In the framework of an integral water management-policy, the sanitation of the water courses in the Flemish region is developped through small-scale projects to study local river catchments in a global environmental way. Indeed, the complex processes need a multidisciplinary approach to guarantee a successful implementation of water resources strategies. In the Zwalm-catchment, a small river catchment situated in the interfluvium between upper-Scheldt and Dender in the South-Western part of Flanders, this basic philosophy is explored in a pilot-project. Local morphological circumstances require a study that focusses on the sediment transport and its management. Indeed, a combination of sand-silt river beds, severe land erosion and discrete flood flows direct the sanitation program at a sediment management project. Sedimentation and transport of fine materials, as a favourite adhesive medium for pollutants, induce a general pollution of both water and river bed in the downstream reaches.