Platform Appropriate Assessment (Passende Beoordeling), partim groundwater monitoring

There are two sections in this project:

1. Water in nature reserves:
The WATINA+ database (owned and managed by INBO) makes groundwater data (level measurements and chemical analysis results) in nature (development) areas available for own research and for the general public. It is important that sites with groundwater-dependent vegetation in Special Protection Zones (SBZ) can be well documented with historical and curent groundwatre levels, so that the effect of planned interventions can be underpinned by reliable figures. Groundwater regime and composition is a key factor for maintaining/recovery of the vegetation types in question. In addition to the maintenance, further automation (dataloggers), data collection and maximum access via an online application (https://watina.inbo.be/Pages/Common/Default.aspx), work is continuing steadily on the further development and improvement of the monitoring network. Priority is given to special protection areas without or with broken down series of measurements, especially in places where interventions that may have an impact on the hydrology of the nature reserve in question are planned.

2. NICHE Flanders:
This ecohydrological forecasting model was developed at INBO (referring to an existing Dutch model owned by KRW). The potential occurrence of groundwater-dependent vegetation/habitat types at nature area level is quantified. The model was developed at the time, together with governments and the drinking water sector, in order to map discussions about planned infrastructure works in and around nature areas (mainly SPA-H areas) in a standardised and verifiable way, so that the decision-making process around planned interventions can be carried out in the most objective way possible. To this end, considerable reliance is placed on the groundwater data from the WATINA+ database. It is now being asked to use the model as a standard by, among other things, engineering agencies that carry out assignments for ANB and VMM operational water management, for example when carrying out appropriate assessments (passende beoordeling). The model is fed with improved insights into ecohydrology.