FLOODPLAIN REHABILITATION SCHEMES: EXAMPLE OF THE KAPOS FLOODPLAIN, HUNGARY

Lóczy, Dénes

Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Pécs, Hungary

Abstract

The restoration of rehabilitation of channelized rivers can only be successful if the establishment of a close-to-natural new channel is accompanied by a complex rehabilitation of the floodplain. Floodplain rehabilitation necessitates the assessment of present-day hydromorphological and landscape ecological conditions and the rehabilitation potential of the geomorphologically identified floodplain segments. The paper presents an example a rehabilitation measures from Hungary: the floodplain of the fully channelized Kapos River of low discharge with virtually no active floodplain and poor landscape connectivity on the protected floodplain. However, along some sections, in the embayments, where the floodplain is broader, there is opportunity to implement rehabilitation measures and reach the objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive for rivers in modified state. A scheme for channel and dyke relocation is proposed – without details of the engineering implementation.

Keywords: floodplain rehabilitation, rehabilitation potential, river regulation, dyke relocation, Hungar

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