The EU-funded LIFE project CONTEMPO₂ aims to explore and test new ways to strengthen the ecosystems in and along the River Lech despite hydropower use. The project focuses on the water diversion section between Gersthofen and Ellgau. In the context of climate change, measures will be developed to minimize the negative impacts of rising water temperatures and decreasing water levels on biodiversity and river ecology.
Restoration actions will be implemented, using water from the diversion channel to create new aquatic habitats and to enhance the ecological value of existing side arms and floodplain creeks. Specific measures to regulate water temperature and oxygen levels are intended to provide suitable conditions for native fish species such as trout and grayling, thereby preventing temperature peaks and oxygen depletion. At the same time, CO₂-free electricity generation from hydropower plants along the Lech is to be maintained as much as possible even under lower discharge conditions, reconciling ecological needs with energy production. CONTEMPO₂ aims to contribute to the development and testing of innovative approaches that promote the protection of natural habitats along the Lech and adapt hydropower use to changing environmental conditions.
Within the project, the Chair of Aquatic Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich is responsible for aquatic ecological biomonitoring to evaluate the success of implemented measures. This includes the investigation of fish populations, macrozoobenthos and abiotic parameters, particularly water temperature.
Project Lead:
LEW-Wasserkraft GmbH
Project Partners:
- TUM - Lehrstuhl für Aquatische Systembiologie
- TUM -Lehrstuhl für Wasserbau
- Fischereiverband Schwaben e.V.
- Landschaftspflegeverband Stadt Augsburg e.V. - Umweltbildungszentrum Augsburg
- Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt - Auen Institut Neuburg-Ingolstadt
- Universität Augsburg - Wissenschaftszentrum Umwelt
- Stadt Gersthofen
