< 2008.3：World's WATERFRONT:WORLD Monthly Archive >
Along the midstream and downstream of Yangtze River, the number of lakes connected to the river drastically decreased from a hundred to three. As a result, the lakes’ ecology was badly destroyed, and their flood prevention and water storage abilities were quite damaged. In 1998, Yangtze River experienced the secondly largest flood after 1954. As post-disaster measures, total measures including constructing hydraulic systems, preventing epidemic, rebuilding housing areas, restoring ecosystem, and appealing for international cooperation, are decided as the nation and are now in operation. Nature restoration has been underway, focusing on wetlands.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,China | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:45
Gyon-an River restoration project was started with the idea that the best river ecosystem is the one in harmony with the sound recreation and cultural activities. The project aims at restoring and maintaining the natural functions of the Gyon-an River’s ecosystem for a better life and global environment, and at realizing a clean innate river culture.
The basic principal adopted to realize the above is the ecological approach. The project is the first approach in Korea in that it keeps the natural shape to the maximum, and it is a steppingstone to restoring the river course and the basin‘s wetland.
By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Korea | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:44
River straitening and drainage development for preparing farmlands started in the late 19th century. By 1968, 95 % of the river was modified and 4000-ha farmland was transformed to cultivated field. But its effects on the environment and the restoration plan were investigated for twelve years, and based on the results, the interested parties negotiated to reach an agreement. In June of 1999, the biggest restoration works in the north Europe started, with the budget of 35 million dollars. It included land acquisition, as well as projects regarding soil, water, and roads, and was called “Skjern River restoration project.”
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Europe | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:43
Urbanization caused the pollution of Singapore River whose water became dark and unclean. In order to revitalize the river, strict measures were taken including pig farming prohibition in the area, and moving roadside food vendors, who had discharged wastewater, into buildings.
Singapore imports the half of its water from rapidly-growing Johor Bahru in the neighbor country Malaysia. The country has been eagerly working on: water development using domestic catchment; recycling sewage; and importing water from multiple sources.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Other Asina Countries | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:42
The San Francisco Bay area consists of nine counties, with the population of 650 million and the dimension of 19400 km2. Each county has its own land use plan. Around thirty years ago, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was established by the residents who were concerned about the waterfront reclamation by the rate of 10 km2 every year. Based on the annual budget of four billion dollars, BCDC has been granted with the wide-ranging powers of making various political decisions as an agency, including the power to protect the existing port, the power to build recreation facilities for the citizens, and the power on the airport and on the wildlife preserve. With the budget of four billion dollars, various projects have been implemented together with the local government, and the local economy has continuously been vitalized. One example is the waterfront restoration program （Calfed Bay Delta Program） in Calfed Bay Delta area where Sacrament and San Joaquin waters flow into the San Francisco Bay. The program promotes environment restoration over more than thirty years, focusing on the fields of drinking water quality and of ecosystem conservation.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,North America | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:24
The scenery of Rhine River in Netherlands has dramatically changed by centuries of human activities such as creating banks that decreased anti-flood fields; agricultural use of anti-flood fields; river course improvement for transportation; and massive wastes disposal. It resulted in deterioration of Rhine River’s environment. In 1970s, the aquatic life in the river was contaminated by harmful chemicals, and the river was called “sewage in Europe.”
Especially after 1986’s chemical factory fire in Sandos, Switzerland, the water quality was deteriorated. People grew conscious on environment, and created “Rhine River activity plan” targeting at “salmon living river by 2000.”
By the end of 1980s, thanks to the efforts by the surrounding local governments, the environment was recovered to a level to be quoted as a hygienic excellence.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Europe | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:24
From 1860s, there was a river development in upstream of Rhine (Basel – Bingen) aiming at flood prevention and inland river transportation. In 1930s, river improvements were done for hydraulic power generation and inland river transportation. Treaty of Versailles after the World War I gave France a right on Rhine River, and France established a new channel for river transportation, parallel to Rhine River. As a result of these changes, anti-flood fields were diminished and flood frequented in the upstream region. Given the situation, a comprehensive Rhine River flood control plan was proposed. By restoring and conserving anti-flood fields, Rhine River’s flood control functionality (estimated 270 million m2) is expectedly recovered. Governmental agencies and NGOs operate focusing on water quality improvement, free fish inhabitation and relocation, and habitat variety improvement.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Europe | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:23
Missouri River, a largest and the longest river in North America, has been widely modified over these 150 years.
However, as the American people grew aware of the environmental ethics, they came to focus on the deterioration of the major rivers in the country, and to reexamine the river management priority. As a result, some national laws and state laws were established, and many measures to support restoring a number of major rivers in America were provided. For Missouri River, based on the Missouri River Mitigation Act (an act of compensation for environmental destruction), a project was implemented, which restored the wetland and the riverside forests, changed the banks and weirs, and reunited the “chutes” (water channels for high water) with the mainstream.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,North America | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:22
Mersey River was polluted as the industrial revolution proceeded, and for two hundred years, it had been deemed as the most polluted river in Europe. Its water environment started to improve in 1960s. The financial and environmental restoration activities were started for the Mersey River basin that had the problems of declining economy, devastated cities, and environmental issues.
From 1980, as a project to clean up the river mouth, a 15-year investment plan (170 million pounds or 34 billion yen) for cleaning the sewage wastewater was started by the government. From 1985, this effort was continued as Mersey River Basin Campaign, run mainly by the environment ministry. It is a 25-year program with the total budget of four billion pounds invested by the government and companies. It is a “world-encouraging advanced example” and is highly evaluated in EU as well as in UK.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Europe | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:21
Waza-Logone Floodplain ranges over 8000 km2. It has the people with various businesses who base their lives there, and has rich biodiversity. However, after a dam to support the local economy and living was constructed, the natural functions of the floodplain were lost. The social and economic impacts of the lost floodplain were serious, loosing over 50 million dollars of basis for human life in the twenty years after the dam construction.
Approximately 8000 households suffered from the direct economic damages of over two million dollars a year, caused by the decreased dry-season grazing, fishing, yields of natural resource, and surface water supply. The suffered were mostly stock farmers, fishers, and dry-land farmers who represented the poorest and the weakest group in the region.
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By JRRN-secre | Category: Restoration Project,Africa | Comment(0) | Trackback(0) |
Date: 2008.03.31 19:21
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