What is urban river restoration?

River restoration and conservation in damaged urban catchments. River restoration is the process of managing previous damaged rivers to reinstate natural processes to restore biodiversity, providing benefits to both people and wildlife.

What are urban waterways?

An urban stream is a formerly natural waterway that flows through a heavily populated area. Urban streams are often polluted by urban runoff and combined sewer outflows. Water scarcity makes flow management in the rehabilitation of urban streams problematic.

What is a benefit of urban stream river restoration?

Restoring urban rivers has the potential to provide a number of benefits. These include improved water quality, reduced flood risk, enhanced ecological function, and enriched recreation and social value.

How can river restoration reduce urban drainage issues?

Restoring Urban Rivers Simply removing hard riverbanks to increase riparian vegetation and habitat complexity can improve urban rivers and offer socio-economic enhancements as well (Techniques). Even where flow rates are not reduced, riparian plants can cool rivers, stabilise banks and offer shade to fish and animals.

How can a river impact a city?

In terms of river flow, the paper in Water Resources Research came to a similar conclusion.

Why are urban rivers important?

Humans have settled next to and altered rivers since medieval times to use the resource as potable water, to power mills, for transportation and waste disposal (Figure 1). In urban areas, rivers continued to be channelised to accommodate for development and flood prevention.

What is urban water pollution?

Urban water pollution, in particular, can be caused by a myriad of sources, from sewage to industrial runoff and commercial disposal to stormwater, which carries oil, grease, toxic chemicals, and other debris from highways and local streets.

How is water affected in urban areas?

Urban Water Pollution. Urban areas have the potential to pollute water in many ways. Runoff from streets carries oil, rubber, heavy metals, and other contaminants from automobiles. Air pollution can lead to acid rain, nitrate deposition, and ammonium deposition, which can alter the water chemistry of lakes.

What does daylighting mean to a restoration ecologist?

What is daylighting? Daylighting is the practice of uncovering a buried watercourse or a part thereof (Pinkham 2000). It was a vision to restore the ecological integrity of Strawberry Creek that triggered its daylighting (Charbonneau, 1992; Leopold, 1986).

What is urban stream syndrome?

Description: The term “urban stream syndrome” describes the consistently observed ecological degradation of streams draining urban land.

What is river restoration in geography?

River restoration refers to a large variety of ecological, physical, spatial and management measures and practices. These are aimed at restoring the natural state and functioning of the river system in support of biodiversity, recreation, flood management and landscape development.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of river restoration?

River restoration Discharge in the river reduces meaning there is less risk of flooding downstream. Little or no maintenance is required which makes this a low-cost solution. Biodiversity is maintained along the river. Flood risks can increase if nothing is done along the river.