Summary

Alongside hydrogeological boundary conditions, interactions between surface water and groundwater are significantly controlled by the waterbody’s structure, the substrate composition of the stream bed and the formation of the aquifer. The stream bed’s colmation meaning all processes which result in a reduction of pore volume, a consolidation of the filter medium and a minimization of the permeability of stream beds, should be seen as a key component.

The project’s goal is to identify the individual driving factors relevant to federal waterways and to assess their influence regarding the colmation and interaction process. A further objective is the assessment of the validity of different hydrogeological methods and their implementation constraints regarding the quantification of the interaction between surface water and groundwater.

Thus, geohydraulic impacts caused by hydraulic engineering maintenance and removal measures will be predictable and evaluatable in the necessary temporal and spatial resolution. This will optimise maintenance and removal measures with regard to nature conservation and economy.

The research results provide an important basis for rivers, lakes and channels to obtain environmentally safe traffic routes and at the same time optimising the ecological status according to the EU-WRRL (and associated environmental objectives such as biodiversity conservation) to achieve and contribute to the sustainable development of federal waterways.

Freeze-core sampled out of the stream bed of the Havel river near Potsdam	Havel riverbed excavation