A Methodology for the Development of Land Use Evolution and Restoration Scenarios in Flanders

This article presents a methodology for development of land use evolutions and restoration scenarios as part of an Ecosystem-based River Basin Management intervention measure. The response of ecosystems to restoration is most unpredictable and may result in transitory unstable ecosystems that may persist for decades. Successful water management requires knowledge on which wetlands perform different and/or specific hydrological functions. The restoration methodologies detailed in this article include restoration of infiltration, retention, and seepage. Four types of wetlands are restored. A distinction is made between groundwater dependent wetlands and wetlands that are influenced by in-stream water tables or surface water inundations. Determining factors for site selection were topographical indices, soil data, wetland vegetation indicators, and current land use status. This study focused on the position of the wetlands in the catchment and hydrological typology. A Spatial Analysis tool, SPAN was used for land use modeling and spatial analysis, while the distributed hydrological modeling was done in MIKE SHE.