Author(s): Peeters Patrik; Leonid Verzhbitskiy; Tom Maris; Maarten Stevens; Peter Viaene
Linked Author(s): Patrik Peeters
Keywords: Schelde-estuary; Actualised Sigmaplan; Fish migration; Tide gate; Pet door
Abstract: Recent National Legislation as well as European Directives aim for a better state of our rivers and therefore stress the need for river restoration, giving more space for the river, solving fish migration issues etc. In Flanders (northern part of Belgium), a major part of recent water management projects deal with restoring the possibility for fish to migrate upstream, mainly overcoming sluices and gated weirs. However, along the tidal reach of the Schelde, numerous tide gates are in place to prevent the upstream movement of (brackish) estuarine waters into small tributaries and hence hamper fish to migrate freely. The idea of installing so-called “pet doors” is not new. But the reason why this seemingly simple solution cannot be found everywhere is probably the lack of data on its working principle. Therefore a research program was elaborated to evaluate different fish-friendlier tide gate designs in order to establish some guidelines for water management in practice.
Year: 2009