Eastern Scheldt suffers from 'sand hunger', as a result more swales and salt marshes disappear in the Eastern Scheldt. Therefore, in 2014 Rijkswaterstaat, part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, has brought the tide back to the Rammegors polder and thus allowed saltwater intrusion. Rammegors was natural reserve for birds that was closed off from the Eastern Scheldt by the construction of the Scheldt-Rhine Canal for more than forty years. This HZ University of Applied Sciences project provides a unique opportunity to monitor and study the changes i.e. transformation from a freshwater area to a tidal saltwater natural area. Further, the studying of soil salinity in Rammegors can provide valuable information for understanding salinization trend in polders with similar situation and may serve as a basis for future water management practice. This research aims at (i) identifying the extent and distribution of soil salinity over the time in the upper soil horizons, (ii) understanding the dynamics of the ecosystem (e.g. vegetation and benthos species) development due to changing soil water quality, and (iii) determining temporal evolution of soil, and vadose and phreatic water salinity due to saltwater intrusion. Overall, it can be noted that in-situ monitoring is the first stage of proper water management. In this project you will monitor (ground)water quality (e.g. electrical conductivity) and hydrological conditions (e.g. groundwater level) at the study location. Further, you will measure in the laboratory total salt content from collected soil samples. Moreover, based on the fieldwork and desk study you will try to determine relations between abiotic and biotic factors in Rammegors polder. Partners: (in alphabetic order) Deltares, Province of Zeeland, Rijkswaterstaat, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Wageningen Marine Research. Client: dr. Nikola Stanić, Lecturer and Researcher Civil Engineering (HZ)
Monitoring of soil salinity change and dynamics of the ecosystem in response to depoldering of Rammegors Research type: field and laboratory experiments, desk study and data analysis Research level: project level for Water Management, Environmental Engineering and/or Civil Engineering students Prerequisite: Driver’s License, interest in ecology, environmental hydrology, and soil science
| Start date: | februari 1, 2019 |
| End date: | juli 1, 2019 |
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