Evaluation of modeled, localized erosion protection measures within a pilot region with risk of erosion.

Duration:
2019 - 2024/25

Financing:
Federal State of Upper Austria

Contact Person:
Matthias Zessner

Project Staff:
Eva Strenge

National Partners:
Federal Environmental Agency
wpa Beratende Ingenieure
Büro blattfisch e.U.

Brief information on the project

Within the project the development and application of the raster-based transport and emission model PhosFate is performed to identify and localise emission hotspots for erosive sediment and phosphorus inputs into surface waters and erosion protection measures. The model is applied on a catchment scale. The identification of hotspots is based on a combined modelling of emission, retention and transport for each grid cell. This in turn enables to trace back emission origins in agricultural fields and thereby allows an effective and cost-efficient localisation of erosion mitigation measures.

The modelling of buffer strips as measures rest on the identification of hotspot-fields. Additionally, preferential flow paths on the field can be identified and, based on a certain threshold, also be greened as an erosion protection measure. The PhosFate model was applied to 8 Upper Austria catchments, which did not reach the environmental quality target goals of phosphorous. During a mapping of 3 subcatchments, a good agreement of the identified hotspots was found in the field. In order to evaluate the effect of the modelled buffer strips and greening of preferential flow paths a pilot region was selected, in which the modelled and further erosion protection measures will be implemented, and assessed by a monitoring program. The water quality will be assessed by the concentration and loads of phosphorous and suspended solids as well as the sediment situation of the stream bed and biological quality elements such as fish, phytobenthos and macrozoobenthos.