Institutbeaumont’s Weblog

The course uses the text Tools in Fluvial Geomorphology (Kondolf and Piégay, John Wiley & Sons, 2003), and a compilation of relevant scientific papers and management plans, all provided as part of the course. The language of the course is English, although some French-language references are provided among the readings.

Comparisons of recent experience between the North American and European experience can be very instructive and insightful for both sides, especially to understand what’s been learned from recent restoration experience and innovations in river management, as well as recent technical advances in application of sediment transport to channel design.

Some relevant papers to download are posted below (with frequent updates in coming months):

Changes in the riparian zone of the lower Eygues River, France, since 1830. Kondolf, G.M., H. Piégay, and N. Landon. 2007. Landscape Ecology 22:367-384.

River restoration and meanders. Kondolf, G.M. 2006. Ecology and Society. 11(2):42.

Process-based ecological river restoration: Visualising three-dimensional connectivity and dynamic vectors to recover lost linkages. Kondolf, G.M., A. Boulton, S. O’Daniel, G. Poole, F. Rahel, E. Stanley, E. Wohl, A. Bang, J. Carlstrom, C. Cristoni, H. Huber, S. Koljonen, P. Louhi, and K. Nakamura. 2006. Ecology and Society 11(2):5. BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE APPENDIX ALSO.

Science and Values in River Restoration in the Grand Canyon. Schmidt, J.C., R.H. Webb, R.A. Valdez, G.R. Marzolf, and L.E. Stevens. 1998. Bioscience. 48(9): 735-747.

Hydrological effects of dams and water diversions on rivers of Mediterranean-climate regions: examples from California. Kondolf, G.M., and R.J. Batalla. 2006. In C. Garcia and R.J. Batalla (eds.) Catchment dynamics and river processes: Mediterranean and other climate regions. Elsevier, London. pp.197-211.

Post-Project Appraisals in Adaptive Management of River Channel Restoration. Downs, P.W., and G.M. Kondolf. 2002. Environmental Management 29:477-496.

Channel response to increased and decreased bedload supply from land use change: contrasts between two catchments. Kondolf, G.M., H. Piégay, and N. Landon. 2002. Geomorphology 45:35-51.

Contemporary channel changes in the Eygues basin, southern French Prealps: the relationship of subbasin variability to watershed characteristics. Liébault, F., P. Clément, H. Piégay, C.F. Rogers, G.M. Kondolf, and N. Landon. 2002. Geomorphology 45:53-66.

Reservoir-induced hydrological changes in the Ebro River basin (NE Spain). Batalla, R.J., C.M. Gomez, and G.M. Kondolf. 2004. Journal of Hydrology 290, 117-136.

Two Decades of River Restoration in California: What can we learn? G. M. Kondolf, S. Anderson, R. Lave, L. Pagano, A. Merenlender, and E. S. Bernhardt. 2007. Restoration Ecology. 15(3): 516–523.

COMING SOON TO THIS WEBPAGE:

Europe’s Innovative Water Management: Implications for North America. White paper by GM Kondolf, G Bouleau, J Christian-Smith, and T Grantham:

In 2000, the European Parliament passed the Water Framework Directive (WFD), launching a far-reaching reform of water management throughout European Union (EU) member states. Though little known outside the EU, the WFD and its ongoing implementation provide important lessons for water managers grappling with similar issues in North America: in countries with comparable levels of development but constrained by more rigid, archaic management structures inherited from less-sustainable approaches to managing water.

This paper summarizes key elements of the WFD from a North American perspective, identifies cross-Atlantic influences on the development of the WFD, contrasts the WFD approach with existing water management in North America, and proposes key elements of the WFD that could be adopted to resolve some of the impasses in water management now plaguing the new world.