PROJECT HANDOUTS
The Halden river basin sub-district
The Halden river basin sub-district has a wide range in the project portfolio, and is always seeking new partnerships and projects to work on. As a part of this effort to reach more and new cooperations we have produced some simple handout presentations for specific regions, water bodies or specific on-going projects in need of further development. To the right you may find the presentation for the sub-district or in the heading link.
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Further down you will find specific projects and topics we are seeking partnerships in, but also sister-regions, other sub-districts and other relevant topics presented. For each you can find contact information on the bottom of the handout, or contact the Halden river basin sub-district directly at lars.selbekk@marker.kommune.no.
Restroring the hydrological cycle on local level in catchments with forestry and agriculture. Over time the realization of how climate change will impact food production in Norway has come to the landowners. They see an increase of flooding during spring, drought during summer and flooding again in fall. Catchments are no longer capable of handling the amount of water that falls and has less storage capacity for periods of little to no precipitation. Water has been ditched out, buried in the ground through pipes and areas taken for other purposes. How do we get back to resilient catchments that can handle the new climate?
How to convey the water framework directive to the public? In an evaluation of the Norwegian effort to reach the goals in the water framework directive in 2016 the main feedback from stakeholders and the public was that we needed to be better at communicating what we do, how we do it and what the results show. In an open hearing for the next period of plans in 2025, the feedback is the same. What can we do to better explain the changes in water quality, why they happen and what we can do to a group as divers as the public?
Naturbased solutions, research and education. Kjelle Meadow Wetland: How to inspire future generations to protect our waters, soil, forests, and biodiversity. A place for inspiration and professional development for every level of knowledge and age. The Kjelle Meadow Wetland is a beautiful newly constructed wetland, located at the village of Bjørkelangen in the municipality of AurskogHøland, Norway and in close connection with Kjelle Upper Secondary School. The area has previously been used fore cereal production, before to wet to properly managed, turned in to grazeland for cattle and sheep.
A cachment management strategy towards good ecological status for the case catchment of Bjørkelangen in Aurskog-Høland Municipality A goal for Aurskog-Høland municipality is to manage and facilitate sustainable societies. Many challenges in land-use and community planning are related to water pollution. The solutions are largely to restore ecosystems so that ecosystem services such as water retention, water purification, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, etc. are strengthened.
A goal of planting 15 000 trees in a region in southeast Norway has now reached a new goal of 30 000 trees in five years. Four river basin sub-districts cooperated on having trees on standby, with regional delivery service to farmers who were interested in restoring riparian zones on their land. An overwhelming interest has driven the goal to the double, and the project still runs on and develops.
Restoration of degraded peatlands with different level interest conflict Peatlands have historically been seen as low value area or also named in Norwegian “watersick” or water saturated land previously. Still there was good money in larger extraction sites for peat for fuel or soil components. Others where just ditched to draw the water out and increase log productivity. Extraction of peat and ditching of peat bogs have many negative effects, in particular on carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, hydrology and biodiversity. There are only remnants of intact peat bogs in Southeastern Norway. It is a goal to work together with landowners and the peat industry to stop peat extraction and restore these bogs.
Intermunicipal strategy for biodiversity
Four municipalities started in 2022 a joint effort to look into working across municipal borders to better protect and improve biodiversity and natural habitats on a wider scale, than only locally. The idea behind is to create dependency and more cooperation on preservation and restoration of nature and having the municipalities push each other forward. An annual trophy will be handed out to the municipality with the best measure or that is clearly in the lead. In 2025 three out of four adopted the strategy.
Poor water quality in an important lake – how can we reverse a negative trend? Ertevannet is a eutrophic lake in southeastern Norway where the ecological condition has deteriorated over the past ten years. Agricultural runoff since the 1960s, combined with browner water, has been identified as the main causes of the negative development in the lake. How can we work towards improving the ecological condition under these circumstances? We have datasets and surveys available for further research.
The Glomma River basin district is located southeast in Norway, with water crossing the border into Sweden. The district includes both freshwater and coastal water. The water is affected by many pressures. We collaborate with politicians, authorities, researchers, and organizations to achieve the environmental objectives for the waterbodies.
The River Basin of the Western Inner Oslofjord
As an intermunicipal network for local authorities and stakeholders, we seek broad cooperation with research institutions to improve the conditions in water bodies in one of Norway's most densely populated areas. The river basin has 201 water bodies that flow into the Inner Oslofjord in southeastern Norway. Climate change, population growth, and land development pose great challenges for the water quality in freshwater and marine recipients. A complex picture of impacts and interests will make it challenging to meet the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive in future years, despite significant national and local measures. There is a strong public engagement to save the Oslofjord, which has generated important political attention in recent years.
Transboundary water - Enningvalley river basin sub-district
Do we forget the water as soon as it leaves our country? Might be, but what happens when it comes back again? This is the case for the transboundary river basin Enningvalley in the southeast of Norway and west of Sweden.
