Description of the Demonstrator
The Demonstrator consists of two connected case-areas in the catchment of the river Egå.
The first case area is the wetland of Egå Engsø (Lake Egå) and the second consists of 11 interconnected climate adaption projects in the suburb of Lystrup.
Context
Environmental and Geographic context, climate conditions and problem description concerning hydro-meterological risks.
Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark – and fast growing – with approximately 270.000 inhabitants. The eastern part of the valley of river Egå is situated in the northern part of the city, and is densely populated, low-lying and at risk of flooding under increased precipitation.
Both Egå Engsø and Lystrup is situated in the catchment of river Egå.
Find out more in this article
Implementation
1) The Egå Engsø artificial lake and wetland
The Egå Engsø was established in 2006 with the purpose to remove nutrients from the water before it runs into the bay. Also, it functions as a large water reservoir that slows down the water and protects the built-up areas between the lake and the bay against flooding from Egåen. In addition, a lock at the outlet of the stream also contributes to the protection as it can pump water from river Egå.
2) The suburb of Lystrup (12.000 inhabitants) is lying in the catchment of river Egå, upstreem Egå Engsø. 11 green climate adaptation projects consisting of retention basins, wadies and modifications of roads and rivers have been implemented between 2015 and 2017 as a part of the Aarhus cloudburst strategy.
RECONECT will monitor the performance of the case areas as risk reducing , nature improving and recreational supporting locations.
The key benefits from the artificial wetland Egå Engsø and the climate adaption projects in Lystrup are – apart from reducing the risk of hazardous floodings – more nature and biodiversity, e.g. an excellent birdlife and recreational areas that attracts both locals and tourists. Furthermore, Egå Engsø is used for education of schoolkids, who learn about nature and the historic and cultural landscape.
- Municipality of Aarhus – Technical Department
- Aarhus Water – water utility company of the city
- The Land reclamation Union of Vejlby-Egå
The combination of using a patchwork of both large-scale and smaller-scale NBS in the same catchment has great potential for upscaling, because it shows the possibility of combining different approaches to climate adaption and risk reduction that can be redesigned to other specific areas.
Some of the websites are only available in Danish
Egå Engsø Demo-site: https://udflugtssteder.aarhus.dk/egaa-engsoe/
https://www.visitaarhus.com/ln-int/ega-engso-gdk653372
Lystrup Demo-site: https://aarhus.dk/borger/bolig-byggeri-og-miljoe/miljoe-og-kloak/vand-og-kloak/oversvoemmelse/vi-goer-klar-til-mere-vand/#1
https://www.aarhusvand.dk/projekter/klimatilpasning/fremtidens-klimatilpasning/omrade-lystrup/
