Standards Development

Scope

River restoration may be defined as “the re-establishment of natural physical processes (e.g. variation of flow and sediment movement), features (e.g. sediment sizes and river shape) and physical habitats of a river system (including submerged, bank and floodplain areas)”. This definition, from the IUCN (NC UK) report on River Restoration and Biodiversity (Addy et al., 2016), will underpin the CEN standard.

River restoration may be defined as “the re-establishment of natural physical processes (e.g. variation of flow and sediment movement), features (e.g. sediment sizes and river shape) and physical habitats of a river system (including submerged, bank and floodplain areas)”. This definition, from the IUCN (NC UK) report on River Restoration and Biodiversity (Addy et al., 2016), will underpin the CEN standard.

The CEN standard on river hydromorphology (EN 14614: “Water quality – Guidance standard for accessing the hydromorphological features of rivers”) will provide the link to the approach approved for use under the WFD. (EN 14614 is at present subject to revision.) The scope of the standard should be broad, covering the varied reasons for undertaking river restoration, all spatial scales of restoration (river channels, riparian areas, floodplains, and set within a framework of catchment management), and those fields of study needed for planning and undertaking river restoration, such as hydrology, geomorphology, ecology and biology. The standard should address the benefits of river restoration for biodiversity, flood control, water quality, landscape, and human health and wellbeing, and should recognise the emphasis on ‘natural capital’ and on ‘nature-based solutions’ that are currently being advocated by many European governments.

The standard should be aspirational, showing what can be achieved in the absence of constraints, while at the same time recognising the limitations that may restrict the outcomes of river restoration. The standard will not attempt to be overly prescriptive, because of the many types of rivers and streams that occur throughout Europe, but it should specify a set of minimum standards that are needed if river restoration is to be successful. It will recognise where good practice already exists and seek to build on it.

Purpose

In many countries the importance attached to restoring rivers that have been damaged by human activities has been growing steadily. Within Europe, much of the impetus for restoration has come from the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as well as from other European legislation such as the Habitats Directive, and to meet a wide range of local, regional and national needs in many European countries. The increasing emphasis on river restoration is illustrated by two European projects – REFORM (https://reformrivers.eu/) and RESTORE:

(https://restorerivers.eu). These describe the tools needed for the physical restoration of rivers and streams in Europe with reference to a comprehensive suite of project examples.

The objectives of a CEN standard on river restoration include the following:

* to provide a framework for developing river restoration programmes

* to guide users through the process needed for planning and undertaking river restoration

* to make clear when active restoration is needed, and when not to intervene

* to demonstrate, through the use of case studies, the benefits that accrue from river restoration

* to describe the minimum standards needed for pre-restoration data collection and post-restoration monitoring.

The standard should be aimed at staff in environment agencies, statutory conservation bodies, appropriate government departments, local authorities, national NGOs, restoration practitioners (e.g. environmental consultancies), landowners, and those involved in applied research relevant to river restoration. It should appeal to those who are not yet involved with river restoration as well as to those who are.

Note: in case the WI is based on documents from other organizations than ISO/IEC, please specify it here