HEADLINES

• 3rd SedNet conference and the future of SedNet
• Executive summary SedNet booklet 
• 50% Pre-publication discount offer Elsevier-SedNet books

3rd SedNet conference and the future of SedNet

In his key-note at the 3rd SedNet Conference in Venice at November 25th and 26th, 2004, Dr. Jürgen Büsing of the European Commission (EC) expressed: “The EC seed money given to set up the SedNet network was well spend, now it is time to harvest”.

The next day Mr. Tiedo Vellinga, chairman of the SedNet stakeholders panel and conference chairman, closed the conference and replied to Dr. Büsing: “We had excellent presentations* at this conference to lead us in our effort to change from dredged material management to sediment management. To a situation were the problems are primarily managed at their origin in the catchment instead of end-of-pipe at the receiving end. A situation in which it is recognised that the elements in the water soil and sediment system are interconnected and that efforts to maintain and improve the ecological status of waterbodies need coordination at that scale. Management constraints in the river basin and receiving coastal zone should be focussed to actions that are most effective on the scale of the river basin and the coastal zone. Then the money is spent well and the environment is most served. I am convinced that in the wake of the water in the Water Framework Directive the sediment issue will appear more prominent on the agenda. And we have the challenge to do and shape this according to our shared needs and visions based on the results we obtained from three years of SedNet.”

“Within SedNet we achieved a common language and a shared vision on contaminated sediments in European river basins: a first and unique experience in EU sediment management. Now we have to extend and maintain the bridges, fill-in the gaps that we observed, spread the news and implement our concept of sustainable risk based integrated sediment management on river basin scale including the receiving coastal zone.”

“At the conference we received many good ideas and proposals for the future of the network: the home base and the secretariat will continue during 2005; key persons will stay in charge, especially Jos Brils as the coordinator; the website will continue as well as the newsletters and the four SedNet books will be prepared to be published by Elsevier in 2005”.

“The SedNet stakeholders panel and SedNet project contractors plan a meeting end January/early February 2005 in Venice in order to check-up on the SedNet drivers, to define the scope of SedNet from 2005, to set the new network structure and to safeguard the finances. Furthermore we will define a new action plan for the pro-active dissemination of results (with backup from DG Research), for attraction and commitment of vital (new) parties and for new activities, also depending on the demands of key financing SedNet parties” (PS: the EC funded SedNet as a Thematic Network project for the period 2002 – 2004. Thus EC funding will stop by the end of this year).

* All conference presentations and the conclusions from the “speakers corners” (see: http://www.sednet.org/final.asp) will soon be made available through the SedNet website.

Executive summary SedNet booklet

Sediments originate in river basins through erosion processes and are transported in river systems in the direction of the coast, with the oceans being the final sink. Thus land use, climate, hydrology, geology and topography determine sediment supply and transport in rivers. In the river system, temporary deposition can take place. Important in this respect are floodplains and lakes. In many regulated rivers, sediments are trapped behind dams and reduce the sediment supply downstream. Important impacted areas downstream are wetlands, deltas and harbours.

It is not only the quantity of sediment which affects downstream areas, but even more so the quality of the sediments. In particular, the presence of contaminants like heavy metals, nutrients, pesticides and other organic micro-pollutants has biological impacts on waterways, wetlands and estuarine systems. In addition, the removal of contaminated sediments from waterways and harbours, to ensure their navigability, imposes high costs for the regulatory and responsible authorities at the local level. The European Sediment Research Network - SedNet - is a three-year project, commissioned by EC DG-Research, which dealt with the science, policy and regulatory aspects of contaminated sediments.

The SedNet network organised 17 workshops and 3 conferences. The complete results will be published in 2005 by Elsevier as a series of four books (see next item; a final book discussion meeting was held by the working group on sediment risk management and communication in Germany near Hamburg, December 14th - 17th ). The executive summary booklet gives a short general overview of scientific, policy and regulatory issues on contaminated sediments; an overview based on the results of the SedNet network activities.

Sediments are an essential and integral part of river systems. Thus it is obvious that there is a direct link between sediment quality and the European Water Framework Directive focal points of ‘ecological potential’ and ‘surface water chemical status’. Sediments, like water, are a highly dynamic part of river systems. Hence, sediment is not tied to a particular area and is transported through countries in the same river basin.

The SedNet main recommendations towards European policy development, sediment management and research, respectively, are:
· Further develop and eventually integrate sustainable sediment management into the European Water Framework Directive
· Find management solutions that carefully balance social, economic and environmental values and are set within the context of the whole river system
· Improve our understanding of the relation between sediment contamination (hazard) and its actual impact to the functioning of ecosystems (ecological status) and develop strategies to assess and manage the risks involved

More specific recommendations are given in the complete and final version of this booklet that can soon be downloaded through our website (www.SedNet.org). A printed version will be available at the beginning of 2005.

50% Pre-publication discount offer Elsevier-SedNet books

“Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources”, a new Elsevier book series for 2005 prepared by SedNet members, based on the SedNet workshops and conferences discussions:

Vol 1: “Sediment management at the river basin scale”, Editor: Dr. Philip Owens, Cranfield University, UK, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Vol 2: “Sediment quality and impact assessment of pollutants”, Editor: Prof. Dr. Damià Barceló, CSIC, Spain, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Vol 3: “Sediment and dredged material treatment”, Editor: Dr. Giuseppe Bortone, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Italy, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Vol. 4: “Sediment risk management and communication”, Editor: Dr. Susanne Heise, Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, Germany, E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

REGULAR PRICE for full set: 385.00 Euro
PRE-PUBLICATION offer PRICE for full set: 192.50 Euro

For further information on the volumes available or to register for this special offer, please e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming events:

2005

• January 12th – 13th, 2005:
  Umsetzung der WRRL in Europa und NRW – Status quo und Perspektiven, Landesvertretung NRW, Berlin, Germany. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (MUNLV) of Northrhine-Westfalia organises a conference on "Implication of the WFD in Europe and Northrhine-Westfalia - Status Quo and Outlook", in co-operation with the Federation of Engineers for Water Management, Waste Management and land improvement (BWK North-Rhine/Westphalia) and the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste e.V. (ATV-DVWK).
  Information and registration at http://www.wrrl-tagung.de/ 
• January 23rd – 26th, 2005:
  First International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The conference will provide a multidisciplinary platform for environmental scientists, engineers and management professionals to discuss the latest developments in environmental research and applications. The deadline for submitting abstracts is May 31, 2004.
  Please visit the website at http://www.AASci.org/conference for more information or send email inquiries to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• January 24th – 27th, 2005:
  3rd International Conference on the Remediation of Contaminated Sediments, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The theme of the conference will be “Finding Achievable Risk Reduction Solutions”. More information at: http://www.battelle.org/environment/er/conferences/sedimentscon/default.stm January 24th – 27th, 2005, 3rd International Conference on the Remediation of Contaminated Sediments, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The theme of the conference will be “Finding Achievable Risk Reduction Solutions”.
  More information at: http://www.battelle.org/environment/er/conferences/sedimentscon/default.stm
• February 10th - 12th, 2005:
  Hotel Santon, Brno, Czech Republic. Workshop "Integrated sediment and soil assessment". Organised by the EU-DG Research Centre of Excellence for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology (RECTOX), Masaryk University Brno, together with the EC DG Research and DG Environment, in collaboration with SECOTOX - International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
  More details: recetox.muni.cz
  or directly recetox.muni.cz/coe/index.php?id=50
• March 14th - 17th, 2005:
  15th Annual West Coast Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water, Mission Valley Marriott, San Diego, Ca, USA. The conference is organised by AEHS (Association for Environmental Health & Sciences). You are invited to submit an abstract before July 9th, 2004. Please follow the abstract submission guidelines on the website (www.aehs.com).
  The complete Call for Papers brochure can be found on:
  m1e.net/c?8209797-KJ56fHAwOnOMg%40557057-VMM4AGisekgf6
• April 11th – 13th, 2005:
  Third International Conference on WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, Tivoli Almansor Hotel in the Algarve, Portugal. The conference is organised by: the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK and the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Conference papers will be reviewed by members of the International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) and other colleagues.
  The conference website has full details about the conference objectives, topics and submission requirements: www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/waterresources2005/cfp.html
• April 13th -15th, 2005:
  CABERNET 2005: The International Conference on Managing Urban Land, Waterfront Hall Conference Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. Deadline for abstract submissions is October 15th, 2004.
  Registration and Accommodation details can be found on www.cabernet.org.uk/conference2005
• April 17th -20th, 2005:
  Environmental Security in Harbors and Coastal Areas: Management using Comparative Risk Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. , Thessalonica, Sani Beach Hotel, Greece, NATO Advanced Research Workshop.
  More info:
  www.saniresort.gr or www.risktrace.com/nato
• April 28th, 2005:
  First international conference “EU Enlargement from a Business Perspective”, Keszthely, Hungary.
  Information about the event and Early Bird registration is available through the website:
  http://www.eucenter.org/training/training.php
• October 3rd – 7th, 2005:
  May 16th – May 20th , 2005 International Conference on Engineering for Waste Treatment in City Hall of Albi. We expect that the WasteEng Conference will bring together representatives from industry, academia, governments and other sectors related to Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering and others sectors concerned by Waste Treatment and Use.
  More info: http://www.enstimac.fr/heberges/wasteeng2005/index.html
• May 22nd - 26th, 2005:
  5th SETAC Europe Annual Meeting, Lille, France. Deadline for abstract submission was 30 November 2004.
  More information about the meeting can be found via:
  http://www.setaceumeeting.org
• June 1st – 2nd , 2005:
  Netherlands Scientific Symposium SOIL & WATER. “Woudschoten” conference centre in Zeist, The Netherlands. This symposium offers an opportunity to PhD-students and Post-docs of soil and water research programmes in The Netherlands to present and discuss the goals and results of their research by oral presentations and posters. It also aims at building a network of young scientists to mutual benefit. The symposium will be organised according to the following themes: Sustainable development of flood plains; Food web and food chains; Subsurface processes; Soil & sediments.
  More info: http://www.skbodem.nl/ and then go to ‘Agenda’ and subsequently to ‘Juni’ and ‘Symposium Soil & water’.
• June 20th – 21st, 2005:
  1st International Workshop on Liquid Chromatography – Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Screening and Trace Level Quantification in Environmental and Food Samples, Barcelona. More info:
  http://www.cid.csic.es/barcelona2005/home.htm
• July 19th - 22nd, 2005:
  Watershed Management Conference, "Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges." Sponsored by the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
  http://www.asce.org/conferences/watershedmanagement2005/
• August 28th - September 2nd, 2005:
  10th Annual International Symposium on the Interactions between Sediment and Water and the International Association for Sediment Water Science. Lake Bled, Slovenia.
  The complete Call for Papers brochure can be found on:
  www.wsc.monash.edu.au/iasws/2005symposium.htm
• September 1st - 3rd, 2005:
  9th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (9CEST-2005), organised by the University of the Aegean and Global- NEST at the Rhodes island, Greece. It is also planned to organise a session on the "E.U. Priority Substances". Details are available at the web site http://www.gnest.org/cest
• September 4th – 8th, 2005:
  International symposium on Wetland Pollutant Dynamics and Control (WETPOL) in Gent (Belgium).
  More information is given on biomath.ugent.be/wetpol.
  The flyer (pdf format) can also be retrieved from the news section of the SedNet website: http://www.sednet.org/news.asp
• September 6th – 9th, 2005:
  3rd International Conference River Basin Management including all aspects of hydrology, ecology, environmental management, flood plains and wetlands, Bologna, Italy.
  For details about the conference objectives, topics and submission requirements: www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2005/rm05/index.html
• September 12th -14th:
  Workshop in Geo-environment and Geotechnics, Milos island, Greece. Detailed information about the topics, the committees and the call for papers is available on the web site: http://milos.conferences.gr/geoenv2005. The deadline for abstracts submission is 22 April 2005.
  The abstract submission form can be obtained from
  http://milos.conferences.gr/index.php?id=2380
• October 3rd – 7th, 2005:
  9th International FZK/TNO Conference on Soil-Water Systems, Bordeaux, France. This 9th edition is organised in co-operation with BRGM, France. Deadline for abstract submission is December 7th, 2004.
  For detailed information on ConSoil and the Call for Abstracts visit:
  www.consoil.de/consoil/call.html
• October 17th – 20th, 2005:
  21st Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
  More info & call for papers: http://www.umasssoils.com/
• November 3rd – 4th, 2005:
  CEDA Dredging Days: Dredging: The Extremes, Ahoy Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The conference will be held in conjunction with Europort maritime 2005 (1-5 November).
  First Announcement - Call for Papers, see:
  www.dredging.org/DredgingDays05.htm

Web site of the month:

The European Groundwater and Contaminated Land Information System EUGRIS is now online at www.sednet.org/newsitem.asp?ni=122 or http://www.eugris.info/.
The gateway provides:

• condensed technical information on a wide range of themes,
• overviews on policy and regulation, management systems, research funding programmes, research projects and their outputs and
• an extensive collection of further web links to primary resources on a European and national level
  

Other interesting links:

Full details for the 2nd European Conference on Dredged Sludge Remediation: “EUROPE'S RIVER SEDIMENTS - EUROPE'S RESPONSIBILITY, Innovative Solutions for European Problems” are available at: www.klasse4.nl/congres2004.html

The October-November 2004 SedWeb E-Mail Update, a regularly appearing summary of recent developments about contaminated sediments. This update is a service the Sediments Web Community (www.sediments.org), an online resource for researchers, regulatory officials, and environmental managers created by the U.S. EPA-sponsored Hazardous Substance Research Centers/South & Southwest (HSRC/SSW).

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center announces the publication of new documents on its Website. Visit their Dredging Operations & Environmental Research (DOER) website at http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/programs.cfm?Topic=doer

The EEP Newsletter nr. 73 of October 23rd, 2004 (www.eep.org) quotes an article in Milieu Magazine (The Netherlands), stating that “The fall in industrial water consumption is over. Legislation and quality requirements limit the savings that can be made, and further increases are predicted along with improved economic growth”.