Fluvial geomorphological approach to river assessment-methodology and procedure

Year, pages: 2007, 107 - 129

In the last two decades, the management of rivers has developed into the form of a multifunctional procedure built upon the holistic base that unites scientific know-ledge, engineering interventions, control of pollution, water resource management, fisheries, transports, energy economy and protection of rivers. The paper presents a review of basic groups of publications in the field. The methodology of river morphology assessment based on ideas of the role of thresholds in river morphology sensitivity, and stages of aggradation and degradation of channel and floodplain morphology are regarded as principle tendencies of river morphology change. Secondly, the article shows the basic features of the geomorphic assessment framework of rivers. The main principles of the assessment procedure consisting of comparison between the properties of river reach and reference reach conditions are designed. The proposed framework includes guidance on sample site selection, field procedures and the scoring system for the assessment as well as guidance on training, certification and intercalibration procedures. The assessment is based on the principle that the highest quality is obtained when the hydromorphological conditions are as close to the reference situation as possible and when the spatial variation is as large as possible.

Lehotský, M., Grešková, A. 2007. Fluvial geomorphological approach to river assessment-methodology and procedure. In Geografický časopis, vol. 59, no.2, pp. 107-129. 0016-7193.

Lehotský, M., Grešková, A. (2007). Fluvial geomorphological approach to river assessment-methodology and procedure. Geografický časopis, 59(2), 107-129. 0016-7193.