The Handbook (pdf 4.1 MB) presents a tool for assessing if and to what extent the different objectives of a rehabilitation project were achieved.

Flood protection measures and other river engineering works of the past 200 years have significantly impacted Swiss rivers and streams in numerous ways. In order to counteract ecological impairments, rehabilitation projects are being carried out at increasing frequency. Rehabilitation is the term used to collectively describe all measures for re-establishing an ecosystem’s near-natural condition. These measures focus on re-establishing a system’s key elements and processes. Although rehabilitation projects primarily address ecological issues, they often have important implications for society, politics, economy and agriculture. Rehabilitation projects are conducted in various aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The present handbook, however, exclusively considers rehabilitation projects carried out in rivers and streams.

The handbook presents a tool for assessing if and to what extent the different objectives of a rehabilitation project were achieved. In the present handbook, such an assessment is defined as project evaluation. The presented evaluation method is based on a comparison of selected key elements and processes before and after rehabilitation. With the help of this tool, users can determine tendencies toward improvement and identify persisting deficits and deteriorations. Project evaluation is carried out at the level of project objectives. Indicators serve as tools for project evaluation. Indicators are parameters, which provide important information on a system’s elements and processes. Their assessment can be quantitative, semi-quantitative or qualitative.

Today, flood protection projects nearly exclusively go hand in hand with rehabilitation measures. The presented evaluation method can also be applied to this type of project. However, the evaluation does not address 1 Introduction flood safety. For this aspect, a separate evaluation is therefore essential. The second regulation of the Thur River is a fine example of a combination of flood protection measures and rehabilitation measures. In this project, economical and social aspects were considered beside environmental issues and issues of safety (Weber 2001).