Controlled Reservoir Drawdown—Challenges for Sediment Management and Integrative Monitoring: An Austrian Case Study–Part A: Reach Scale

For Europe, a reduction of 80% of the potential storage volume due to reservoir sedimentation is predicted by 2080. Sedimentation processes trigger the decrease of the storage volume and a related restriction in hydropower production. Further, the artificial downstream flushing of deposited fines has manifold effects on the aquatic ecology, including changes in morphology and sediment quality, as well as increased turbidity and subsequent stress for aquatic species. However, it is common to lower the water surface of reservoirs for technical inspections, which is not comparable to reservoir flushing operations. The presented case study deals with such a controlled drawdown beyond the operational level of the Gepatsch reservoir (Tyrol, Austria). Based on the awareness of possible ecological consequences, an advanced set of measures and an integrative monitoring design, consisting of a detailed event-based quantification of suspended sediments, changes in the morphology, especially with respect to fine sediments, and analyses of the biological quality element fish on the reach scale along the Inn River have been developed.