Brussel en Wallonië wilden we twee weken lang het belang van gezonde rivieren vieren met tal van gratis wateractiviteiten voor jong en oud. Op 9 maart gaven we het startsein voor de campagne bij onze uitgevoerde werken aan de Paempsemlaan in Brussel. Helaas bleef het daarbij.
In Brussel en Wallonië bestaan de “Waterdagen” al verschillende jaren, in Vlaanderen zou dit een primeur geweest zijn dankzij de ondersteuning van Belini. Naast het openingsevent aan de de Paepsemlaan stond onder andere een demonstratie van de waterkwaliteit aan het Sluispark in Leuven, de verkenning van de natuurlijke waterbekken aan de Coercq in Tubeke op het programma. Een sfeerimpressie van het openingsevent en een mooie timelapse video van de werken in Brussel vind je hieronder.
On 22 November, no less than 138 participants came to the Cultural Centre in Mechelen for the second Dyle-Senne Day.
As part of Life Belini, we were obviously also present on this important day for our project zone.
It was a very successful and busy edition, which began by introducing the Integral Water Policy and the regional vision being prepared on the rivers Dyle and Senne. Orion continued by explaining the charter for intergovernmental collaboration on the open space in Mechelen’s River district.
During a well-deserved coffee break, visitors were able to visit the various stands at the info market, including our own about the Belini project. The morning session resumed with some exciting inspiration sessions about ‘daring to choose open space’, ‘water as a leverage for the landscape’, and ‘the heart of nature’.
The morning ended with all partners signing the strategic project ORIOM, the charter for intergovernmental collaboration on the open space in Mechelen’s River district. In the afternoon, the various accomplishments could be viewed in practice. The bike rides, walks and boat trips in the sunshine topped the day off!
On 14 November, we organised a workshop on the implementation of ‘deviations’ to the river basin management plans. With 100 participants and a lot of knowledge shared, we can safely say the workshop was a success.
The Water Framework Directive aims for good water conditions, ideally in 2015. Many member states cannot yet meet this and are therefore defending the need for “deviations” referring to technical feasibility, affordability or the speed with which the water system can restore itself. This evaluation and its underpinning arguments must be included in the river basin management plans.
From 2027, however, a number of the potential deviations will cease to apply, in particular the term extension owing to technical feasibility or affordability. Given that most member states are using precisely these arguments, ample work is underway to review what the consequences of this would be and how the future plans could be drawn up.
The workshop took place within the “common implementation strategy”. Ever since the directive was introduced – in December 2000 – the member states, the European Commission and the stakeholders have been working together to implement the Water framework directive within this context. The Belini project provided practical support.
Representatives from 8 different member states explained their experiences, along with sharing ideas on the future River Basin Management Plans. The participants appreciated the open sharing of knowledge, but also emphasised that further collaboration and information sharing would be of the utmost importance.
On Sunday 13 October, we inaugurated the fish ladder in Leuven along with Flanders Environment Agency. Many people showed an interest in this achievement on a sunny day. Thanks to this fish ladder, fish can now swim upstream around the weir and reach the upper and side waters of the Dyle to spawn and rear their young there. An initial test revealed a range of fish species.
In the region of Sluispark, the weir on the fourth arm of the Dyle ensures that the water in the Dyle is high enough to feed the canal. This creates a difference in level of more than one and a half metres between the waterline upstream and downstream from the weir, which prevents the fish from swimming further upstream.
Fish are already finding their way
In order to resolve this sticking point for fish migration, the Flemish Environment Agency built a fish ladder around the weir with support from the LIFE Belini project. This fish ladder splits up the unbridgeable difference in level into 23 smaller steps of 7cm, which the fish are able to swim up. The various fish species can make their way upwards through the small openings between the large stepping stones.
Initial research revealed that at least 8 species of fish were already using the fish ladder or had settled in it. These were typical stream fish with a preference for flowing water, such as chub and dace, among others. But unusually, the presence of two spirlins was also noted. This fish is mainly found in fast-flowing side waters of the Maas, such as Semois, Lesse and Ourthe, but also feels at home in the swirling waters of this rock-lined fish ladder.
Accessible ladder
The design of the fish ladder was chosen to be of interest not only to the fish, but also to visitors to Sluispark. It is possible to walk around the fish ladder or cut through it using stepping stones. This allows people to get closer to the water, which offers a better experience. The photos below show how many people are already enjoying this.
The various partners in the Belini project came together on Thursday 12 September to exchange their experiences and results from the previous months. Our auditors from NEEMO and EASME also attended the meeting in Tubize.
By tradition, the weather gods are well-disposed to us, which proved to be the case this time also. Although the morning sunshine was looking inviting, we spent the first part of the day at the Tubize town hall. During our time there, we reviewed how far our project had come and our collective points to work on, along with any problems and potential solutions.
For example, our discussion included how expropriation procedures are going in the various regions and the development of a new model to help us achieve a good ecological condition for a watercourse. All in all, a great deal of food for thought and discussion.
Later on, in the afternoon, we reviewed what Belini means in practice. Our partner SPW DGO 3 brought us along to their temporary natural flood plain on the Cœurq. This area was constructed earlier this year and brought into operation in the spring. The biodiversity and the ecosystems here will be monitored further over the next few years.
A few images below offer a sense of the atmosphere.
On 25 April, Flemish Minister for Public Works, Ben Weyts, and the Flemish Minister for Nature, Koen Van den Heuvel travelled by canoe along the new Demer Bend between Diest and Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. It is the first of dozens of meanders that had been cut off to be reconnected in order to combat the danger of flooding and drought.
With one stroke, this will make the entire vicinity of the Demer far more pleasant for both animals and people. The Demer was straightened a few decades ago by blocking off meanders, leaving the river with less room to flow, which increased the danger of flooding. As part of the Demer Valley Sigma Project, dozens of bends between Diest and Werchter, which had been cut off, are being reconnected to the river. This first reconnection is taking place as part of the Life Belini project.
Reconnecting old meanders provides extra room for water to flow, making high water levels on the Demer more manageable. This also results in a more varied, beautiful and ecological landscape. The surrounding banks of the first meander in Vinkenberg are being arranged in a natural manner over a distance of 500 metres.
Work on the new natural flood plain on the Coeurcq in Tubize has now been completed. The new flood plain was already in service during the heavy rainfall in early March.
This flood plain is a wonderful first result from the Belini project and, in particular, an excellent collaboration between the city of Tubize, the province of Walloon Brabant, the Walloon Public Service (DGO3), the Walloon Brabant Intercommunal Association and Contrat de Rivière Senne.
On 16 October 2018, the first of three workshops was held on Exemptions in the Water Framework Directive. When do we use Article 4.7 as a consequence of a marked morphological change in the water body?
More than 30 participants, spread over the three regions and various stakeholder groups (water managers, Natuurpunt and several consulting firms), participated in the discussion. The meeting was organised by Brussels Environment and moderated by experts from the Flanders Environment Agency, Brussels Environment and Public Service of Wallonia.
No ready-made solutions
Using manuals and examples, the workshop explained how Art. 4.7 and the Weser ruling in Germany should be interpreted and applied. It became clear from the workshop that a ready-made solution applicable to all projects does not exist. Each project must be evaluated in its own right and assessed as to whether an exemption in the form of Article 4.7 is necessary and applicable. A knowledge exchange between the experts from the various regions is therefore essential in arriving at a more general assessment framework for making projects “Weser-proof”.
View the presentation here.
On 10 and 11 April, LIFE Belini organised a LIFE IP Platform event in Brussels. 40 delegates of LIFE projects from different European member states came together to share their ideas and experiences with one other.
The LIFE IP Platform took place last Tuesday and Wednesday at the Herman Teirlinck building in Brussels. Various projects, both already in progress and in their preparation phase, were represented, with a healthy mix of topics relating to water, nature and climate.
The goal of the event was to exchange ideas and experiences concerning the common challenges in project and communication management. The projects were given the opportunity to introduce themselves to one another and to share their experience with the projects in preparation. The projects also looked at finding joint initiatives for future collaboration. Other themes were also addressed, such as monitoring the project and stakeholder management.
The two-day event ended with a guided visit to the Doode Bemde in Leuven. This nature reserve is a fine example of what a natural water retention area can look like. In Belini, plans for realising several natural water retention areas in the river basin of the Dijle in Namur are still on the drawing board.
The successful conference is a good start to a closer collaboration between the different European LIFE IP projects.