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Assessment and Mitigation of Impacts on Urban Rivers

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Assessment and Mitigation of Impacts on Urban Rivers ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE RIVER MANAGEMENT: ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION OF IMPACTS ON URBAN RIVERS MICHAEL KARL LUGER University of Cape Town Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Environmental and Geographical Science UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN MARCH 1998 The University of Cape Town hat been give. th tight to reproduce this thaslt In wtlol or lo part. Copyright Is held by th6 author. The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE RIVER MANAGEMENT: ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION OF IMPACTS ON URBAN RIVERS ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE RIVER MANAGEMENT: ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION OF IMPACTS ON URBAN RIVERS ABSTRACT Urban development and engineering works have resulted in the majority of rivers that drain urban areas being severely degraded, both ecologically and in terms of their potential amenity value. This dissertation explores the reasons for this "spiral of degradation" and it describes the ecological and social impacts on rivers caused by urban development, channelisation and canalisation. It then suggests possible measures to mitigate the impacts at the levels of the catchment, floodplain and river channel. The present cycle of degradation of urban rivers in the Cape Metropolitan Area (and elsewhere) can be halted. In addition, where degradation has already occurred, mitigation and rehabilitation are possible and could restore some of the lost conservation and ecological values, as well as the potential amenity, recreation and education functions. Early colonisation of Cape Town by Europeans inflicted severe impacts on the rivers surrounding and passing through the city. These included: catchment degradation, water abstraction, the disposal of unpurified sewage and industrial effluents, removal of riparian forests, clearing of instream vegetation and the draining of wetlands. During the 20111 century, many urban rivers have been "improved" by straightening or confining within rectangular concrete-lined canals in order to protect urban development in flood-prone areas. The unquestioning faith in technology during this period and the attitude that human ingenuity could "improve nature" are now regarded by the scientific community, together with some local and regional authorities and informed members of the public, as mistakes that resulted in ecological and environmental degradation. These technical solutions merely treated the symptoms of the problem without recognising, let alone attempting to treat, the causes, that is poor catchment and floodplain management. However, there is still a public demand for canalisation of the remaining "natural" rivers in the greater Cape Town area and beyond. At the same time, there has been an increase in environmental awareness, as well as a growing appreciation of the value of holistic and multi-objective planning in the engineering and planning professions. This dissertation aims to assess the impacts of urbanisation, channelisation and canalisation on the aquatic ecosystem and socio-economic environment of urban rivers, and to develop possible measures to mitigate these impacts. The objectives of this study are : • to describe the traditional approach and practice of stormwater engineering, • to understand the factors that have caused the present degraded state of urban river systems generally, particularly those within the Cape Town Metropolitan Area, ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE RIVER MANAGEMENT: ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION OF IMPACTS ON URBAN RIVERS PAGE- i- • to outline the ecological theories relating to lotic ecosystems and their functioning in order to assist engineers, decision-makers and the public to understand the arguments for ecologically-sensitive river engineering, • to present a concise summary of the effects of urban development on river flow and water quality in receiving river systems, • to assess the ecological impacts of urbanisation, channelisation and canalisation on river systems in a manner that is understandable to non-ecologists and which facilitates the implementation of mitigation measures, • to assess the socio-economic impacts of urbanisation, channelisation and canalisation on river systems, • to derive a comprehensive set of potential mitigation measures, applicable to the catchment, floodplain and especially the river channel, and • to illustrate some of the threats to the Liesbeek River system and to demonstrate how mitigation measures could enhance the ecological functioning of the system. The assessment of the ecological effects of urbanisation, channelisation and canalisation is described in terms of changes in the key abiotic factors. These include an increase in the ' magnitude and frequency of high flow velocities, a reduction in substrate heterogeneity, a decrease in aquatic, riparian and floodplain area and a deterioration in water quality. These changes may affect each floral and faunal species differently. Species in the upper reaches, together with those that are rare or specialised, are more likely to be affected. Increasing changes from the natural range of each abiotic factor will increasingly affect species and result in the loss of species. Eventually, basic ecological functioning may be impaired and the system will only support those species that are extremely "hardy". From a socio-economic perspective, the main effects of urbanisation, channelisation and canalisation include aesthetic degradation of the river and corridor, impairment of recreational and educational opportunities, and reduced biological filtering of the water. The conservation value of both the river and corridor is reduced and linkages between fragmented natural habitats are impaired. The stormwater efficiency may, however, be enhanced by channelisation and canalisation. Environmentally-sensitive river management promotes the aesthetic, recreational, amenity, education and conservation value of urban rivers and corridors by utilising both structural and non-structural approaches. The non-structural approach includes catchment management measures to limit the increase in stormwater runoff and to minimise the deterioration in water quality. This approach also includes management of the floodplain and control over land use zoning. It is argued that it is essential to implement these non-structural measures in order to minimise the impacts on, and potential to engineer the river channel in a sensitive manner. The structural approach relates to the engineering and management of the river channel itself. The objective is to maximise the physical diversity of the channel. This will maximise biological diversity and thus the conservation value of the river. ENVIRONMENTALLY-SENSITIVE RIVER MANAGEMENT: ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION OF IMPACTS ON URBAN RIVERS PAGE- ii- ~. Environmentally-sensitive catchment management aims to reduce the volume of stormwater runoff, preferably to pre-development levels. This has a several advantages, such as a reduction in downstream flooding and minimising the need for downstream channel upgrading. It also protects the riverine ecosystem, and improves the quality of stormwater runoff. Measures, including the storage of rainfall on flat-topped roofs or in car parks, stone-filled trenches, porous pavements, grass-lined channels and detention dams are described. Although it is important that the deterioration in water quality supplied to receiving rivers is minimised, it is not water pollution alone that limits the diversity and integrity of the aquatic ecosystem. Environmentally-sensitive management of the floodplain requires limiting urban development. Flood insurance and disaster relief, beyond humanitarian grounds, meanwhile encourage further development of flood prone areas. Reserving inadequate corridor widths forecloses environmentally-sensitive river channel management options and therefore it is vital for the authorities to acquire a corridor. Channels are only fully utilised for 0,01% of the time for stormwater and it is therefore argued that they should be designed and managed to fulfil other functions, including amenity, aesthetics and education. Moreover, corridors frequently constitute the only areas of natural or semi-natural habitat within an urban area and have considerable conservation potential. Their linear nature can play an important role in linking isolated patches of terrestrial habitat. A number of measures can be utilised to mitigate the negative ecological effects of river maintenance, channelisation and canalisation. Most all of these aim to maintain or recreate the diversity of physical conditions, especially flow velocity and substratum, thereby increasing the diversity of organisms. Environmentally-sensitive river maintenance practices include: reducing the frequency of maintenance activities, disposing spoil material away from the channel, modifying only one bank, leaving patches of aquatic and terrestrial vegetation uncut, or sectior.s of channel undredged, establishing or maintaining terrestrial vegetation, and undertaking work in an upstream direction. Streambank protection includes indirect methods such as deflecting the flow away from the banks by the use of dikes, jetties or gabions placed perpendicular
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