Operation and maintenance
There are no detailed operation and maintenance plans yet. In general, nature will develop by itself and interference will only occur if the nature is developing in an unwanted direction. Monitoring plans of the pilots focus on flora and fauna and, for the Mallegatpark, on sedimentation.
General operation and maintenance
Pilot Wervenpark:
For the development of the tidal park an operation and maintenance plan is very important. At the moment there is no detailed plan. During a workshop the maintenance aspects were discussed. This formed the start for a new vision on maintenance from a Building with Nature point of view. In this view ecological knowledge is important. Normally the maintenance aims at recovering the constructed situation. In this case however, the nature will get space and time to develop by itself. Measures will only be taken if the nature is developing in an unwanted direction.
In the maintenance plan, undesired conditions and potential maintenance options will be described. Maintenance will focus on the development and maintenance of the vegetation and on erosion/sedimentation. The use of ecological interesting wave breakers, for example a wooden dam, should be taken into account in the maintenance plan.
Pilots Mallegatpark and Nassauhaven:
For the Mallegatpark no maintenance plan has been set up yet. For the Nassauhaven a management and operation plan is available. After the construction of the river bank is finished the Municipality will be responsible for the management and maintenance.
Monitoring
Pilot Wervenpark:
The vegetation and fauna in the Wervenpark were monitored before the tidal zone was realised. The monitoring results were used for the system analysis and the design of the park. These results can also be used as a reference for the vegetation and fauna development. Further monitoring can be useful for the maintenance plan and as input for future designs of tidal parks. A monitoring plan has been written for the Wervenpark in Dordrecht (Geest et al., 2016).
Pilots Mallegatpark and Nassauhaven:
The Rotterdam team has initiated the setup of a monitoring plan whereby Ecoshape and Rijkswaterstaat were consulted. Rijkswaterstaat will also contribute financially to the monitoring because of their Water Framework Directive requirements. The monitoring plan of Mallegatpark is not final yet, but will focus on aquatic vegetation, fish species, riparian and terrestrial vegetation, insects and birds. Furthermore, the amount of sedimentation will be monitored.
In the Nassauhaven ecological monitoring will take place for approximately 5-6 years and has started in 2016 with a zero measurement. As the project goal is to increase biodiversity among different species groups, monitoring focuses on fish, macrofauna and (riparian / aquatic) vegetation. The results of the zero measurement showed a relatively large amount of young eel taking into account that this species is under pressure. Secondly, some species where found that normally live in a more brackish environment. Furthermore, the harbour is inhabited by a relatively large amount of exotic species. Finally, at some locations in the Nassauhaven some vegetation species that are characteristic for tidal environments already settled.