The Gail Once More Full of Life and Safe

LIFE+ GAIL NATUR FLUSS LIFE-project Gail – Concise Report the gail once more full of life and safe 1 Prefaces Content In the past five years, With the LIFE-project much has happened at at the Gail, the Federal the middle section of the Water Engineering Ad- Gail in the municipalities ministration in Carinthia of Feistritz, Nötsch and has set an impressive Welcome to one of Nature’s jewels – The European Protected Area Görtschacher Moos ...4 St. Stefan. Not only on site at the river, but sign. The project shows a common path for The Gail – a heavily regulated river................................................................................................6 also in the minds of the people. They have an optimum of ecological amelioration and once more experienced their river, the Gail, simultaneous adherence to the guidelines The LIFE-project Gail – A model for integrated river development.........................................8 and have learned to value it – as a life vein, a set by flood protection. An Overview of the Measures........................................................................................................10 local recreation area or simply as a source of On three pilot stretches along the Gail, employment in a rural region. different variants of measures for the A new bed for the Gail – A test with three „pilot stretches“.....................................................12 The LIFE-project repeatedly served as a maintenance of the discharge profile were Measures outside the Gail..............................................................................................................16 catalyst: by removing the trees and bushes implemented. The results show how the growing on the banks of the Gail in the pilot river reacts to different measures and which Project Bitterling – Aiding small fish............................................................................................19 stretches, a view of the river was opened up of them have the potential to improve the Newly experiencing the river Gail – Visitor facilities..............................................................20 for the first time in years, the transformati- ecological situation in the long term without Monitoring – The results are impressive.....................................................................................22 on of the monotonously regulated Gail freed limiting flood protection. The experiences up space for near-natural structures and gained in the course of the „Networking“ – Exchanging experience does the trick.........................................................24 showed how much development potential LIFE-project at the Gail will later be of great Additional Information....................................................................................................................25 the Gail still has. School action days and use at other rivers with similar problems. celebrations familiarized the population I offer my sincere thanks to all contributors Participants – Many hands working together.........................................................................26 with their river. Hence, when in future a to the success of the project and wish them Publishing information....................................................................................................................27 ribbon of water bodies, riparian forests and the energy for all future revitalisation mea- wet meadows will accompany the Gail, this sures – for an Austria worth living in. will not only be a paradise for migratory birds and animals of the riparian forest, but also a special local recreation area for all the people of the Gail valley. May all inhabitants and visitors of the Gail valley continue to enjoy their unique river! Rolf Holub Andrä Rupprechter Member of the Carinthian Government, res- Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, En- ponsible for Water, Environment and Nature vironment and Water Management protection 2 3 Welcome to one of Nature’s jewels The European Protected Area Görtschacher Moos Approximately 20 km west of Villach (Carinthia, Austria), the European Protected Area Görtschacher Moos-Obermoos, with a size of 1242 hecta- res, is situated in the bottomland of the Gail between the Pressegger Lake and the village of Nötsch. The Gail flows through the area for 14 km and it is characterised by an especially high level of groundwater. Today, it is one of the largest interconnected wetland areas of Carinthia. 2010-2014 it was site of a LIFE-project. Its particular value lies in the small-scale interconnectedness of mowed wet meadows, wet fallows, riparian forests, swamp forests and bodies of standing water with reeds, floating leaf vegetation and aquatic plants. This great diversity of habitats is reflected in the high number of animal species: More than 800 animal species, 300 of them butterflies, are known to live in the protected area. Also fish species which are protected on a Europe-wide basis live in the Gail and its oxbow la- The European Protected Area Görtschacher Moos-Obermoos is situated in the middle stretch of the Gail valley (Carinthia, Austria). It includes the siltation areas of the Pressegger Lake, the floodplains of the Gail and the Gail itself. A number of protected and endangered species of plants kes – for example the Danube salmon, the souffia, the bullhead, the European brook and animals live in this wetland complex, one of the largest in Carinthia. Framed in red: the area of the LIFE-project. lamprey and the European bitterling. Furthermore, the protected area is of interna- tional importance as a resting place for birds and is a breeding and feeding area for more than 50 bird species, some of them under special protection according to the EU-Birds Directive such as the European honey buzzard, the Western marsh harrier, the grey-headed woodpecker, the kingfisher or the red-backed shrike. Among the amphibians which live in the area populations of the Balkan moor frog, the Italian crested newt and the European Tree are particularly remarkable. In 2000 the Görtschacher Moos was designated as a Natura 2000 protected area together with the Gail. It has been a European Protected Area since 2011. The aim is to preserve and advance this jewel of nature in accord with the local government, Oxbow lake of the Gail. It was saved from Danube Salmon: The Gail is one of the most Bitterling: A highly endangered small fish agriculture and flood protection. The LIFE-project at the Gail between 2010 and 2014 destruction and is now a natural heritage site. important areas for the Danube Salmon in Carinthia. species. It has survived in several oxbow lakes of the Gail. has been a first promising step in this direction. Species-rich wet meadow. Characteristic for the middle stretch of the Gail valley. European Honey buzzard above the Gail. Italian crested newt. Protected on a Europe-wi- Kingfisher: The “flying gem” hunts small fish in de basis. Has always been at home in the European the oxbow lakes of the Gail. Protected Area. 4 5 The Gail: a heavily regulated river Background of the LIFE-project The inhabitants of the Gail valley have seen highs and lows over the past one thousand years. The Gail (Illyric for „the foaming one“) has always been a very dire opponent. A lot remains to be done today. Again and again floods turned the valley into a gravel desert. After the rockslide of the Dobratsch in the year 1348 the situation worsened. Behind the dammed-up Gail with its meander bends, the valley bottoms became marshy. The farmers reacted by using these areas as horse meadows and specialising in the breeding of Noriker horses – a tradition which has survived until today. In 1875 river regulation work commenced at the Gail. The river bed was deepened and large-scale meliorations were carried out. The area of land gained through the regulation was enormous – people called it a tenth province of Austria – but also Twenty retention basins between Kötschach-Mauthen and Arnoldstein are able to retain ca. 40 million cubic meters of water necessary to sustain the population. in the case of a 100-year flood and discharge it into the Gail in small doses after the event. The settlements further down the river are protected. This is a precedent-setting concept for flood protection in Europe. Since the „General Project 1935“ the large forelands have been used as flood basins for the mitigation of discharge and the control of flood discharge. This successful concept was further optimised in the „General Gail Development Project 1970“ and is valid until today: Settlements and important traffic routes are protected by dams designed for a 100-year flood. Extensive retention basins delay the discharge of ca- tastrophic floods into the surrounding area and protect the settlement area from being submerged. However, the river regulation caused new problems: the Gail carries a lot of fine material, sand and mud in its middle reaches. These materials are deposited on the banks and the channel becomes increasingly narrow. If the flood security is to be maintained, these depositions have to be removed repeatedly with a lot of effort. Furthermore, the river between the dams has very few structures and is ecologically Noriker horses on the Feistritzer Moos Regulation work using floating dredgers in the The flat Gail valley bottom between Nötsch in 1965. Until the mid-20th century, bedding 1930s. and Feistritz. 650 years in the past the Gail was impoverished. meadows were used economically like this. dammed

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