Graziella Mocellin - Maria Pia Coceano / ISIS Malignani 3/35

LIBRARY

Index

LIBRARY 1

INTRODUCTION 4

Rivers and water 4

Water environments 4

Human development and sustainable management of natural resources 5

Preface to the use of Library 6

CHAPTER 1: MODIFICATION OF THE SYSTEMS 7

Human landscape 7

Regulation and other works on rivers 8

Protection of water ecosystems 9

Legislation 9

European legislation 10

Water Framework Directive (2000/60) 10

CHAPTER 2. RIVER ECOLOGY (*) 12

River morphology 12

River-bed 12

Transportation of material 13

Erosion 14

Sedimentation 14

River dynamics 14

Human works and the effects on the river 15

Breaking of the banks 15

Interruption of the continuity between the river and the surrounding area 15

Waterproofing of the river-bed 16

Fauna 16

Macro-benthonic communities 16

Ecological zoning 17

Flora 18

Aquatic vegetation 18

Riparian vegetation 18

Role of vegetation for the river equilibrium 19

CHAPTER 3. WATER RESOURCE (*) 20

The presence of water on the earth 20

Hydrological cycle 20

Physical qualities of water 21

Chemical qualities of water 22

Water and life 26

Photosynthesis 27

CHAPTER 4. MAN’S USE OF WATER (*) 28

Agricolture (*) 28

Water consumption 28

Water pollution 29

Industry 29

Water consumption 29

Water pollution 29

Civil use 30

Pollution and potable water 30

Water purification 31

Water consumption 31

Rivers: not only water 33

Rivers as lines of communication 33

Culture and recreation 34

BIBLIOGRAFY 34

Index of figures 35

Graziella Mocellin - Maria Pia Coceano / ISIS Malignani 3/35

INTRODUCTION

Notes to the text: the underlined blue words are available in the Glossary tool of FYR platform.

Rivers and water

A river is like a living “organism.” It is a complex system of plants, animals, nutrients, movement, and habitats. It includes all the living organisms of the entire basin, from the small aquatic beings (bacteria, algae, larvae, shellfish, and fish) to the larger terrestrial vertebrates (reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds) and humans.

A natural-flowing river creates abundant habitats which host a great number of living species. The variation in the waterscape (environmental differences) enables the river to shelter a large number of living species: for a river to keep its normal balance and to perform its natural functions, environmental diversity and biodiversity are fundamental conditions. One of the most important functions of the river is its self-cleansing ability, that is to say the mechanism, in which micro-organisms, macro-invertebrates and vertebrates literally breakdown both natural and human-created organic and inorganic waste in the water and purify the riverine environment.

Water is essential for life and for the survival of all creatures, and therefore, the management of this precious gift is one of the greatest challenges of our time. As the demand for water spirals upward, the inevitable need for adequate supply networks and sanitary services must be satisfied.

The distribution of fresh water reserves (supply) on the earth is unequal: many regions are subject to flooding in particular periods of the year, while other regions suffer from frequent drought periods. The consumption of fresh water is likewise unequal: it borders on waste in rich countries, and it is under the limit of survival in poor countries. At present 80 countries and more than 1 billion of the world’s population lack access to potable (suitable for drinking) water. That statistic means 40% of the world’s population suffer from lack of fresh drinking water. The consequence of this painful situation is, as the World Health Organization affirms, that millions die every year because of lack or bad water quality.

Water environments

The presence of water strongly influences life on our planet. This is not only because water represents a vital element for all life forms of life on earth, but also because it creates environments such as rivers, lakes and wetlands which, in turn, constitute natural habitats for an enormous variety of plant-, and animal species.

Vegetation in marshes and ponds is distributed in relation to the depth of the waters: as one moves from the centre of a water body (e.g. a pond) to the outer edges of the riparian zone, populations of plant species change and blend from one into another. Thus, over a small area one can observe an exceptional variety of habitats which is also the reason that moist, damp areas are characterised by such high biodiversity.

Rivers are ecosystems which not only include the flow of water itself, but also the sum of all organisms within the river basin. A river is an ecological continuum of environments that can differ from one to another, and it functions best when there has been little or no human intervention on the part of man along the river-bed and flood areas.

In Europe very few rivers are free to flood (e.g. the Loire-France). Luckily, in other regions of the world there are more numerous rivers which, at least in part, still experience periodical inundations leading to temporary, wetland habitats like damp prairies, grassy swamps, alluvial forests, or stretches of water formed out of abandoned meanders.

Lakes are formed whenever there is a depression of the ground characterised by a waterproof substrate or by one which, in any event, does not possess good drainage. Most of the lakes in Europe are permanent, freshwater lakes. However, in Southern Europe where there is a more Mediterranean climate or in the regions of the former Soviet Republic salty lakes (even temporary ones) are very widespread. Along the shallow lakesides light penetrates easily to the bottom and enables the development of rooted plants which create the biological rich transition-zones between the stretch of water and the dry land.

Human development and sustainable management of natural resources

The availability of natural resources, especially water, has a strong influence on human society, and today water is one of the biggest obstacles to development in many countries. This is demonstrated by the historical, close and dramatic connection between lack of drinkable water and the level of poverty in a country.

Water is not only essential for human health and quality of the life, but also for the development of communities, for agriculture (farming and breeding ), and industry.

Now at the turn of the century, the state of Earth’s water reserves are quite alarming: population growth, natural resource use and increased consumption have almost exhausted available water resources. The symptoms of this dramatic situation have been unfortunately underestimated for too long: water has been considered a free inexhaustible gift, and it has been wasted and used inefficiently. Water resources, even in countries with plenty of water, are endangered by pollution, overbuilding, increased consumption, irrational exploitation of resources, unsustainable economic growth and climatic changes.

Today, rivers risk becoming the symbol of the effects of man’s alteration of the environment: rivers are blockaded into reservoirs and forced into channels to create water supplies for agriculture, industry, public uses; rivers are attacked by pollutants and by development along the banks and the beds, and ravaged by the scarce and inefficient maintenance of river beds.

This entire situation will inevitably result in the alteration of natural balances of many rivers with many negative consequences for animals, plants and man, which all depend on it.

Solutions are not simple, but it is clear that increasing our effort to build dams, embankments and deviations on rivers is not the best way. An alternative exists: the sustainable management of fresh water resources, which is to say, maximizing their benefits and, at the same time, preserving the natural processes, which guarantee the long term enjoyment and use of water resources.

Figure 1: EU Water framework Directive campaign (Italian version)

Preface to the use of Library

The following chapters aim is to support and deepen relevant points related to freshwater and river management, especially related to the checklist planned by FYR project to assess a river quality.

Each part of the Library is related to one or more chapters of the checklist developed by FYR to monitor the water/river situation. Evidence of that is given in order to guide teachers/students in which part of checklist they could choice along their project.

In the text, a reference (bold letters) to the specific questions is highlighted, to define better the correspondence between the text and the work to plan.

CHAPTER 1: MODIFICATION OF THE SYSTEMS

Human landscape (*)

(*) related to the LANDSCAPE chapter of FYR Checklist

Landscape is the combination of the visible features of a place, a territory, is the “view” that we admire (question 1 of Landscape). Wetlands are the richest areas for biodiversity (question 4-7-8-14-15).

Figure 2: How wetlands work (www. beachwoodhistoricalalliance.files.wordpress.com)

Springs, rivers, lakes, streams, and marshes give shelter for many environmental processes. The energy of water constantly shapes the land, creates the most varied environments, and provides therefore habitats for a multitude of species. However, all the world estimates state that biodiversity of freshwater is decreasing very quickly; the reason for this phenomenon is that man regularly modifies and destroys freshwater and its habitats: draying of marsh lands, use of flood areas for agriculture, canalizations and river diversions. (question 2-3-5-6-9).

Man has always changed the environment to make it suitable for his settlements and to produce the necessary natural resources for the community. Therefore, the analysis of a watershed looks at the history of its environment as well as the history of the its people who have settled there: it shows the way, the reason, and the place where cities have first settled and, it explain the choice to locate many industries in a valley to exploit hydroelectricity or the present rough material.

Regulation and other works on rivers (*)

(*) related to the subchapters 4 (urbanisation), 8 (protection), 9 (restoration) of HUMAN USAGE chapter of FYR Checklist

Man-made works, which have been constructed on rivers (e.g. embankments) till today, aimed at “controlling” rives to exploit the land around them for agriculture, housing, industry and to prevent flooding.

Embanking, which is used to manage and exploit the waters of the rivers (question 4 a-b HUMAN USAGE), alters the natural morphology of the river and the outflow of the waters and increases the vulnerability of the whole system. The large artificial hollows and the transversal works alter the transport of solid materials and influence the methods of deposition; the basin is progressively covered with sediments, which are blocked by the barrage that disrupts their flow, while the water and the soil in valley, without replenishment is then impoverished of needed minerals and top, which can in turn lead to accelerated erosion. Barriers also obstruct the fish passage (question 4c) and the water regulation trough barrages as dams or locks cause variations of water level, which consequently can destroy entire populations of nesting birds.

Figure 3 : a watershed (www.recycleworks.org)

Dams, those barrages that create huge hollows from high water flows to hydroelectric power plants through conduits, cause the worst damages on rivers and the surrounding regions. Worldwide, huge manmade works are built and the diversion of entire watershed modify irreversibly the landscape and the involved surrounding ecosystems.

A new sensibility for river protections is fortunately appearing (question 4d), for example, in restoration works (subchapters 8/9 all questions) to restore the “natural” environment of the rivers as far as possible, and consequently their important ecological functions:

1. capacity of self-purification, with the subsequent reduction and prevention of pollution;

2. capacity of floods control and reduction of hydrologic risk

3. environmental rehabilitation, through the restoration of the ecological continuity of the course of the river.

However, it should be kept in mind that these are complex processes, and it will take years for the entire river ecosystem to find again its balance.

Protection of water ecosystems (*)

(*) related to the LANDSCAPE chapter of FYR Checklist

The loss of riverine environments exposes man to various risks; in fact, a healthy ecosystem can control the effects of floods, avoid catastrophic inundations, and provide a constant self- purification of waters.

The preservation of ecosystems is necessary to provide safety and a regular supply of potable water as well as for food supplies hygiene of millions of people in the poorest countries, who depends on rivers for fishing and, on wetlands for production of food and fibres. A further reason to support the water ecosystems is that they are fundamental for reducing poverty and sustaining the economy of many countries. The decline in the health of the environment in most of world’s watersheds is demonstrated by symptoms such as the decrease of fish stocks, the variations in flow because of flooding and drought, and the deterioration of the water quality.

Methods of sustainable management are necessary to preserve and restore the correct functioning of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and flood areas, and this is the only way to ensure a steady supply of water and to improve its quality. For this purpose, “natural approaches” exist, which are based on the restoration of the environmental functionality of rivers and territory (question 10-11-12-13 of Landscape): for example the restoration of humid areas, which act as filtering ecosystems, and of vegetative riparian zones that not only act as buffers that reduce the presence of nutrients, but also contribute to the improvement of the quality of the water.

(to deepen this topic see MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS Chapter of FYR Checklist)

Legislation (*)

(*) related to the HUMAN USAGE chapter of FYR Checklist

European legislation

National or country-specific laws regulate the management of water resources (question 1d-e-f-h-i, 2 c-d, 4 d-e, 8-9 questions of Human usage); however, the European Community (EC) sets the principles, through supra-national regulations, to which all the Countries must conform. The following are some of these European dispositions about water: water quality for human consumption (80/778), potable water (98/83), disposal of urban sewage treatment (91/271), protection of waters from pollution caused by nitrates from agriculture and by dangerous substances from dumping, and water quality standards for fish and shellfish.

Water Framework Directive (2000/60)

One of the most recent and significant EC regulations is the directive establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy (2000/60), which requires the protection of internal surface waters, transitional waters, coastal and subterraneous waters. This regulation must be implemented by optimising the use of resources and integrating the different regulations for water. A management plan for watershed in accordance with an environmental policy which considers the water cycle rather than the administrative borders of provinces, regions, or states is the fundamental requirement behind this legislation. Therefore, this regulation promotes a sustainable use of water reserves, which is based on the long-term protection of available water resources. It aims at avoiding risks to the health and safety of people (social aspect), provides an efficient access of people and production activities to resources (economic aspect) and protects the resources and maintains their environmental functions (environmental aspect and ground of fairness between generations). The Member States are requested: to check the environmental impact of human activities, to analyse the economic aspects of the exploitation of water, to monitor the surface and underground waters and of protected areas, as well as to take the necessary measures to avoid the deterioration of the water basins, and to involve all the parties concerned in this process (water management).