Renaturation of the Kyll estuary Joint compensation for various infrastructure projects

In the 1950s, the meandering course of the Kyll in the estuary near Trier was straightened and the banks were fortified, the old arms, which were covered with floodplain forest, were separated from the course and partly filled in, or they silted up because they no longer flowed through during floods. The areas between the oxbow lakes were used for agriculture.
The estuary area of the Kyll, however, offers ideal conditions for renaturation, as it lies outside of settlement areas. The aim of the 35 ha renaturation is the self-dynamic further development of the estuary area following a one-off intervention in autumn and winter 2008/2009. To this end, the connection of the oxbow lakes to the flowing waters and the creation of their passability, the creation of diverse transition areas between the watercourse and the land and the abandonment of agriculture in the entire estuary area for the development of riparian forests were implemented. With this measure, nature conservation and water management compensation obligations from four different infrastructure projects could be implemented together.