General & project data
The project "LIFE IP IRIS AUSTRIA - Integrated River Solutions in Austria" (LIFE IP IRIS) is the first integrated LIFE project in Austria. The EU-funded project supports integrative planning approaches as a new way to ecologically renaturalize our rivers while improving flood protection. The integrative river basin management aligns the objectives and programs of measures of the National Water Management Plan (according to the EU Water Framework Directive) with those of the National Flood Risk Management Plan (according to the EU Flood Directive) and also takes into account other uses of the rivers. For this purpose, the planning instrument "Watercourse Development and Risk Management Concept" (GE-RM) was developed. This planning tool will be extensively tested in seven Austrian river basins within the framework of the project. By means of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral planning processes, guiding principles and concepts of measures are developed for river courses with a total length of almost 600 km. Structural river restoration measures to improve ecological status as well as flood protection are also implemented as part of the project.
A total of 16.5 million euros will be available over the next 9 years, 10 million of which will come from the EU. The project is managed by the Environment and Water Management Section of the BML. Project partners are the hydraulic engineering administrations of Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Burgenland as well as viadonau and the Federal Environment Agency. The IRIS project is designed for 9 years and includes 4 phases. The focus of the first phase until 2021 is the elaboration of the water development and risk management concepts (GE-RM) in the pilot regions. On the Upper Danube and the Lower Traun, this will be done jointly by the State of Upper Austria and viadonau. In project phases 2 (2022-2023) and 3 (2024-2025), the river engineering measures will be planned and implemented in detail. viadonau is responsible for the extension of the tributary in the Ottensheimer Marktau. In the final project phase 4 (2026-2027), the project results will be summarized and evaluated. Finally, based on the findings of the IRIS project, the guideline for the preparation of GE-RM concepts will be revised and recommendations for the future application of GE-RM planning in Austria will be derived.
The Danube in Upper Austria:
safe and livable
Since 2022, the Danube in Upper Austria has a water development and risk management concept that forms the basis for the sustainable development of the river in the coming decades. The concept was developed together with the state of Upper Austria and is also available on the LIFE IRIS website (german).
Partners
Duration & Budget
January 2019 – December 2027
Budget: 16.5 million EUR
Latest & Project Status
- LIFE IP IRIS AUSTRIA (Integrated River Solutions in Austria) is the first integrated LIFE project in Austria under the leadership of the BML (duration 2019-2027, total budget EUR 16.5 million, of which EUR 10 million is EU funding). The project partners are the hydraulic engineering administrations of Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Burgenland as well as viadonau and the Federal Environment Agency.
- viadonau worked with the Upper Austrian government to draw up the water development and risk management plan (GE-RM) for the Upper Austrian Danube and lower Traun as the main focus of the first project phase, which runs until the end of 2022. The Danube action plan developed in the process contains a total of around 170 proposals for the ecomorphological improvement of the banks and floodplain areas as a basis for future renaturation measures.
- In the following project phases, viadonau is responsible for the planning and implementation of the pilot project ‘Extension of the Danube side arm Marktau’. In mid-2023, the application was submitted to the authorities for the construction of an approximately 400 m long side arm in the downstream waters of the Ottensheim-Wilhering Danube power plant and accompanying bank structuring measures.
- Once all official authorisations had been obtained in spring 2024, the tender planning and the local and ecological construction supervision were commissioned. Parallel to the preparation of the tender for the earthworks, the clearing activities on the approx. 4.1 ha area of the future island and tributary system were carried out in autumn 2024.
- The tender review for the tendered earthworks (relocation of around 290,000 m³ of gravel and fine sediments) is currently underway and is scheduled to start in July 2025 after the end of the fish spawning season.
- In the final project phase 4 (2026-2027), the project results will be summarised and evaluated. Based on the findings from the IRIS project, the guidelines for the preparation of GE-RM concepts will be revised and recommendations for the future application of GE-RM planning in Austria will be derived.
For more information, see https://life-iris.at/donau/.
Activities
13.07.2023
During a boat trip at Aschach (Upper Austria), representatives of BOKU Vienna (IWA), the state of Upper Austria, the planning offices (Zauner and Riocom) and VHP (Austrian energy provider) inspected existing renaturation measures on the basis of the GE-RM Danube Upper Austria and agreed on future projects in the field of renaturation and solids management as well as a possible cooperation.
The project makes a substantial contribution to the implementation of measure 17. Execute restoration measures implementing the EU Water Framework Directive of the Action Programme for the Danube 2022 and the work package 10. Implementing renaturation, species and habitat protection projects in the sense of Good Ecological Status/Potential and Favourable Conservation Status along the Danube/March/Thaya of the Action Programme Danube 2030.
