Understanding the tides crucial for joint management of the Scheldt Estuary
Taal, M.; Meersschaut, Y.; Liek, G.-J. (2015). Understanding the tides crucial for joint management of the Scheldt Estuary, in: Scheldt Estuary: physics and integrated management - Special Session on of the 36th IAHR WORLD CONGRESS, 28 June – 3 July, 2015, Delft and The Hague, the Netherlands. pp. 7-10
In: (2015). Scheldt Estuary: physics and integrated management - Special Session on of the 36th IAHR WORLD CONGRESS, 28 June – 3 July, 2015, Delft and The Hague, the Netherlands. Deltares: Delft. 110 pp.
The Scheldt estuary is situated in the Netherlands and Flanders/Belgium. Both countries collaborate in policy,management and research, as laid down in a treaty of 2005. Preservation of the ‘physical characteristics of the estuary’plays an important role in formulating objectives, but it is still debated ‘what exactly should be preserved’. What exactlyshould be preserved’ has a diversity over the various places, as both actual values and driving forces are different alongsites. A management plan in such detail is not available.Recent research has shown which role the tidal intrusion has in these discussions. Tidal intrusion as (an indicator of the)objective for future policy (i) reflects a long term development, (ii) can be linked to changes within the estuary itself,including sediment management and (iii) can be evaluated easily, as for practically all user-functions the increase in tidalamplification is regarded as negative. As a conclusion we pose that we need to accept that from science alone we cannotexpect an unambiguous answer when preservation of the ‘physical characteristics of the estuary’ is fulfilled.
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