- Zeb Hogan, “Global Swimways and Migratory Megafish: Current Status and Future Opportunities“.
- Pao Fernández Garrido, “Progress, challenges and achievements on dam removal in Europe the last 10 years“.
- Gabriel Singer, “The river as a habitat for river ecologists“.
- Jeff Duda, “Science and dam removal: Lessons learned from local to continental scales“.
Presentations
We had some amazing presentations during the Fish Passage Conference 2024.
View or download the presentations below.
The Free Flow Conference is not responsible for materials used in these presentations.
Keynote Presentations
Free Flow (A) Room
A1 - Implementing European Biodiversity Targets and EU policies for free-flowing rivers
- Wouter van de Bund, “Is my river free-flowing? Towards a common European method showing the benefits of barrier removal for river connectivity“.
- Bart Fokkens, “River continuity restoration policies and freshwater ecosystem restoration“.
- Melissa de Raaij, “Towards a free(er) flowing Netherlands“.
- Twan Stoffers, “Reviving Europe’s rivers: Seven challenges in the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law to restore free-flowing rivers“.
A2 - 20 years of WFD: What did this bring to free-flowing rivers
- Valentina Bastino, “River restoration in EU Water and Nature policy“.
- Marc Daniel Heintz, “37 years of effort to restore fish migration in the Rhine River basin – where do we stand?“.
A3 - Freshwater fish and fisheries: restoration of migratory fish populations
- Emilien Lasne, “A toolbox to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of Atlantic salmon recolonisation after dam removal on the Sélune River (Normandy, France)“.
- Johan Watz, “Removal of lake outlet dams in Sweden and its effects on fish communities“.
- Emma Cordier, “The establishment of the TransEuropean Swimways Network and Swimways of European Importance“.
- Sebastian Rock, “Parasitic freshwater pearl mussels induce upstream movement in their brown trout hosts: Early evidence of an extended phenotype“.
A4 - Dam Removal – Large dams
- Morton McMillen, “Planning and implementation for the removal of the four dam complex of the lower Klamath project“.
- Laura Soissons, “Ecological restoration of the Selune River (Normandy, France) through the removal of two large dams“.
- Keith Denton, “Ecosystem response to the removal of the Elwha River dams, Washington State, United States of America“.
- Riku Rinnevalli, “Monitoring the very first large-scale dam removals in Finland – Preliminary results“.
A5 - Large scale fish passage solutions
- Katja Philippart, “Fish migration river: Nature-based large scale fishway between Waddensea and Lake IJssel. Under construction now! Adaptive design, construction and research ambitions“.
- Mark Yeldham “Severn Unlocked? The response of two anadromous fishes to catchment-scale barrier mitigation in the River Severn revealed using acoustic telemetry“.
- Vincent Autier, “Horizontal fish screen solution for downstream fish
passage at a historic dam used to restore Lahontan cutthroat trout population“. - Reid Swanson, “Fishpass – A vision for selective fish passage solutions to the connectivity conundrum“.
- Ulrike Drabek, “Nature-based solutions for fishways“.
A6 - River restoration projects
- Ewa Leś, “The greatest water management challenges in the Baltic Sea region“.
- Peter Mathisen, “Rivers of LIFE – Examples of holistic restorations and problem solving in boreal rivers“.
- Wendy Katagi, “Los Angeles river watershed fish passage, restoration, and flows“.
- Panos Panagiotopoulos, “Restoring a lowland river basin: Effects of fishways, removing barriers and remeandering on fish and invertebrate communities“.
Otter (B) Room
B1 - Ecology and hydromorphology of free-flowing rivers
- Piotr Parasiewicz, “Over 200,000 kilometers of free-flowing river habitat in Europe is altered due to impoundments“.
- Victoria Huk, “The effects of the German-Polish expansion of the Odra River on nutrient retention and water quality”.
- Róisín Donovan, “Invisible actors: Thermal responses to low head impounding structures – Identification, quantification, prioritization, and mitigation“.
- Martin Dalvai Ragnoli, “How damming contributes to global warming: Learning from the free-flowing Upper Neretva River in Bosnia-Herzegovina“.
B2 - Dam Removal - Small barriers
- Geoffrey Goll, “Dam removal is not just about dam removal“.
- Kerry Brink, “How dam removal has opened up >1817 km of river in Europe“.
- Hamish Moir, “The sustainable ‘nature-based’ management of dam and weir structures: Design and implementation – Case studies from Scotland, England and Iceland“.
- Camila Kuncar, “Improving river governance: Removal of dams on the Ega River“.
- Giandomenico Mercuri, “Giov & Go: Free-flowing Giovenco. Defragmentation interventions on the Giovenco River: Connecting stakeholders to reconnect the river“.
B3 - Nature-based solutions
- Sebastian Birk, “Building blocks for upscaling freshwater Naturebased Solutions in Europe“.
- Paul Brotherton, “Natural sponges: Wetland solutions to protect against floods and droughts“.
- Péter Kajner, “Involving local stakeholders into lateral connectivity restoration along the River Tisza, Hungary“.
- Mario Brillinger, “Nature-based solutions for the Elbe estuary?“
- Laurice Ereifej, “Living Danube Partnership for restoration: 1+1+1=5?Innovative partnership between corporate, governmental platform and NGO“.
B4 - Small scale fish passage solutions
- Pieter Boets, “Fish migration passages on smaller watercourses: How
effective are they?“. - Robert Feurich, “Improving fish passage by an unstructured block ramp“.
- Arantxa Unzurrunzaga, “From theory to practice with naturalized design“.
- Falko Wagner, “Risk assessment for fish passing turbines, pumps and hydraulic structures: A methodological framework and innovative methods“.
- David Buysse, “An Archimedes screw threesome: A study evaluating the fish friendliness of three Archimedes screw variants“.
B5 - River restoration tools
- Ruben van Treeck, “Prioritizing barrier removals in Germany – a GIS and feasibility approach“.
- Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, “Are satellite images reliable for filling barrier data gaps? Modelling barrier discovery to achieve free-flowing river targets“.
- Amaia Rodeles, “A method for fish meta-population connectivity evaluation and barrier removal optimization“.
- Jaime Ricardo Garcia Marquez, “Estimating fish habitat fragmentation patterns and simulating barrier removal to target habitat restoration efforts“.
B6 - Ecology and hydromorphology of free-flowing rivers
- Carmen Rethschulte, “Weir management and the impact on peak floods and sediment flushing as key factors for the upper Isar alluvial dynamics“.
- Miriam Colls, “Green house gas emissions from dammed river basin – A case study at basin scale“.
- Marcis Saklaurs, “Management of water and forest ecosystems in the Salaca River basin“.
- Twan Stoffers, “Ontogenetic habitat shifts by juvenile fishes highlight the
importance of permanent river-floodplain connectivity and habitat heterogeneity“. - Tamara Leite, “The state of European river network connectivity”.
Sturgeon (C) Room
C1 - River restoration projects
- Ana Catarina Miranda, “Rollin’Rivers – People, knowledge and action to enhance river restoration in Portugal“.
- Paweł Pawlaczyk, “Natural fluvial processes as a tool of river restoration (example of Polish Surface Waters Restoration Programme)“.
- Tim Feierfeil, “Structural measures for the near-natural development of the Neckar in Mannheim“.
- Johanna Hägglund, “Ecostreams: Holistic approach to restoring aquatic habitats in Northern Sweden“.
C2 - River restoration for LIFE (EU LIFE projects)
- Katarina Mravcova, “LIFE Living rivers: Restoring rivers in Slovakia”.
- Vibeke Lirås, “LIFE CONNECTS creates free-flowing rivers in Southern Sweden“.
- Sílvia Pedro, “LIFE Agueda – Restoring river connectivity for migratory fish in the Vouga River basin“.
- Patrik Olofsson, “Reviving freshwater pearl mussel populations and their habitats – LIFE REVIVES“.
- Joel Rees-Jones, “LIFEDeeRiver, restoring one of the most regulated rivers in Europe“.
C3 - Road dams / Culverts retrofitting
- Erica Borum, “A Nature-based Solution at roadstream crossings: Free-flowing and flood resilient“.
- Niklas Kemi, “The Swedish transport administrations successful work with removing barriers“.
- Matīss Žagars, “Mapping impassable culverts to be removed in the highly ecologically prioritized Gauja River“.
- Thiago Couto, “Connecting water and people by improving road-crossing infrastructure in the Brazilian Amazon“.
C4 - Cultural and socioeconomic aspects of free-flowing rivers
- Anna Scaini, “Uncovering the invisible connection between people and rivers“.
- Rob Cunningham, “Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions in water management sector – Example from Croatia“.
- Brigitta Mikus, “Ecosystem services for dam removals in the River Lahn
(Germany)“.
C5 - River restoration for LIFE (EU LIFE projects)
- Karin Olsson, “River restoration for a free-flowing Rönneå River – Challenges and lessons learned“.
- Marc Ordeix, “Restoration of fish migration and beginning of a European sturgeon recovery project in the lower Ebre River (Catalonia) and beyond“.
- Peter Jones, “Overcoming challenges and constraints to delivering effective river restoration: Lessons learnt in the Four Rivers for LIFE project“.
- Sofia Perä, “TRIWA LIFE – The Torne River International Watershed LIFE – Europe’s largest water project“.
- Helena Mühlmann, “LIFE IP IRIS – Integrated River Solutions in Austria – Linking Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive“.
C6 - Freshwater fish and fisheries: Restoration of migratory fish populations
- Remko Verspui, “Spawning migration of North Sea Houting in the Overijsselse Vecht“.
- Ričards Kaupužs, “Successful restoration of migratory fish populations confirms the benefits of dam removal in middle-sized rhithral stream“.
- Stephanie Popp, “Mapping sturgeon habitats: A comprehensive overview of sites, protection status and potential threats in selected river systems“.
- Pieterjan Verhelst, “Downstream spawning migration of European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.): A Europe-wide telemetry meta-analysis“.
- Johannes Kowal, “Temporal developments of longitudinal connectivity: The perspective of potamodromous fish“.
Dragonfly (D) Room
D1 - Conservation of Danube River Basin
- Yusdiel TorresCambas, “Prioritizing conservation and monitoring areas in the Danube River basin: Insights from the DANUBE4all project“.
- Miroslava Rakovská, “Comprehensive efforts towards improvement of the Danube inland delta water regime“.
- Marcell SzaboMeszaros, “Connectivity assessment for fish in the Danube River basin“.
- Mária Šibíková, “NaturaSat Wetland project – A novel tool for riparian vegetation monitoring after river branch system restoration“.
- Anthony Basooma, “Biodiversity data quality flagging checks for distribution models using species ecological and tolerance limits“.
D2 - Hydropower development vs free-flowing rivers
- Esther Carmen, “Navigating change to mainstream barrier removal: Using a Naturebased Solutions (NbS) approach with the hydropower sector across Europe“.
- Peter Rudberg, “Stakeholder collaboration as part of the Swedish national plan for modern environmental provisions for hydropower“.
- Dimitrios Papageorgiou, “Conservation challenges in the Aoos River basin: The threat of small hydropower plants“.
- Valerio Barbarossa, “Strategic restoration and development scenarios to mitigate fish habitat fragmentation for low-impact hydropower in the Mekong“.
- Paul Meulenbroek, “Conservation requirements of European eel (Anquilla anquilla) in a Balkan catchment“.
D3 - River protection in the Western Balkans
- Irma Popovic Dujmovic, “Achieving durable river protection: The United for Rivers initiative in Southeast Europe“.
- Iskra Krstic: Serbia, “A war against rivers and activists“.
- Maja Pravuljac, “Implementation of environmental acquis relevant to hydropower projects in selected Western Balkan countries – Systemic failures and golden standards“.
- Jelena Popovic, “Komarnica canyon, the screaming silence of untouched nature under threat – The battle for its preservation from hydroelectric power“.
D4 - Priority actions towards free-flowing Rhine and Maas rivers
- Tim Vriese, “Connectivity on the River Meuse”.
- Jeroen Tummers, “Connectivity in the River Meuse: Characteristics of a major, flowing bypass“.
- Sam Maijvis, “Ecological continuity of weir complexes for fish in the Water Framework Directive Explorer“.
- Jacco van Rijssel, “Rhine salmon population threatened by multiple hurdles along their migration“.
- Daphne Willems, “Free-flowing rivers in The Netherlands“.
D5 - Priority actions towards free-flowing Rhine and Maas rivers
- Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern, “Upstream passage success of large anadromous fish at the Haringvliet estuarine barrier using long-term telemetry monitoring”.
- Niels Brevé, “Lessons learned from telemetry: How climate change affects pathways of migratory fish in one of Europe’s largest river basins“.
- Maarten Bruns, “Action plan towards a free flowing Rhine and Maas“.
D6 - Dam Removal – Small barriers
- Kristen Coveleski, “Optimizing restoration resources: Removing multiple dams along urban rivers“.
- Josu Elso, “River connectivity restoration to improve diadromous fish populations: LIFE KANTAURIBAI project“.
- Mircea Marginean, “First steps in restoring longitudinal connectivity on Vâlsan River – home of criticaly endangered fish species Asprete“.
- Lorenzo Quaglietta, “Galaxes weir removal: An ORPfunded project kickstarting the civic movement for the restoration of river connectivity in Portugal“.
- Melissa Mahavar-Snow, “Removing redundant gauging weirs to benefit migratory fish in Wales“.
Kingfisher (E) Room
E1 - Cultural and socio-economic aspects of dam removal
- Marq Redeker, “People love their weirs – Moving goalposts in a dam removal project“.
- Miriam Colls, “The adventure of implementing a barrier removal project – A socio-cultural perspective“.
- Clemens Gumpinger, “Dam Removal in Austria – How to move from pilot projects to standard procedure?“.
- Eva Horvat, “Best match on Reka catchment: River barrier inventory with awareness raising activities“.
- Lígia Vaz de Figueiredo, “Can people’s engagement facilitate dam removal processes? Lessons learned from a case study in Portugal“.
E2 - Small scale fish passage solutions
- Olle Calles, “Resolving recruitment bottlenecks for the critically endangered European eel“.
- Rachel Mawer, “Analysing the behaviour of migrating fish to predict movement near barriers“.
- Jamie Dodd, “Can’t pass or won’t pass: Quantifying improved connectivity for riverine brown trout at a low-head gauging weir“.
- Patricija Raibarte, “Monitoring results show slow recovery of lamprey reproduction after construction of a country wise first natural fish passage“.
- Ine Pauwels, “Ten years of adjusted tidal barrier management to enhance glass eel migration at the Belgian coast: what have we learned?“.
E3 - River restoration tools
- Jesse O’Hanley, “Can’t do them all, so how should we prioritize barriers for removal?“.
- Gonçalo Duarte, “RivConnect – A new tool for river network connectivity assessment“.
- Florian Borgwardt, “Riparian zones – A key factor in conservation efforts for terrestrial and freshwater connectivity“.
- Sami Domisch, “Tools to address the longitudinal connectivity in spatial freshwater biodiversity science“.
Workshop
Prioritizing rivers and dams for restoration workshop
- Overview of the workshop
- Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, “Barrier removal: time to prioritize our priorities“.
- Geoffrey Goll, “The known and unknown matrix“.
- Jesse O’Hanley, “OptiPass Demo“.
- Joshua Royte, “River Basin and barrier planning & tools“.
- Paulo Branco, “RivConnect“.
- Ruben van Treeck, “Prioritising barrier removals in Germany – a GIS and feasibility approach“.
