[Re-posting my original submission for a task in mygov.in. This report summarizes the best practices and lessons learnt from river restoration projects from around the world]
1)
Cleaning
up of Singapore River and Kallang Basin
Time
period: 10 years (1977-87)
Initial
state: In 1977, the river basin was contaminated and foul-smelling. The
river was considered dead. A turnaround plan was introduced in 1977, when the
Ministry of the Environment drew up an Action Plan.
Summary
of work done: First, the source of river contamination was identified. This
included about 16000 people living in squatter colonies who directly or
indirectly contaminated the river with human wastes; 2800 pollution causing
trade industries; 5000 street hawkers; 610 pig farmers and 500 duck farmers.
The people living in squatter colonies were shifted to new houses with proper sewage
systems, developed by housing development authority of Singapore. The
industries were shifted to new industrial area with better waste/pollution
treatment facility. The street hawkers were shifted to food centre premises
with sewer and waste disposal facility. The pig and duck farms were shifted.
After the source of pollution was identified
and removed, the river was dredged to remove debris. Since the river was
flowing through the Singapore city, the problem of littering and contamination
from grey water sources still persisted. To maintain cleanliness, engineering
methods were incorporated. Vertical
grating was installed in drains leading to river. In addition float booms were installed at strategic
locations. These installations prevented litter and debris from entering the
main river, which were cleared daily. Program was also carried out educate
people against littering and discharge of water in river.
Key reasons for success were:
·
The success of the project can be attributed to
the following factors:
Introduction of an environmental management strategy - i.e. prevention, enforcement, monitoring and education.
Introduction of an environmental management strategy - i.e. prevention, enforcement, monitoring and education.
·
Implementation of land use planning - i.e.
ensure that developments are properly planned and are compatible with
surrounding land uses to achieve a quality environment.
·
Putting in place comprehensive environmental
infrastructure, such as the sewerage system and refuse collection system.
·
Putting in place legislative instrument and
enforcement measures as well as monitoring programmes.
·
Cultivating an environmentally conscious
population through environmental education.
·
Cooperation amongst the various government
agencies implementing the various programmes e.g. provision of public housing
and industrial workshops, relocation of farms, etc.
·
Ownership of Singapore River and Kallang Basin
by the 3P (People, Private and Public) sectors.
·
Above all, the critical factor for the success
of cleaning up of Singapore River and Kallnag Basin is the political will of
the government.
·
To ensure sustainability of clean water in the
rivers, Singapore continues to plan, coordinate and implement programmes to
prevent pollution from entering into the rivers.
2)
Cleaning
Thames river, London
The level of pollution in Thames River
began to increase with the start of industrialization. In 1957, the pollution
was so high that the river was declared biologically dead, unfit to sustain any
living forms. Fifty years later the river is home for 125 species of fishes and
another 400 species of invertebrates that live in river mud (river
banks/floor).
The key initiatives that lead to the
success of the river restoration are:
·
Strict legislation now prevents industry
from dumping polluted effluent into the river and its tributaries. Sewage from
London and the surrounding area is now treated and then exported for further
processing. The EU water framework
directive, adopted on 23–Oct–2010 is a big step in this direction.
·
Earlier the river was contained by concrete on
both the sides. This would not allow any plants to grow; and hence didn’t
support the growth of fishes and other living creatures. The Environment
Agency, along with local authorities along the Thames, has now set about
removing many of these old concrete barriers that contained the rivers. Instead
they have been building up mud banks and allowing reed beds to take hold. Piles
of rubble at the side help to capture sediment that provides a rich habitat for
invertebrates and molluscs that are food for many other species. In areas where
they have been unable to remove the barriers completely, they have tried
putting sediment behind wooden panels along the walls. This essentially turns
what would have been a horizontal mud bank on the river floor into a vertical
one.
·
Earlier the idea was to get water as fast as
possible from point A to B through smooth concrete channels. However, they are
completely barren when it comes to life as nothing can get a grip there. Allowing
the river to follow its own path helps in growth of species and improves the
health of the river.
3)
Cleaning
The New river, USA
New river, which was born out of 1904
Colorado River flooding, flows to Mexico and reaches Salton Sea. But years of
feeding agricultural runoff, raw sewage and pesticides into the river left the New
River with a reputation as the most polluted river in America. With the
opening of North American Free Trade Agreement in 1990s, the pollution flowing
into river greatly increased and remained unchecked. The city of Calexico, on
the bank of new river, was severely affected. Residents complained of skin
rashes, nausea, asthma in both adults and children, dizziness, eye irritations,
persistent headaches and chronic coughing, during 1990s.
The following measures have
significantly improved the state of the river:
·
In the late 1990s California-Mexico Bi-national
Relations Council was set up to built the Las Arenitas and Zaragoza
Wastewater Treatment plants. Untreated New River water passing through four
microbial treatment cells at Las Arenitas is then chlorinated and fed into a
re-forestation project along the Rio Hardy area, which stretches to the Sea of
Cortez. Zaragoza treats agricultural waste and raw sewage before returning it
to the New River much cleaner. After the wastewater treatment plant
went online (in 2007) the dissolved oxygen, which is a key parameter in the
river quality, just jumped, overnight.
·
The town of Mexicali took the extra step of
encasing the last three miles of New River under a broad new thoroughfare to
limit random dumping such as sofas, plastic containers, pet waste and other
urban discards.
·
In 2001, people began planting marsh grass and
digging sediment ponds at three sites along the river. The Brawley wetland
occupies nine acres, six of which are actual wet acres. Imperial is a 43 acre
site with 22.7 wet acres and the Alamo site is largest at 55 acres with 23 wet
acres. The wetlands divert river water into a series of ponds before
returning it to its natural course stripped of heavy concentrations of fecal coliform,
suspended solids, nitrogen and other nutrients at a rate that impressed even
the project’s architects. It took about 7-9 days for the water to go from the
inlet of the wetlands to the outlet. The process eliminated about 99.7% of the
bacteria.
·
As part of ongoing restoration efforts, the next
plan is to remove the floating wastes like plastics bags, clothing etc. They
plan to design and install trash screens and a diversion system. All the trash
that comes through those culverts will get caught, which will be lifted out of
the river and diverted to wherever it needs to go, to a landfill or even to a
hazardous waste site.
4)
Project
clean river, City of Columbus, Ohio, USA
A series of steps as part of project clean
river are being taken by city of Columbus to maintain the water sources in the
city and nearby area, clean.
Significant initiatives are:
·
City water runoff and sewer water are planned to
be treated by green infrastructure. Green infrastructure is an engineered
solution that mimics nature and filters pollutants that otherwise would be
washed directly into the streams.
·
Fats, oils and grease control: A leading cause
of sewer blockages across the U.S. is the accumulation of fats, oils and grease
(FOG) in the sanitary sewers. The greasy waste enters the sewers through
connections from homes, food service establishments, and industrial wastewater
dischargers. The proposed project requires all food service establishments to
develop and implement a Best Management Plan (BMP) to handle grease
wastes. The rule applies to all licensed food service operations or
licensed retail food establishments that produce, or may produce,
grease-containing wastewater discharged to the city’s sewers. Historically,
BMPs have been required only after a food service establishment has been
identified as a grease blockage source. The proposed rule will be a
proactive rather than a reactive approach. The BMPs work well: since
2001, 76 food establishments have been placed on a program; only four have
required follow-up enforcement for repeat blockages
Source: http://columbus.gov/CleanRivers/ http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=41799 http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=62707 http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=38173
5)
River
restoration efforts in China
Chinese economy is one of the fastest
growing economies and has maintained close to double digit growth in the last two
decades. However such a fast growth has caused large scale damage to the
ecology and deterioration of water resources. To solve the problem and restore
the water ecology, Chinese government has taken many steps in this
direction. Some of the notable
efforts taken are:
·
To conserve water resources and enforce
justified use of water resources, the Water Act was enacted.
·
To control the ill effects of previously
constructed projects and to propose counter measures towards damage control and
restoration, the Environment impact assessment Act was enacted.
·
The Water Resource Ministry directed the
formation of river basin commission, which was tasked to maintain the river in
good state.
·
Strict rules (in phased manner) were introduced
to control the discharge of urban sewage into water bodies.
·
Thousands of strategic and ecologically
important sites have been labelled as Nature conservation region.
·
Survey was taken to determine the wetland that
has high risk to be degraded or which are already degraded. Wetland
conservation projects were started to protect these regions.
·
Wetland was found to help cleaning the river
water. A research conducted by B. Cui et al. in the yellow river delta showed a
significant reduction in salinity, nitrogen and Phosphorus content after the
water passed through the wetlands. The soil organic matter content also increased
as water passed through the wetlands.
·
Research was conducted in the area of Stress
caused by major hydro-projects, River health assessment and adaptive management
of river resources.
·
The water bodies that have dried out because
human interference and which were ecologically important were replenished by
pumping/diverting water from nearby water sources. Plan was also created to
prepare a permanent solution.
Source: Dong Zheren, Sun
Dongya, Zhang Jing, Zhao Jinyong, Zhai Zhengli, Progress of River Restoration in China, China Institute of Water
Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing
Baoshan Cuia, Qichun Yanga, Zhifeng Yanga, Kejiang Zhang, Evaluating
the ecological performance of wetland restoration in the Yellow River Delta,
China, Ecological Engineering 35 (2009)
1090–1103
6)
Mara
River, Kenya/Tanzania
The Mara River is an international river,
shared between Kenya and Tanzania. The Mara River Basin is about 13,750 km2,
of which about 65% is located in Kenya and 35% in Tanzania. Local communities
and other stakeholders in the Mara River Basin are increasingly facing water
shortages as well as problems with poor water quality and environmental
degradation. This limits attempts to alleviate poverty and improve healthcare,
food security, economic development and protection of the natural
resources. Further problems are caused by the loss of forest cover in the
upper catchments and along rivers, unsustainable agricultural practices
(including irrigation), pollution threats from urban settlements, and mining.
Some of the steps taken to restore this
river were:
•Carry out baseline surveys and as far as
possible fill information gaps with documentation in the form of reports, maps
etc;
• Gather and disseminate appropriate information on conditions and threats to the Mara River Basin for land-use planning and management of the Mara River Basin and raise awareness about the importance of catchment management;
• Facilitate the ongoing process of stakeholder dialogue on integrated water resources management, ranging from local people to high level policy makers, and support local people’s involvement in the inter-sectoral integrated river basin management (IRBM) dialogue through capacity-building and advocacy;
• Start and facilitate a process to introduce or revive existing community organisations, where forums and working groups have been established, and management actions in the catchment are becoming more sustainable;
• Document best practices and failures in terms of sustainable management and conservation, and promote the sharing and exchange of these lessons through demonstrating measures in the field, community exchange visits and communication measures;
• Build capacity amongst key stakeholders including vulnerable groups (small scale farmers, poor urban dwellers and women) for effective and sustainable IRBM;
• Develop and promote recommendations for the development of an integrated water resource management strategy for the Mara River Basin, including appropriate policies and laws to secure sustainable management and conservation.
• Gather and disseminate appropriate information on conditions and threats to the Mara River Basin for land-use planning and management of the Mara River Basin and raise awareness about the importance of catchment management;
• Facilitate the ongoing process of stakeholder dialogue on integrated water resources management, ranging from local people to high level policy makers, and support local people’s involvement in the inter-sectoral integrated river basin management (IRBM) dialogue through capacity-building and advocacy;
• Start and facilitate a process to introduce or revive existing community organisations, where forums and working groups have been established, and management actions in the catchment are becoming more sustainable;
• Document best practices and failures in terms of sustainable management and conservation, and promote the sharing and exchange of these lessons through demonstrating measures in the field, community exchange visits and communication measures;
• Build capacity amongst key stakeholders including vulnerable groups (small scale farmers, poor urban dwellers and women) for effective and sustainable IRBM;
• Develop and promote recommendations for the development of an integrated water resource management strategy for the Mara River Basin, including appropriate policies and laws to secure sustainable management and conservation.
• Successfully sensitised the government
authorities and lobbied political leaders for the re-establishment of the
original forest boundaries and the eventual removal of people who invaded the
Mau Forest Catchment, the source of the Mara River.
• Stakeholders educated on the new Water Act (2002) and Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA, 1999).
• On-farm tree planting campaigns has been institutionalised within the established Mara River Water Users’ Association in the upper catchment of the basin.
• Over 1,000 families have installed energy conservation stoves.
• The concept of water thirsty crops is now clear to stakeholders in the Mara River Basin, with measures instituted to control water flows.
• Operational Community Forest Associations (CFAs) formed - Key stakeholders were mobilised and facilitated to form three CFAs to manage Transmara Forest block. One CFA has been registered. 15.5 hectares of the forest area were rehabilitated through enrichment planting and reforestation under CFAs. Five nurseries are operational with total of 50,000 indigenous seedlings to be planted in the forest.
• 995 hectares under soil and water conservation - 820 farmers were supported to establish terraces on 995 hectares of farms to control soil erosion and improve water conservation. Suitable tree and fodder species were planted to stabilise terraces and provide fodder for livestock. 18 kms of riverine vegetation were also protected.
• Stakeholders educated on the new Water Act (2002) and Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA, 1999).
• On-farm tree planting campaigns has been institutionalised within the established Mara River Water Users’ Association in the upper catchment of the basin.
• Over 1,000 families have installed energy conservation stoves.
• The concept of water thirsty crops is now clear to stakeholders in the Mara River Basin, with measures instituted to control water flows.
• Operational Community Forest Associations (CFAs) formed - Key stakeholders were mobilised and facilitated to form three CFAs to manage Transmara Forest block. One CFA has been registered. 15.5 hectares of the forest area were rehabilitated through enrichment planting and reforestation under CFAs. Five nurseries are operational with total of 50,000 indigenous seedlings to be planted in the forest.
• 995 hectares under soil and water conservation - 820 farmers were supported to establish terraces on 995 hectares of farms to control soil erosion and improve water conservation. Suitable tree and fodder species were planted to stabilise terraces and provide fodder for livestock. 18 kms of riverine vegetation were also protected.
• Information and data documented on
environmental, hydrological and social conditions, and now being
disseminated.
• 25 Community Action Plans for water management and other natural resources have been prepared and are under implementation.
• Catchment Management Strategy has been developed and led to the development of catchment Joint Water Resources Management Plan.
• Facilitated the formation of 14 Water Users Associations as legal entities in accordance to the National Water Policy requirements.
• Supported Tanzania’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation which rehabilitated 13 completely stalled river gauging stations.
• Capacity built amongst vulnerable Community-Based Groups involved in Income Generating Activities, and using technologies that support sustainable natural resources and conservation.
• 25 Community Action Plans for water management and other natural resources have been prepared and are under implementation.
• Catchment Management Strategy has been developed and led to the development of catchment Joint Water Resources Management Plan.
• Facilitated the formation of 14 Water Users Associations as legal entities in accordance to the National Water Policy requirements.
• Supported Tanzania’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation which rehabilitated 13 completely stalled river gauging stations.
• Capacity built amongst vulnerable Community-Based Groups involved in Income Generating Activities, and using technologies that support sustainable natural resources and conservation.
7)
River
restoration effort in Japan
The economic boom between 1950 and 1970
caused severe water pollution throughout the country. ‘Develop now, clean up
later’ was the theme during this period. Rapid urbanization enlarged the area
of impermeable landscapes, and further increased flooding risks. Within a few
decades, most rivers had been constrained, impounded and polluted.
To reverse the trend, many steps were
taken by the government and people, some of them are listed below:
·
In the early 1970s, an energy crisis stopped
rapid economic growth, and people started to again recognize the value of
natural landscapes and good living conditions. In urban and suburban areas,
rivers provided the last remaining open space for amenities and recreation.
“Shin-sui” – ‘playing with water’ - became an important keyword. Countless
“Shin-sui” parks and playgrounds were opened along rivers. Although these
projects were conducted for recreational purpose rather than for ecological
purposes, they helped to turn people's eyes back to “nature.”
·
In the 1990, The River Bureau launched the
Nature-oriented river works initiative. From 1990 to 2004 more than 23000 river
restoration projects have been implemented.
·
In addition, several laws were enacted to
conserve and improve river environment. The major step was the amendment of the
River Law in 1997. Since then, several laws were enacted or amended that
promote nature restoration: the Specified Non-profit Activity Promotion Law
(the NPO Law) (1998) supports NGO activities for nature restoration, the
Seacoast Law (1999) was amended for seacoast environment protection, the
Environment Impact Assessment Law (1999) is of primary importance to conserve
and protect nature, and the Land Improvement Law (2001) for agricultural
modernization was amended for conserving the rural environment. In particular,
the Nature Restoration Promotion Law (2003) calls for a sound scientific
underpinning of restoration projects and it has stimulated countless
restoration projects throughout the country.
·
In 1990, The River Bureau launched the “National
Census of the River Environment” to gather nation-wide baseline information on
the ecological state of river corridors. This intensive monitoring not only
provides important information on long-term trends in biodiversity but also
improves our scientific understanding of river ecosystems.
·
In 1998, the Public Works Research Institute
(PWRI), a research institute of The River Bureau opened the Aqua Restoration
Research Centre (ARRC), which is one of the largest facilities worldwide
devoted to restoration ecology. The ARRC is designed to experimentally study
the ecological effects of flow manipulation along differently impacted river
channels. It is equipped with three 800-m long experimental channels of
different geomorphic styles. Discharge can be manipulated by an upstream gate.
Numerous research institutes are using the ARRC facility - which includes a
research station - for controlled field experiments. ARRC is also an important
education and training centre. Within the first six years, more than 20,000
people visited the centre.
·
In Japan most river restoration projects are
driven by local groups and small NGOs (i.e. grassroot initiatives). Although
small NGOs have limited financial and technical resources they can connect
local people with scientists and river authorities and therefore trigger very
large projects. In the case of Lake Kasumigaura, a local NGO called “Asaza
Project” initiated the largest lakeshore restoration project in the country. In
Japan, river restoration began by the activities of a small citizen group. In
Ikazaki, a local NGO was seeking an environmentally sound river management
scheme to conserve the Oda River. Members of this NGO voluntarily visited
Germany and Switzerland to learn about ecologically sound management practices.
Their zeal led to the launch of the nation-wide “Nature-oriented River Works”
program in 1990. Thus, grassroot movements can be key drivers of environmental
and social change.
8)
Hudson
river restoration, New York
The Hudson River has been greatly disrupted
by human, especially between 1800 and 1972. Shoreline and wetlands have been
altered, relocated or eliminated along the 152 mile length of estuary. River
flow has been directed to single channel, as the other channels were filled
with the dredged sediments. Hundreds of dams were built in tributaries thereby
blocking the migratory fish movement and degrading water quality. Water and
sediments have been contaminated with toxins and invasive plants and animals
have taken shelter of the estuary.
As the result of Clean Water Act (1972) and
other laws, great improvement has been made in the quality of water and many of
the contaminated sites have been cleaned. Many of the strategic locations have
been taken over by New York State and government agencies to maintain and
implement habitat conservation efforts. To further improve the condition of the
river, a draft was made with recommendation to improve the condition of river
further.
The main objective of the draft is:
1) Plan, prioritize, carry out and evaluate habitat restoration projects
2) Advance the state of our knowledge about the habitat needs of priority species
3) Develop understanding of how to best carry out meaningful restoration projects
4) Guide habitat protection efforts that will
support adaptation to sea‐level rise and
promote ecosystem resilience
5) Coordinate and document habitat restoration and restoration science projects.
Some of the key recommendations for
actions to be taken are:
·
Preserve existing estuary habitat – As the cost
of preserving is far less compared to restoration of a degraded ecosystem.
·
Restore Side channels
·
Promote and implement Fish Passage, Dam Removal and Culvert Right-Sizing
·
Promote and implement use of ecologically
enhanced shoreline treatments
·
Implement programs to control Invasive plant species
·
After implementing the restoration process,
adaptive management principles should be followed. The general steps in
adaptive management are:
1.
Baseline Data and Project Design – Project
managers collect environmental data from the restoration site and a reference
site to identify project goals, design, appropriate and feasible actions for
meeting and develop a monitoring system for measuring success. Collection of baseline data is essential to
the process of understanding the results of restoration actions and improving
the reliability of future efforts
2.
Construction ‐ Project managers implement project designs.
3.
Project Monitoring – Physical and biological
response is monitored and compared with reference and baseline condition to
determine project success.
4.
Lessons Learned and Adaptive Management ‐ Information and experience gained is published and made available to
improve the quality and reliability of ongoing and future restoration projects.
·
A proper understanding of river restoration
science is a pre-requisite for a successful implementation of restoration
project. Following are the areas in which scientific research and understanding
is required:
1.
Intertidal and Shallow Habitat Restoration
2.
Tidal Wetland Restoration
3.
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration
4.
Shoreline Restoration
5.
Tributary Restoration (fish passage and dam
removal)
Source:
Miller, Daniel E., 2013. Hudson River Estuary Habitat
Restoration Plan, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Hudson River Estuary Program. http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5082.html
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