River Conservation and Oversight

River Conservation and Oversight

River Conservation and Oversight

Bhagwanti Kakkar

River Conservation and Oversight

Bhagwanti Kakkar

ISBN - 9789361524097

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Preface

This special issue in river restoration and management is very important nowadays. This book aims to promote communication between hydrologists, geomorphologists, and ecologists to improve the understanding of river forms and processes and associated ecosystems on the one hand, and to provide knowledge on river restoration as well as the on benefiting ecosystem services on the other.

River ecosystems depend on the dynamic interplay between flow and channel morphology, which together set the physical template for fluvial communities, and ultimately for ecosystem functioning. There is still a need for research on the significance of hydromorphology on riverine communities, notably in terms of responses to restoration actions. Further, research is needed on the effect of channel morphology and hydraulics on ecosystem functions, such as the transformation of organic matter or the maintenance of water quality, which are the basis for ecosystem services and of key importance for the human society. Most river ecosystem functions are provided by coupled processes, which relate to river form on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Hence, focusing on ecosystem functions opens the perspective of hydromorphological integrity from a set of standard variables that are commonly assessed in river restoration and monitoring to a complex set of interacting multiple environmental drivers on these ranges of scales. River scientists are today equipped with a large tool kit of techniques, ideas, and approaches to link hydromorphology with river functioning and ecosystem services, which should be regarded in assessment, management, and restoration of riverine ecosystems.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 The Hydrologic Cycle and The Quantity of

Fresh Water 1

1.2 Status 0f Fresh Water in The United States 8

1.3 Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs 11

1.4 History of Lake Restoration and Management 14

1.5 Exercise 19

2 Basic Limnology 20

2.1 Introduction 20

2.2 Lakes and Reservoirs 21

2.3 Basic Limnology 27

2.3.1 Physical-Chemical Limnology 27

2.4 Biological Limnology 31

2.5 Limiting Factors 34

2.6 Exercise 36

3 Lake and Reservoir Diagnosis and Evaluation 38

3.1 Introduction 38

3.2 Diagnosis/Feasibility Studies 39

3.2.1 Watershed 39

3.2.2 In-Lake 50

3.3 Dilution/Flushing 57

3.4 Lake Protection from Urban Runoff 57

3.5 Hypolimnetic Withdrawal 58

3.6 Artificial Circulation 58

3.7 Food-Web Manipulations 58

3.8 Copper Sulfate Treatment 58

3.9 Macrophyte Problems 59

3.10 Harvesting 59

3.11 Biological Controls 59

3.12 Lake-Level Drawdown 60

3.13 Sediment Covers 60

3.14 Sediment Removal 60

3.15 Hypolimnetic Aeration 60

3.16 The Lake Improvement Restoration Plan 61

3.17 Exercise 63

4 Lake and Reservoir Response To Diversion

Advanced Wastewater Treatment 64

4.1 General 64

4.2 Techniques for Reducing External Nutrient Loads 66

4.3 Recovery of World Lakes 68

4.4 Lake Washington, Washington 77

4.5 Lake Sammamish, Washington 80

4.6 Lake Norrviken, Sweden 84

4.7 Shagawa Lake, Minnesota 86

4.8 Madison Lakes, Wisconsin 89

4.9 Lake Zürich, Switzerland 92

4.10 Lake Søbygaard, Denmark 93

4.11 Exercise 94

5 Lake and Reservoir Protection From

Non-Point Pollution 96

5.1 Introduction 96

5.2 In-Stream Phosphorus Removal 99

5.3 Non-Point Nutrient Source Controls: 103

5.3.1 Introduction 103

5.4 Non-Point Source Controls: Manure Management 105

5.5 Non-Point Nutrient Source Controls: Ponds

and Wetlands 108

5.5.1 Introduction 108

5.5.2 Dry And Wet Extended Detention (Ed) Ponds 109

5.5.3 Constructed Wetlands 112

5.5.4 Pre-Dams 116

5.6 Riparian Zone Rehabilitation 118

5.6.1 Introduction 118

5.6.2 Riparian Zone Rehabilitation Methods 121

5.7 Summary 124

5.8 Exercise 124

6 Dilution and Flushing 126

6.1 Introduction 126

6.2 Theory And Predictions 128

6.3 Case Studies 131

6.4 Moses Lake 132

6.5 Lake Veluwe 143

6.6 Summary: Effects, Applications, and Precautions 144

6.7 Exercise 147

7 Hypolimnetic Withdrawal 148

7.1 Introduction 148

7.2 Test Cases 151

7.2.1 General Trends 151

7.3 Specific Cases 155

7.3.1 Mauen See 155

7.4 Austrian Lakes 155

7.5 U.S. Lakes 157

7.6 Canada 160

7.7 Costs 161

7.8 Adverse effects 162

7.9 Summary 162

7.10 Exercise 163

8 Phosphorus Inactivation and Sediment Oxidation 165

8.1 Introduction 165

8.2 Chemical Background 167

8.2.1 Aluminum 167

8.2.2 Iron and Calcium 172

8.2.3 Iron and Calcium 176

8.3 Application Techniques for Alum 177

8.4 Costs 178

8.5 Prospectus 179

8.6 Exercise 181

Appendix 182

Glossary 187

Index 202

Chapter

1 Introduction

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives."

-Sandra Postel (1995)

This brief sentence, an Inca proverb, according to Dr. Postel, aptly describes the predicament facing humanity and the rest of Earth’s biota. Everyone is aware that humans and other terrestrial animals, as well as plants and a huge diversity of aquatic species, are completely dependent on adequate and sustainable freshwater supplies. Yet many humans behave as if the amount of clean, fresh water is infinite, and the lives and activities of aquatic species are insignificant.

This introductory chapter illustrates our dependence on freshwater and the condition or quality of these waters and argues that protection, restoration, and management of them is an increasingly vital activity. The goal of this chapter is to provide every reader with a sense of urgency, and with an understanding of the history, significance, and need for studying restoration ecology and biology of freshwater habitats.

1.1 The Hydrologic Cycle And The Quantity Of Fresh Water

The amount of fresh water on the Earth is finite. Unlike fossil fuels, the other backbone of modern human economies, it has no substitute. It is essential for plant and animal metabolism, habitat for many species, and it is the fluid of the Earth’s circulatory system. Water evaporating from land and water surfaces returns to the Earth as precipitation. It replenishes aquifers, flows across the landfilling lakes, ponds, wetlands, and streams, and finally discharges to the oceans, bringing nutrients and organic matter that subsidize marine food chains. All life, and all human economies and cultures, are dependent on this hydrologic cycle.

Most freshwater is in ice caps, and 99% of liquid freshwater is in underground aquifers. About 75% of groundwater has a residence time much greater than 100 years, and therefore is not considered renewable. Although the amount of water in streams and lakes is small, it is renewed rapidly. Therefore, these habitats are the primary sustainable supplies of freshwater for most regions. Their protection, rational use, and restoration where needed should be paramount in the water policies of every state and nation.

How much of this finite resource is available for current and future supplies to aquatic habitats and human economies? A balance sheet of global freshwater runoff, including renewable groundwater, and a list of global water use. The approximate total annual runoff is 40,700 km3. When remote flows and uncaptured floodwaters are subtracted, the remainder (accessible runoff) is 12,500 km3/year or 31% of total runoff. The estimated annual human use of accessible freshwater is 6,780 km3/year (54%). Of this, 4,430 km3/year is withdrawn (2880 km3 by agriculture). About 65% of agricultural withdrawal is consumed via evapotranspiration. Less than half of accessible runoff remains for future human use and support of aquatic ecosystems. Humans may appropriate more than 70% of accessible runoff by 2025. It will be difficult to meet this water demand without great reductions in pollution and a shift in attitudes towards sustainable water use.

This balance sheet (Table 1.2) is deceptive because it provides the appearance that freshwater is abundant. But, precipitation is not evenly spread over the Earth’s surface. Some regions are rich in freshwater (e.g., Canada), and others face chronic drought (e.g., U.S. Southwest, North Africa).

A more revealing statistic of water scarcity is the per capita supply of a nation or region. This is the water supply for all activities, including food production, industry, waste disposal, and habitat for the rest of Earth’s biota. Water stressed and water-scarce countries and regions are those with less than 1,700 m3 per person per year, and less than 1,000 m3 per person per year, respectively. Many nations and regions are below these thresholds, and others soon will be.

Several interacting factors assure falling per capita water supplies, with impacts on aquatic ecosystems and human affairs extending far into the future. These factors, discussed in the following paragraphs, provide a persuasive rationale for freshwater protection, judicious use, and restoration.

The global human population has an annual net increase of more than 70 million, or a projected net increase of about 1.5 billion by 2025 (MacDonald and Nierenberg, 2003). Globally, human population growth is very rapid in some water-stressed nations (e.g., Egypt’s population will double in less than 25 years). Also, Egypt is an example of a nation dependent upon water originating outside its borders, forcing it to respond to any decision to reduce that supply. The most rapid human population growth in the United States may continue to be in states with rapidly declining water supplies (e.g., Florida, California, Arizona). Per capita supply must fall most rapidly where supplies are lowest and population growth highest.

Pollution and aquatic habitat destruction, directly linked to human economies and population growth, are increasing and consume water, thereby reducing per capita supply. Wetzel (2001) calls the combined impact of population and technology demotechnic growth.

Climatologists have warned that significant human-induced climate change is occurring. Mean global temperature is increasing, perhaps as much as 1.5–5.8∞C in this century, with earlier snowmelt and runoff that lead to altered flow regimes (e.g., winter and spring floods, summer droughts), and with projected changes in biota (including possibly severe species extinctions), abrupt climate shifts, falling lake levels, and more runoff and eutrophication from intense storms. Changing climate is likely to have major impacts on aquatic systems and may contribute greatly to falling per capita supply.

Agriculture uses 65% of all water removed from lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, and most of this is then lost to evapotranspiration. Animal agriculture requires huge amounts of water to produce feed grain (about 1000 metric tons per ton of grain). Unsustainable over-pumping of non-renewable groundwater for irrigation of grain land is common. Declining levels of the Ogallala Aquifer (Western High Plains), the source of water irrigating 20% of U.S. irrigated land, is one example. In California, groundwater over-pumping exceeds recharge by 1.6 billion m3/year, mostly in the Central Valley that grows half of the U.S. fruits and vegetables (Postel, 1999). New sources of freshwater to meet the growing U.S. food demands are not evident. Worldwide, water demand for food production continues to escalate. In many places, water shortages must be met by importing grain, placing even greater pressure on surface and groundwater resources of the grain-producing regions.

The impact of cities on water supplies is increasing. By 2025, 61% of the global population will live in cities, requiring water previously used by agriculture. Figure 1 illustrates the diverse demands on Lake Biwa and the Yodo River, the water supplies for metropolitan Otsu, Kyoto, and Osaka, Japan. About 56% is used for power generation and is thus not consumed. Of the 44% that is consumed, agriculture uses about 35%. The fastest-growing consumptive use, tap water, use about 43% and will produce a shortage of water for agriculture that must be made up by importing water in the form of grain and other food commodities. Thus, some other region or nation subsidizes this population with its water.

Fig 1:Water uses in the Lake Biwa-Yodo River basin. Numbers in boxes represent the relative water uses (m3/s) in various reaches of the Yodo River, Japan. Water uses changed dramatically from 1972–1992. Agricultural use rose 42%. (Redrawn from Ohkubo, 2000. With permission.)

Source:www.google.com

These and other factors contribute to growing freshwater limitations. Conflicts between nations, states, regions, and cities are certain to intensify. For example, peace in the Middle East will not occur unless there are agreements among all parties about water in this water-scarce area of rapid population growth and political conflict (Hillel, 1994). In the U.S., there are many disputes over water, including current and future attempts to divert water from the Great Lakes to water-poor states of the West and Southwest. The conflict at Klamath Lake (Oregon) between irrigators and the Klamath Indian Tribe’s fish production is an example of a water war, pitting economic and political interests against environmental and cultural needs.

The needs of freshwater species for clean water and undisturbed habitats, and our reliance on processes of aquatic ecosystems for sustainable human economies, are often forgotten in our human-centric culture. Valuations of these services are difficult but exceed ten billion dollars annually in the U.S. Despite this value, the species extinction rate in freshwater ecosystems is higher than in terrestrial systems, suggesting that additional ecological deficits may be developing, leading to unpredicted changes in these ecosystems and their services to humans.

Restoration of freshwater systems is an essential way of adding to a sustainable, high-quality water supply and to the beginnings of stabilizing or increasing the per capita supply. Restoration and protection of freshwater systems are often directed toward impaired recreational sites. This is an important need and one of the primary topics in this book. We focus on reservoirs and natural lakes and streams to the extent that they transport particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic materials to these water bodies. However, lakes and reservoirs have values well beyond their recreational attributes. They are primary sources of raw potable water and irrigation water worldwide, they are habitat for thousands of species, and they contribute to ecosystem sustainability in many ways, including water and nutrient retention and storage. Because 75% of groundwater is not renewable, the significance of surface waters, and the need to protect and restore them, will increase as impacts of social, economic, and political forces on freshwaters intensifies and per capita supply dwindles. Thus, human economic and personal security may become more dependent on our ability to restore impaired freshwater habitats.

The politics of scarcity will become increasingly important, and water wars seem inevitable. Last Oasis. Facing Water Security is must-reading for every limnologist for its assessment of threats to freshwater, its forecast of future human demands, and its suggestions for remedies.

In this introductory chapter, we examine the condition of U.S.