With this project, the Austrian waterways organisation via donau aims to counter the gradual deepening of the riverbed while improving the ecological status of the riparian landscape. The deepening not only poses a problem to waterway cargo transport but, due to the concurrent lowering of the groundwater table, also threatens the existence of the internationally acclaimed Donau-Auen National Park. A three-kilometre-long river section in the area of the National Park served as a testing ground to monitor the ecological improvements. The cost of the river revitalisation project at Hainburg, which was conducted between 2002 and 2006, amounted to 1.78 million euros. 40 percent of the funds came from the EU’s Life Nature Programme.
The Austrian portion was financed by the Donau-Auen National Park, the environmental department of the Lower Austrian government, the BMLFUW, and via donau. The project was managed by the Donau-Auen National Park and via donau was in charge of planning and construction.
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(Source: aqua press Int. 3/2009)
