Completed

Removing barriers to fish migration, enhancing and restoring habitats, improving water-management infrastructure, and establishing a monitoring system. Funded by LIFE+ and implemented by Purgator Engineering Ltd. under the responsibility of the University of Ljubljana (UL FGG), the 2012–2016 “Ljubljanica connects” project rebuilt two dysfunctional fish passes (Fužine weir and Ambrožev trg), modernised the lifting gates at Ambrožev trg, and raised the Zalog sill by 20 cm to improve levels and oxygenation in upstream oxbows. A low-cost IR “fishcam” system was installed in both passes, providing continuous, online monitoring and confirming passage of 12 fish species, including the target Hucho hucho, Rutilus pigus and Leuciscus souffia. An After-LIFE plan maintains monitoring and knowledge transfer. While urban-section connectivity improved, full longitudinal continuity to the Sava remains constrained: the paper-mill weir at Vevče is the first impassable barrier upstream from the confluence, and the Gruber Canal sluice lacks a fish pass; national planning documents list measures to establish passability at Gruber. Coordinator: University of Ljubljana; partners: Purgator and Geateh.

Installed in 2006 by Limnos Ltd., the innovative ecoremediation (ERM) system on a polluted tributary of the Glinščica combines a sedimentation pond (to settle coarse particles and reduce flow velocity), a vegetated sand-filled drainage ditch with reeds, and a short meandered channel. Early monitoring (2008–2009) reported strong reductions in nutrients and suspended matter, with effectiveness sustained by routine maintenance (including sediment removal in 2008). The facility remains in place and in use, is maintained by the City of Ljubljana, and is incorporated into local educational activities; project managers confirm it has not been amended. Since installation, additional nature-based solutions for flood retention and stormwater management have been implemented elsewhere in the Glinščica catchment - most notably the Brdnikova dry retention reservoir and works at Podutik - which have helped mitigate recent heavy-rain events. In the technical literature the site is also referenced within a broader “Multifunctional Water Reservoir (MWR) Ljubljana,” where upgrades commissioned in 2014 enhanced ecological and educational functions without changing the ERM’s treatment role.

The project aims to secure year-round Danube Commission fairway depths of 2.5 m between Călărași and Brăila, including during low flows. Since 2022 it has been reframed as “BALA II,” a combined navigation–environment scheme led by AFDJ Galați that restores and renaturalises the Bala bifurcation area. The solution raises the Bala bottom sill from 0 m to 6.5 m (MNC), re-activates an old bifurcation branch, and foresees complementary works on the Old Danube reach, in order to stabilise low-water hydraulics while limiting ecological impacts. Key permits and approvals have been obtained: water management approval (June 2022) and an environmental agreement from APM Călărași (Sept 2023). In Sept 2024 the Government approved the project’s techno-economic indicators (HG 1079/2024). Procurement for design and works was relaunched in 2025 (estimated value ~743.8 million RON; 96-month duration). As of August 2025, no award notice is publicly available.

The project’s objective was to improve the conservation status of aquatic bird species in Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park (Galați County, RO) through scientific inventory, monitoring, site restoration, awareness-raising, implementation of the park management plan, and the designation of Natura 2000 SPAs. Partners were the University of Bucharest, the Romanian Ornithological Society and Romsilva – Galați Forestry.

At Mața-Rădeanu, dykes were rebuilt to restore hydraulic control: a 1,800 m dyke separating Mața (Galați) from Cârja (Vaslui) and a 3,600 m dyke subdividing Mața; a birdwatching tower serves the complex. The area falls in SPA ROSPA0130 Mața-Cârja-Rădeanu and functions today as a large fish-farming/recreational fishing complex managed locally by AJVPS Galați; recent county risk documentation lists “Amenajarea Piscicolă Mața-Rădeanu.” In 2024, local press reported drought-related low water affecting this complex.

This project improves the conservation status of floodplain bird species protected in the Natura 2000 sites SPA Dunajské luhy (Slovakia) and SPA Szigetköz (Hungary). It is funded by the LIFE Programme. Since 2015, the follow-up LIFE Danube Floodplains (LIFE14 NAT/SK/001306) and partners have restored river connectivity and water regimes by reopening 18.5 km of tributaries, restoring >75 ha of wetlands and advancing earlier, better-timed simulated floods; water-regime improvement now covers ~1,805 ha. Recent actions in Slovakia include reopening 3.7 km of the lower Vojčianske side arm (2023–24), partial reconnection at Kráľovská lúka (2024) and re-excavation/reconnection of the Foki side arm in the Old Danube (~2.0 km; 2025). Monitoring reports note positive responses of rheophilic fish, amphibians and floodplain vegetation; hydromorphological works have restored extensive floodplain forest and riparian habitats (e.g., 482 ha of 91E0* and 115 ha of 91F0). In Hungary’s Szigetköz, the water-replenishment system was extended in 2014–15 and connectivity enhanced with fish passes at Dunasziget (1998), Ásványráró (2015) and at the Mosoni-Danube outlet in Vének (operational 2022).

The LivingFountains project, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national funds, set out to restore and arrange 32 village water wells and ponds as cultural-heritage monuments in the Karst border area. At project closure, local press reported 34 wells and ponds restored across five cross-border municipalities, led by the Municipality of Miren–Kostanjevica; the three-year project involved 10 partners with a budget just over €825,000, and premiered the 42-minute documentary “Ujeta voda (Captured Water)” together with a public brochure/trail concept. In Šempeter-Vrtojba, four named wells were rehabilitated, Ulica 9. septembra, Krožna cesta, Zapučke, and Cesta na Čuklje ; and, with an additional €8,000 secured within the project, a fifth well at Cesta Prekomorskih brigad was also restored; the contractor was Remont d.o.o. (Ajdovščina).Today, interpretation continues via short themed trails in Miren Kras that tell the story of wells (štirne) and karst ponds (kali) around Kostanjevica na Krasu, Vojščica and Sela na Krasu, indicating ongoing local promotion and upkeep of these features.

The project, part of a wider pollution-reduction programme, restored key habitats for bird conservation by improving lagoon water circulation, removing ~185 000 m³ of polluted sediments, creating a new freshwater marsh at Bertoška bonifika, flooding former farmland, and installing sluices to regulate marine and freshwater inflows. About 40 000 m³ of clean material was reused to form mudflats and nesting islets, enhancing habitats for species such as little bittern, great reed warbler, and little grebe. The restoration also included construction of visitor facilities and observation points (2009–2015), and establishment of a circular educational trail. Management is ongoing under DOPPS – BirdLife Slovenia, with adaptive measures such as late mowing and grazing by Istrian cattle and Camargue horses to maintain wet meadows. The reserve is involved in recent cross-border projects (e.g. POSEIDONE 2023–2025) promoting green and blue infrastructure, and continues active monitoring of birds, water quality, and hydrology.

The Ministry-coordinated programme in Šumava National Park restores natural (pre-drainage) water regimes to mires, stabilising water tables, reducing fluctuations, and re-starting peat-forming vegetation and processes while engaging the public. Design has been refined around the Target Water Table (TWT) and a micro-catchment approach to size/space peat and wooden dams, infill drains, and return small streams to near-natural courses; public outreach and monitoring are integral.
Since 1999 the programme has expanded far beyond early pilots: by 2024, 65 locations in the Šumava region had been hydrologically restored, totaling 2,718 ha, with ~296 km of drainage channels blocked, 36 km of streams and 28 spring areas restored.
Within LIFE for MIRES (2018–2024), the project delivered ~2,181 ha of restored wetlands, 212 km of ditches blocked, 35 km of restored streams, and 28 springs, supported by 1,840 volunteers, strengthening habitat for flagship species such as black grouse and improving landscape water retention.
Overall, Šumava’s mire restoration now couples targeted hydrological design with long-term monitoring and public involvement to secure biodiversity gains and climate-relevant water storage at landscape scale.

Reconstruction of dams and sluice gates, blocking of drainage ditches and creation of a hydrological network to route water from the Little Carpathians through the Šúr Fen National Nature Reserve (near Svätý Jur), funded by the LIFE programme (LIFE03 NAT/SK/000096). The works were prepared and initiated in 2003–2007 and complemented the intake built in 2001 on the Šúrsky Canal (rkm 10.197), which diverts water into the reserve when canal flow exceeds Q5 (up to ~7.4 m³/s). The Danube Flood Risk Management Plan (2015) describes a system of inverted siphons, canals and an aqueduct enabling year-round supply and water level management inside the fen. Project materials detail the refurbishment of control structures (e.g. on the Blahutov Canal), conversion of a drainage canal to irrigation, and raising water levels in the Čierna Voda to limit peat drawdown; interpretation and a nature trail were also delivered.
Since 2017–2018, management has reintroduced wood-pasture grazing in the Panónsky háj (southern part of the reserve) with local partners. Recent monitoring (2023–2024) reports marked increases in wild bee abundance in restored areas, indicating positive ecological response.

Flow-weighted sampling was performed at the inlet and outlet of one of the infiltration trenches beneath the parking lot of a supermarket in Kungsbacka, south of Gothenburg. Monitoring ran from April–June 2012 and five storm events were originally analysed. The trench is part of a larger system serving the Maxi ICA site (≈3.1 ha) with three subsurface macadam trenches; the monitored “trench 1” had ~176 m³ storage with a permitted outflow of 6.17 L s⁻¹ (site cap 15 L s⁻¹). Runoff passes an oil separator and then discharges to stormwater ponds located between the car park and the Björkris residential area (toward Björkrisån/Kungsbackaån). Reported pollutant removals were high for TSS and metals and moderate for nitrogen, alongside clear flow attenuation. A subsequent peer-reviewed paper expanded the dataset to seven events and confirmed these trends. More recent municipal stormwater guidance (2023) highlights the Björkris/Hede ponds as part of the local network; while this corroborates the downstream arrangement, publicly available sources do not document the current maintenance or operational status of the specific trenches.