Science and water management want to investigate the effects of climate change on the Lech and contain them. Climate change is increasingly endangering species in the river and threatening its ecosystem, researchers at the University of Augsburg said on Tuesday. The EU-funded “LifeE Project Contempo2” is about strengthening the ecosystems in and around the Lech, despite the use of hydropower. Due to climate change, significantly lower water levels and higher water temperatures can be expected in Europe’s rivers at times. This affects both the climate-friendly generation of energy from hydropower and the river ecosystem, it said.
On the Lech, for example, most of the water is fed into a canal from Gersthofen and used in the LEW power plants to generate electricity. The adjacent alluvial forests are also irrigated from the Lech Canal. In particularly dry hot periods, the residual water in the “mother bed” can warm up quickly and side water bodies can run dry – with dramatic consequences for fish and other organisms.
LEW Wasserkraft GmbH and the Environmental Science Center of the University of Augsburg are now examining the positions of various stakeholders with other municipal and scientific partners. The aim is to actively control the water temperatures and the oxygen content on the Lech and to keep them within an uncritical range. Many species of fish such as brown trout or grayling depend on cold and oxygen-rich water. Additional floodplain streams are intended to make the river habitat of the diversion route resistant to the consequences of climate change. At the same time, hydroelectric power generation should also be ensured during dry periods. The findings are to be transferred to comparable rivers.