Ontwikkeling waternatuur Overijsselse Vecht 2017-2023 onder invloed van het programma Ruimte voor de Vecht

A coalition of stakeholders, amongst others, the waterboards Drents Overijsselse Delta and Vechtstromen, aim at transforming the river Overijsselse Vecht into a semi-natural lowland river. Along its length restoration measures are being taken, which include removing bank protection, re-meandering, the construction of secondary channels, and the introduction of dead wood. This report describes the state of the macroinvertebrate communities and aquatic vegetation in various stretches of the river, including locations where measures have been taken, control locations without measures and locations where measures are intended in the future. To determine the development of the assemblages after restoration, a measurement program has been carried out that includes repeated sampling of locations sampled in the past, supplemented with measurements at new locations. The observed changes are related to the effectiveness of the measures and it is examined whether there are indications that other environmental factors play a role that have not yet have been addressed.