The project LIFE+ TRivers (2014-19) was developed to assess the ecological state of the temporal rivers, an initiative furthered by a consortium led by the professor Narcís Prat (UB). The Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), the Agencia Catalana de l’Aigua (ACA) and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar also participated in the project.
The temporal or intermittent rivers occupy more of the 50% of the world fluvial mesh and the future projections foresee that this proportion will increase due to global change. Besides, they hold rich biodiversity, with numerous rare and endemical species, especially in the Mediterranean area. In spite of this, the EU Water Framework Directive does not consider explicitly the figure of the temporal rivers and, besides, the Instruction of Hydrological Planning neither considers any typology on these fluvial courses in Spain.
This project was born to anticipate the ecological impact of these types of rivers and develop specific software classify the temporal rivers with different topologies and hydrological characteristics.
