Between Türnich and Bedburg the Erft is up to 20 meters wide in places. The riverbed was moved several times; it had to give way to mining in the Rhenish lignite mining area and was later straightened. By adding swamp water from brown coal mining, the Erft became a water-rich river. In 1955 the Erft discharged 5 m3 of water per second, and between 1965 and 1975 over 26 m3 of water. By relocating the Garzweiler opencast mine towards Erkelenz, the swamp water will no longer be drained into the Erft, but will instead seep into the wetland of the Schwalm-Nette valley, among other places. As a result, the Erft will become a small river with a flow of less than 3 m3 of water per second and will therefore change its appearance significantly. The Erftverband will remove the bank reinforcements on the island of Hombroich (Neuss-Holzheim) by 2015 so that the future Erft can look for a new bed. In the Zubend area in Wevelinghoven, old Erft beds from Roman times are largely included in the LVR's renaturation concept. The dismantling should continue in Bedburg until 2045. This year was chosen because the Hambach opencast mine would then be shut down. At the beginning of 2020, RWE announced that it would shut it down in 2029/30.