RECONECT Var River Basin

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Created at: 29 Jan 2019

Description

Description of the Demonstrator

The Var is located in Alpine area (southeast of France) and its characterized as torrential river with steep slopes.

The river Var has a total length of 114 km, with the Tinée, Estéron and Vésubie as its main tributaries cross five main sub-catchments (Tinée, Estéron, Vésubie, Upper Var, and Lower Var). Context Environmental and Geographic context, climate conditions and problem description concerning hydro-meterological risks.

The river section concerned in this project is the Lower Var in total length of 22km approximately, which was previously running freely between the valley slopes. Those featured large, very mobile gravel bars composed of coarse bed material. From the early 19th century on until the 1960s the river was canalized over the entire length of the lower valley, reducing its width (cross section) from about 1000 m (in average between valley slopes) to a 300 m, and even 200 m in the last cross sections close to the sea. To compensate the lowering of the river bed as a result of the extraction of building materials, fixed weirs were constructed to bring the water table back to its original level.

The plaine du Var’s often anarchic development throughout the 20th century, has given it many of the characteristics of an economic suburb of the Nice municipality.

With its 116 000 inhabitants, exceptional landscapes, and range of economic activities, this territory is recognised as an area with the potential for the new approaches and new solutions.

With its geographic context and Mediterranean climate existing hydro meteorological risks call for new solutions. The NBS fit quite well in this area combining traditional and new approaches in managing flood risks.


Samenvatting (Dutch description)

RECONECT Var River Basin

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About the author

Floris Boogaard

• Submitted 2063 projects
• Expert at Water
• Netherlands

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