Our productive partners at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) presented iNNO SED at the 18th Steering Committee meeting of the Iller Strategy as part of their own work on Demo Site 1 involving the Iller River itself.
Held on the 25th of September 2025 in Legau, the meeting brought together key stakeholders involved in the long-term ecological and hydromorphological development of the Iller River. Stakeholders here included representatives from state agencies, fisheries associations, universities, expert consultancies, and LEW Wasserkraft.
With such a broad and highly engaged multidisciplinary exchange, multiple perspectives and approaches were discussed.
Our partners at the Iller River are busy with ongoing sediment analyses, monitoring strategies, and first insights into grain size dynamics and sediment mobility within the impounded river sections. All of these were presented from their side at the Steering Committee meeting.
While sediments are one aspect of river dynamics and managements, but goes hand-in-hand with ecological and climate-related topics which were weighed in on in these discussions. In detail these cinluded impacts of climate change on fish populations with rising water temperatures and the importance of cold-water refuges, as well as insights from long-term temperature monitoring along the Iller, Wertach, and Lech.
Further presentations showed hydromorphological improvements, gravel augmentation strategies, and measures to enhance spawning habitats within the impoundments.
To conclude the meeting, participants ventured out in the open and visited Iller Hydropower Plants 6 (Legau) and 7 (Maria-Steinbach). During this site excursion, current sediment management measures and ongoing morphological developments were examined directly in the field, providing valuable context for the project discussions.
This productive ensemble of representatives and experts once again underscored the importance of the Iller River as a “living laboratory” for innovative ecological and hydraulic research, strengthening the collaborative foundation on which projects like iNNO SED continue to build.
