Synthesis of the SedNet work package 5 outcomes

Acceptance and implementation of a basin-scale approach will require significant work, both technical and political. However, successful development of a basin-scale risk management framework should provide the basis for parties with very different goals for sediment to come together in support of sustainable sediment management. We recommend that effective and sustainable management strategies focus on the entire sediment cycle, including suspension-sedimentation processes along the whole river basin. A Conceptual Basin Model (CBM), describing the dynamic processes (soil-sediment-water-contaminant) within the catchment, should be set up and the basin-scale management objectives (BMOs) should be identified in order to develop a Basin Management Plan. This Basin Management Plan should define/list the goals for both the river basin and individual sites. A comprehensive Basin Scale/Site specific risk management approach is recommended that includes the following steps: 1) The communication between managers and the public, throughout the decision process, 2) The identification of management objectives, 3) The determination of appropriate risk indicators, 4) the usage of risk indicators to prioritise sites on a river basin scale and to rank risks on site-specific scale, 5) the decision making process in which potential effects on the river basin and on the site-specific scale are weighed against each other, taking into account the economic, societal and environmental risk, and finally 6) the selection, implementation and monitoring of the final management option(s). A prerequisite for sediment management on river basin scale is the harmonization of site prioritisation (basin scale) and site-specific assessment (risk ranking) schemes A DPSIR ('Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response') approach, along with the use of CBMs to quantify and communicate basin dynamics, should be used to facilitate communication between stakeholders (including the public). We applied these to describe the relationships between social and societal forces, the objectives of risk management and the potential management options, and the prevailing interests. © 2004 ecomed publishers (Verlagsgruppe Hüthig Jehle Rehm GmbH).