Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management

273 Pages·2007·6.26 MB·English

Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban
Water Management
Science Policy and Practice
Urban Water Series – UNESCO-IHP
ISSN 1749-0790
Series Editors:
Cˇ edo Maksimovic´
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Imperial College
London, United Kingdom
Alberto Téjada-Guibert
International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Paris, France
Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable
Urban Water Management
Science Policy and Practice
Edited by
Iwona Wagner, Jiri Marsalek and
Pascal Breil
UNESCO Publishing
Cover Illustration
Willowfield stormwater pond,Massey and Taylor Creek System in Toronto,Ontario,Canada,July 19,2002.
© Quintin Rochfort,Environment Canada.Reproduced with kind permission.
Published jointly by
The United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
7,place de Fontenoy
75007 Paris,France
www.unesco.org/publishing
and
Taylor & Francis The Netherlands
P.O.Box 447
2300 AK Leiden,The Netherlands
www.taylorandfrancis.com – www.balkema.nl – www.crcpress.com
Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,an informa business,London,United Kingdom.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© UNESCO,2008
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of
UNESCO.
ISBN 0-203-93249-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN UNESCO,paperback: 978-92-3-104062-7
ISBN Taylor & Francis,hardback: 978-0-415-45350-9
ISBN Taylor & Francis,paperback:978-0-415-45351-6
ISBN Taylor & Francis e-book: 978-0-203-93249-0
Urban Water Series:ISSN 1749-0790
Volume 4
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expres-
sion of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or Taylor & Francis concerning the legal status of any
country,territory,city or area or of its authorities,or the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the
opinions expressed therein,which are not necessarily those of UNESCO nor those of Taylor & Francis and do
not commit the Organization.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wagner,Iwona,1971–
Aquatic habitats in sustainable urban water management :science,policy and practice / Iwona Wagner,
Jiri Marsalek,and Pascal Breil.
p.cm.— (Urban water series,ISSN 1749-0790)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-45350-9 (hardcover :alk.paper) — ISBN 978-0-415-45351-6 (pbk.:alk.paper) —
ISBN 978-0-203-93249-0 (e-book)
1. Aquatic habitats—Management.2. Ecohydrology.3. Municipal water supply—Management. I.Marsalek,J.(Jiri),
1940– II.Breil,Pascal.III.Title.
QH541.5.W3W34 2008
639.9–dc22
2007032493
Foreword
Aquatic habitats, such as rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands, provide a range of important
ecosystem services and benefits to society. However, the unsustainable use of aquatic
habitats, including by the urban water management sector itself, tends to alter and
reduce their biodiversity and thus their ability to provide services, including clean water,
protection of human health from waterborne diseases and pollutants, protection of
urban areas from flooding, and the maintenance of aesthetic and recreational ecosystem
services. Spurred by increasing urbanization, population increases and climate change,
this is a global issue that is likely to become more serious over the coming years, in par-
ticular in the Southern hemisphere. If it is not addressed, there is the threat that several
of the Millennium Development Goals will not be reachable.
As a contribution towards addressing this issue, UNESCO, through its International
Hydrological Programme (IHP) and its Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme,
has consequently prepared this book, aiming to improve the understanding of aquatic
habitats, their ecosystem goods and services, and their conservation and sustainable
use – with a special focus on their integration into urban water management.
This publication, which is part of a series of urban water management books pro-
duced in the framework of the Sixth Phase of IHP (2002-2007), is the main output of
the project on urban aquatic habitats conducted by IHP and MAB and represents the
result of the deliberations of a broad range of experts representing the hydrological,
ecological and health sciences. It was skilfully edited by Ms Iwona Wagner, Mr Jiri
Marsalek and Mr Pascal Breil and prepared under the responsibility of Mr Peter Dogsé
(MAB) and Mr J. Alberto Tejada-Guibert (IHP), who was assisted by the consultant Ms
Biljana Radojevic. We are grateful to all the contributors and the editors for their hard
work, and we are confident that the conclusions, recommendations and case studies con-
tained in this volume will prove to be of value to urban water management practitioners,
policy- and decision-makers and educators alike throughout the world.
András Szöllösi-Nagy
Secretary of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
Director of UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences
Deputy Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences Sector of UNESCO
N. Ishwaran
Secretary of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme
Director of UNESCO’s Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences

Contents
List of Figures xiii
List of Tables xv
Acronyms xvii
Glossary xxi
1 Introduction to urban aquatic habitat management 1
1.1 Impact of global processes on water resources in cities 1
1.2 Aquatic habitats in integrated urban water management:
How are they managed or mismanaged? 2
1.3 Comments on urban aquatic habitat management: Restoration,
preservation, rehabilitation or remediation? 4
1.4 Structure of this book 5
2 Urban aquatic habitats: Characteristics and functioning 9
2.1 Characteristics of aquatic habitats 9
2.2 Human modifications of aquatic habitats 11
2.2.1 Flow regime 12
2.2.2 Physical habitat structure 13
2.2.3 Biotic interactions 13
2.2.4 Food (energy) sources 14
2.2.5 Chemical variables (water quality) 14
2.2.6 Factor interdependencies 15
2.3 Background on aquatic ecosystem functioning 15
2.3.1 Conceptual model of aquatic ecosystem functioning 16
2.3.2 Definition of objectives for preservation or rehabilitation
of aquatic ecosystems 19
2.3.3 Selecting preservation or rehabilitation measures 21
3 Strategies, policies and regulations integrating protection and
rehabilitation of aquatic habitats in urban water management 25
3.1 Strategies for protection and rehabilitation of urban aquatic
habitats 25
3.1.1 Sustainable development 26
3.1.2 Ecosystem approach 27
3.1.3 Measuring progress towards sustainability: Criteria and
indicators 28
viii Contents
3.1.3.1 UN Division for Sustainable Development
indicators (2006) 28
3.1.3.2 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI): Yale
University and Columbia University, 2005 28
3.1.3.3 Pillar-based sustainability criteria 30
3.1.4 Urban environmental management approaches 30
3.1.4.1 Low impact development (LID) 31
3.1.4.2 Total management of the urban water
cycle (TMUWC) 32
3.1.4.3 Soft path for water 33
3.2 Regulations and policies driving the implementation of strategies
for urban aquatic habitat’s protection and rehabilitation 34
3.2.1 Approaches focusing on aquatic habitat protection 34
3.2.2 Approaches focusing on water quality protection 35
3.2.3 Integrated regulations and policies addressing aquatic
habitats 37
3.2.4 Additional observations concerning developing countries 38
3.2.5 Emerging challenges 39
4 Ecosensitive approaches to managing urban aquatic habitats and
their integration with urban infrastructure 43
4.1 Urban water cycle and aquatic habitats 43
4.2 Habitat interactions with water supply 45
4.2.1 Managing water import into urban areas 45
4.2.2 Impacts on aquatic habitats imposed by water
reservoirs 47
4.3 Habitat interactions with urban drainage and flood protection 49
4.3.1 Urban drainage: Problem definition and needs for
management 49
4.3.1.1 Urban drainage impacts on aquatic habitats 49
4.3.1.2 Overview of aquatic life support conditions in
urban waters impacted by stormwater discharges 51
4.3.1.3 Need for stormwater management 51
4.3.2 Urban drainage: Stormwater management goals 52
4.3.3 Tools for effective stormwater management 53
4.3.3.1 Guidelines and targets 55
4.3.3.2 Technological measures (BMPs) 55
4.3.4 Promotion of modern stormwater management 56
4.3.5 Flood protection 58
4.4 Habitat interactions with wastewater management and sanitation
systems 59
4.4.1 Basic demands on wastewater management systems 60
4.4.2 Wastewater systems without separation of waste streams
at the source 61
4.4.3 Water and wastewater reuse for environmental benefits 63
4.4.4 Technology and site selection 63
4.5 Concluding observations 64
Contents ix
5 Aquatic habitat rehabilitation: Goals, constraints and techniques 71
5.1 Assessing the ecological potential of the river 71
5.1.1 Buffering mechanisms 71
5.1.2 Methods for river state assessment 72
5.1.2.1 Bioassessment 72
5.1.2.2 Physical and geomorphological assessment 74
5.2 Techniques in urban river rehabilitation 74
5.2.1 Rehabilitation of hydrological dynamics of river habitats 76
5.2.1.1 Attenuation of peak flows using in-catchment or
on-watercourse storage reservoirs 76
5.2.1.2 Managing the high-flow regime in floodplains and
riverbeds 78
5.2.1.3 Assurance of minimum flows during dry weather 78
5.2.1.4 Flattening of the river longitudinal grade 79
5.2.2 Rehabilitation of the physical structure of river habitats 79
5.2.2.1 Re-meandering straight watercourse sections 79
5.2.2.2 Stream bank management and maintenance 82
5.2.3 Reconstruction of biotic structure 82
5.2.3.1 In-stream vegetation: The use of aquatic plants 84
5.2.3.2 Bank and riparian vegetation: The role of
land/water ecotones 85
5.2.4 Phytoremediation 86
5.2.5 Increasing capacity of urban habitats for water and
nutrient’s retentiveness 87
5.3 Improving the likelihood of success in the implementation of
rehabilitation projects 88
6 Ecohydrology of urban aquatic ecosystems for healthy cities 95
6.1 Introduction 95
6.2 Ecohydrology concept and principles 96
6.2.1 Genesis of the concept 96
6.2.2 Creating opportunities for the degraded environment 97
6.3 Ecohydrology for the urban environment 99
6.4 Multidimensional benefits of the ecohydrological approach
for the urban environment and the society 100
6.5 Implementation of the ecohydrological approach 102
7 Integrating aquatic habitat management into urban planning 107
7.1 Biodiversity and the emergence of sustainable development
practices in urban landscape planning 107
7.2 The need for inventories of aquatic habitats 108
7.3 Incorporating wetlands and rivers into urban planning and layout 109
7.4 The role of aquatic habitats in facilitating urban biodiversity
conservation 110
7.5 Trading ecosystem integrity with provision of goods and
services in an urban context 115
7.6 Use and application of ecological buffer areas in the
management of urban aquatic ecosystems 117