Preclassification of Ecological Quality in the Odelouca catchment area and its use in restoration guidelines

The demands of the Water Framework Directive over the next few years imply considerable effort in the conservation and restoration of river reaches based upon the reliable classification of river corridor conservation status that discloses information on causes of degradation. Using an adaptation of the KT Method, originally developed as part of the National Water Plan, a Map of River Corridor Conservation Status was drawn up for the River Odelouca catchment area that included the definition of existing fluvial reaches using geographic and hydrogeomorphological variables which were then assessed according to the presence of anthropogenic pressures