Best practices followed in successful river restoration projects

By Pavanesh Narayanan

1) Cleaning up of Singapore River and Kallang Basin

Time period: 10 years (1977-87)
Initial state: In 1977, the river basin was contaminated and foul-smelling. The river was
considered dead. A turnaround plan was introduced in 1977, when the Ministry of the
Environment drew up an Action Plan.
Summary of work done: First, the source of river contamination was identified. This
included about 16000 people living in squatter colonies who directly or indirectly
contaminated the river with human wastes; 2800 pollution causing trade industries; 5000
street hawkers; 610 pig farmers and 500 duck farmers. The people living in squatter colonies
were shifted to new houses with proper sewage systems, developed by housing
development authority of Singapore. The industries were shifted to new industrial area with
better waste/pollution treatment facility. The street hawkers were shifted to food centre
premises with sewer and waste disposal facility. The pig and duck farms were shifted.
After the source of pollution was identified and removed, the river was dredged to remove
debris. Since the river was flowing through the Singapore city, the problem of littering and
contamination from grey water sources still persisted. To maintain cleanliness, engineering
methods were incorporated. Vertical grating was installed in drains leading to river. In
addition float booms were installed at strategic locations. These installations prevented
litter and debris from entering the main river, which were cleared daily. Program was also
carried out educate people against littering and discharge of water in river.
Key reasons for success were:
 The success of the project can be attributed to the following factors:
Introduction of an environmental management strategy - i.e. prevention,
enforcement, monitoring and education.
 Implementation of land use planning - i.e. ensure that developments are properly
planned and are compatible with surrounding land uses to achieve a quality
environment.
 Putting in place comprehensive environmental infrastructure, such as the sewerage
system and refuse collection system.
 Putting in place legislative instrument and enforcement measures as well as
monitoring programmes.
 Cultivating an environmentally conscious population through environmental
education.
 Cooperation amongst the various government agencies implementing the various
programmes e.g. provision of public housing and industrial workshops, relocation of
farms, etc.
 Ownership of Singapore River and Kallang Basin by the 3P (People, Private and
Public) sectors.
 Above all, the critical factor for the success of cleaning up of Singapore River and
Kallnag Basin is the political will of the government.
  To ensure sustainability of clean water in the rivers, Singapore continues to plan,
coordinate and implement programmes to prevent pollution from entering into the
rivers.
Source: http://apfed-db.iges.or.jp/dtlbpp.php?no=23

2) Cleaning Thames river, London

The level of pollution in Thames River began to increase with the start of industrialization. In
1957, the pollution was so high that the river was declared biologically dead, unfit to sustain
any living forms. Fifty years later the river is home for 125 species of fishes and another 400
species of invertebrates that live in river mud (river banks/floor).
The key initiatives that lead to the success of the river restoration are:
 Strict legislation now prevents industry from dumping polluted effluent into the
river and its tributaries. Sewage from London and the surrounding area is now
treated and then exported for further processing. The EU water framework
directive, adopted on 23–Oct–2010 is a big step in this direction.
 Earlier the river was contained by concrete on both the sides. This would not allow
any plants to grow; and hence didn’t support the growth of fishes and other living
creatures. The Environment Agency, along with local authorities along the Thames,
has now set about removing many of these old concrete barriers that contained the
rivers. Instead they have been building up mud banks and allowing reed beds to take
hold. Piles of rubble at the side help to capture sediment that provides a rich habitat
for invertebrates and molluscs that are food for many other species. In areas where
they have been unable to remove the barriers completely, they have tried putting
sediment behind wooden panels along the walls. This essentially turns what would
have been a horizontal mud bank on the river floor into a vertical one.
 Earlier the idea was to get water as fast as possible from point A to B through
smooth concrete channels. However, they are completely barren when it comes to
life as nothing can get a grip there. Allowing the river to follow its own path helps in
growth of species and improves the health of the river.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8059970/The-clean-up-of-the-River-
Thames.html

3) Cleaning The New river, USA

New river, which was born out of 1904 Colorado River flooding, flows to Mexico and reaches
Salton Sea. But years of feeding agricultural runoff, raw sewage and pesticides into the river
left the New River with a reputation as the most polluted river in America. With the opening
of North American Free Trade Agreement in 1990s, the pollution flowing into river greatly
increased and remained unchecked. The city of Calexico, on the bank of new river, was
severely affected. Residents complained of skin rashes, nausea, asthma in both adults and
children, dizziness, eye irritations, persistent headaches and chronic coughing, during 1990s.
The following measures have significantly improved the state of the river:
 In the late 1990s California-Mexico Bi-national Relations Council was set up to
built the Las Arenitas and Zaragoza Wastewater Treatment plants. Untreated New
River water passing through four microbial treatment cells at Las Arenitas is then
 chlorinated and fed into a re-forestation project along the Rio Hardy area, which
stretches to the Sea of Cortez. Zaragoza treats agricultural waste and raw sewage
before returning it to the New River much cleaner. After the wastewater
treatment plant went online (in 2007) the dissolved oxygen, which is a key
parameter in the river quality, just jumped, overnight.
 The town of Mexicali took the extra step of encasing the last three miles of New
River under a broad new thoroughfare to limit random dumping such as sofas,
plastic containers, pet waste and other urban discards.
 In 2001, people began planting marsh grass and digging sediment ponds at three
sites along the river. The Brawley wetland occupies nine acres, six of which are
actual wet acres. Imperial is a 43 acre site with 22.7 wet acres and the Alamo site
is largest at 55 acres with 23 wet acres. The wetlands divert river water into a
series of ponds before returning it to its natural course stripped of heavy
concentrations of fecal coliform, suspended solids, nitrogen and other nutrients at
a rate that impressed even the project’s architects. It took about 7-9 days for the
water to go from the inlet of the wetlands to the outlet. The process eliminated
about 99.7% of the bacteria.
 As part of ongoing restoration efforts, the next plan is to remove the floating
wastes like plastics bags, clothing etc. They plan to design and install trash screens
and a diversion system. All the trash that comes through those culverts will get
caught, which will be lifted out of the river and diverted to wherever it needs to
go, to a landfill or even to a hazardous waste site.

Source http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/apr/23/new-river-pollution-wetlands-
mexicali-environment/?#article-copy

4) Project clean river, City of Columbus, Ohio, USA

A series of steps as part of project clean river are being taken by city of Columbus to
maintain the water sources in the city and nearby area, clean.
Significant initiatives are:
 City water runoff and sewer water are planned to be treated by green infrastructure.
Green infrastructure is an engineered solution that mimics nature and filters
pollutants that otherwise would be washed directly into the streams.
 Fats, oils and grease control: A leading cause of sewer blockages across the U.S. is
the accumulation of fats, oils and grease (FOG) in the sanitary sewers. The greasy
waste enters the sewers through connections from homes, food service
establishments, and industrial wastewater dischargers. The proposed project
requires all food service establishments to develop and implement a Best
Management Plan (BMP) to handle grease wastes. The rule applies to all licensed
food service operations or licensed retail food establishments that produce, or may
produce, grease-containing wastewater discharged to the city’s sewers. Historically,
BMPs have been required only after a food service establishment has been
identified as a grease blockage source. The proposed rule will be a proactive rather
than a reactive approach. The BMPs work well: since 2001, 76 food establishments
 have been placed on a program; only four have required follow-up enforcement for
repeat blockages

Source: http://columbus.gov/CleanRivers/
http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=41799
http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=62707
http://columbus.gov/Templates/Detail.aspx?id=38173

5) River restoration efforts in China

Chinese economy is one of the fastest growing economies and has maintained close to
double digit growth in the last two decades. However such a fast growth has caused large
scale damage to the ecology and deterioration of water resources. To solve the problem and
restore the water ecology, Chinese government has taken many steps in this direction.
Some of the notable efforts taken are:
 To conserve water resources and enforce justified use of water resources, the
Water Act was enacted.
 To control the ill effects of previously constructed projects and to propose counter
measures towards damage control and restoration, the Environment impact
assessment Act was enacted.
 The Water Resource Ministry directed the formation of river basin commission,
which was tasked to maintain the river in good state.
 Strict rules (in phased manner) were introduced to control the discharge of urban
sewage into water bodies.
 Thousands of strategic and ecologically important sites have been labelled as
Nature conservation region.
 Survey was taken to determine the wetland that has high risk to be degraded or
which are already degraded. Wetland conservation projects were started to
protect these regions.
 Wetland was found to help cleaning the river water. A research conducted by B.
Cui et al. in the yellow river delta showed a significant reduction in salinity,
nitrogen and Phosphorus content after the water passed through the wetlands.
The soil organic matter content also increased as water passed through the
wetlands.
 Research was conducted in the area of Stress caused by major hydro-projects,
River health assessment and adaptive management of river resources.
 The water bodies that have dried out because human interference and which were
ecologically important were replenished by pumping/diverting water from nearby
water sources. Plan was also created to prepare a permanent solution.

Source: Dong Zheren, Sun Dongya, Zhang Jing, Zhao Jinyong, Zhai Zhengli, Progress of River
Restoration in China, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing

Baoshan Cuia, Qichun Yanga, Zhifeng Yanga, Kejiang Zhang, Evaluating the ecological
performance of wetland restoration in the Yellow River Delta, China, Ecological Engineering
35 (2009) 1090–1103
6) Mara River, Kenya/Tanzania
The Mara River is an international river, shared between Kenya and Tanzania. The Mara
River Basin is about 13,750 km2, of which about 65% is located in Kenya and 35% in
Tanzania. Local communities and other stakeholders in the Mara River Basin are increasingly
facing water shortages as well as problems with poor water quality and environmental
degradation. This limits attempts to alleviate poverty and improve healthcare, food security,
economic development and protection of the natural resources. Further problems are
caused by the loss of forest cover in the upper catchments and along rivers, unsustainable
agricultural practices (including irrigation), pollution threats from urban settlements, and
mining.
Some of the steps taken to restore this river were:
•Carry out baseline surveys and as far as possible fill information gaps with documentation
in the form of reports, maps etc;
• Gather and disseminate appropriate information on conditions and threats to the Mara
River Basin for land-use planning and management of the Mara River Basin and raise
awareness about the importance of catchment management;
• Facilitate the ongoing process of stakeholder dialogue on integrated water resources
management, ranging from local people to high level policy makers, and support local
people’s involvement in the inter-sectoral integrated river basin management (IRBM)
dialogue through capacity-building and advocacy;
• Start and facilitate a process to introduce or revive existing community organisations,
where forums and working groups have been established, and management actions in the
catchment are becoming more sustainable;
• Document best practices and failures in terms of sustainable management and
conservation, and promote the sharing and exchange of these lessons through
demonstrating measures in the field, community exchange visits and communication
measures;
• Build capacity amongst key stakeholders including vulnerable groups (small scale farmers,
poor urban dwellers and women) for effective and sustainable IRBM;
• Develop and promote recommendations for the development of an integrated water
resource management strategy for the Mara River Basin, including appropriate policies and
laws to secure sustainable management and conservation.
• Successfully sensitised the government authorities and lobbied political leaders for the re-
establishment of the original forest boundaries and the eventual removal of people who
invaded the Mau Forest Catchment, the source of the Mara River.
• Stakeholders educated on the new Water Act (2002) and Environmental Management and
Coordination Act (EMCA, 1999).
• On-farm tree planting campaigns has been institutionalised within the established Mara
River Water Users’ Association in the upper catchment of the basin.
• Over 1,000 families have installed energy conservation stoves.
• The concept of water thirsty crops is now clear to stakeholders in the Mara River Basin,
with measures instituted to control water flows.
• Operational Community Forest Associations (CFAs) formed - Key stakeholders were
mobilised and facilitated to form three CFAs to manage Transmara Forest block. One CFA
has been registered. 15.5 hectares of the forest area were rehabilitated through enrichment
 planting and reforestation under CFAs. Five nurseries are operational with total of 50,000
indigenous seedlings to be planted in the forest.
• 995 hectares under soil and water conservation - 820 farmers were supported to establish
terraces on 995 hectares of farms to control soil erosion and improve water conservation.
Suitable tree and fodder species were planted to stabilise terraces and provide fodder for
livestock. 18 kms of riverine vegetation were also protected.
• Information and data documented on environmental, hydrological and social conditions,
and now being disseminated.
• 25 Community Action Plans for water management and other natural resources have been
prepared and are under implementation.
• Catchment Management Strategy has been developed and led to the development of
catchment Joint Water Resources Management Plan.
• Facilitated the formation of 14 Water Users Associations as legal entities in accordance to
the National Water Policy requirements.
• Supported Tanzania’s Ministry of Water and Irrigation which rehabilitated 13 completely
stalled river gauging stations.
• Capacity built amongst vulnerable Community-Based Groups involved in Income
Generating Activities, and using technologies that support sustainable natural resources and
conservation.

Source: http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/tanzania/?uProjectID=9F0749

7) River restoration effort in Japan

The economic boom between 1950 and 1970 caused severe water pollution throughout the
country. ‘Develop now, clean up later’ was the theme during this period. Rapid urbanization
enlarged the area of impermeable landscapes, and further increased flooding risks. Within a
few decades, most rivers had been constrained, impounded and polluted.
To reverse the trend, many steps were taken by the government and people, some of them
are listed below:
 In the early 1970s, an energy crisis stopped rapid economic growth, and people
started to again recognize the value of natural landscapes and good living
conditions. In urban and suburban areas, rivers provided the last remaining open
space for amenities and recreation. “Shin-sui” – ‘playing with water’ - became an
important keyword. Countless “Shin-sui” parks and playgrounds were opened along
rivers. Although these projects were conducted for recreational purpose rather
than for ecological purposes, they helped to turn people's eyes back to “nature.”
 In the 1990, The River Bureau launched the Nature-oriented river works initiative.
From 1990 to 2004 more than 23000 river restoration projects have been
implemented.
 In addition, several laws were enacted to conserve and improve river environment.
The major step was the amendment of the River Law in 1997. Since then, several
laws were enacted or amended that promote nature restoration: the Specified
Non-profit Activity Promotion Law (the NPO Law) (1998) supports NGO activities
for nature restoration, the Seacoast Law (1999) was amended for seacoast
environment protection, the Environment Impact Assessment Law (1999) is of
 primary importance to conserve and protect nature, and the Land Improvement
Law (2001) for agricultural modernization was amended for conserving the rural
environment. In particular, the Nature Restoration Promotion Law (2003) calls for a
sound scientific underpinning of restoration projects and it has stimulated
countless restoration projects throughout the country.
 In 1990, The River Bureau launched the “National Census of the River Environment”
to gather nation-wide baseline information on the ecological state of river
corridors. This intensive monitoring not only provides important information on
long-term trends in biodiversity but also improves our scientific understanding of
river ecosystems.
 In 1998, the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI), a research institute of The
River Bureau opened the Aqua Restoration Research Centre (ARRC), which is one of
the largest facilities worldwide devoted to restoration ecology. The ARRC is
designed to experimentally study the ecological effects of flow manipulation along
differently impacted river channels. It is equipped with three 800-m long
experimental channels of different geomorphic styles. Discharge can be
manipulated by an upstream gate. Numerous research institutes are using the
ARRC facility - which includes a research station - for controlled field experiments.
ARRC is also an important education and training centre. Within the first six years,
more than 20,000 people visited the centre.
 In Japan most river restoration projects are driven by local groups and small NGOs
(i.e. grassroot initiatives). Although small NGOs have limited financial and technical
resources they can connect local people with scientists and river authorities and
therefore trigger very large projects. In the case of Lake Kasumigaura, a local NGO
called “Asaza Project” initiated the largest lakeshore restoration project in the
country. In Japan, river restoration began by the activities of a small citizen group.
In Ikazaki, a local NGO was seeking an environmentally sound river management
scheme to conserve the Oda River. Members of this NGO voluntarily visited
Germany and Switzerland to learn about ecologically sound management practices.
Their zeal led to the launch of the nation-wide “Nature-oriented River Works”
program in 1990. Thus, grassroot movements can be key drivers of environmental
and social change.

Source: http://www.pwri.go.jp/eng/activity/pdf/reports/k.nakamura.080601.pdf

8) Hudson river restoration, New York

The Hudson River has been greatly disrupted by human, especially between 1800 and 1972.
Shoreline and wetlands have been altered, relocated or eliminated along the 152 mile length
of estuary. River flow has been directed to single channel, as the other channels were filled
with the dredged sediments. Hundreds of dams were built in tributaries thereby blocking the
migratory fish movement and degrading water quality. Water and sediments have been
contaminated with toxins and invasive plants and animals have taken shelter of the estuary.
As the result of Clean Water Act (1972) and other laws, great improvement has been made
in the quality of water and many of the contaminated sites have been cleaned. Many of the
strategic locations have been taken over by New York State and government agencies to
maintain and implement habitat conservation efforts. To further improve the condition of
the river, a draft was made with recommendation to improve the condition of river further.
The main objective of the draft is:
1) Plan, prioritize, carry out and evaluate habitat restoration projects
2) Advance the state of our knowledge about the habitat needs of priority species
3) Develop understanding of how to best carry out meaningful restoration projects
4) Guide habitat protection efforts that will support adaptation to sea‐level rise and
promote ecosystem resilience
5) Coordinate and document habitat restoration and restoration science projects.

Some of the key recommendations for actions to be taken are:

 Preserve existing estuary habitat – As the cost of preserving is far less compared
to restoration of a degraded ecosystem.
 Restore Side channels
 Promote and implement Fish Passage, Dam Removal and Culvert Right-Sizing
 Promote and implement use of ecologically enhanced shoreline treatments
 Implement programs to control Invasive plant species
 After implementing the restoration process, adaptive management principles
should be followed. The general steps in adaptive management are:
1. Baseline Data and Project Design – Project managers collect environmental
data from the restoration site and a reference site to identify project goals,
design, appropriate and feasible actions for meeting and develop a
monitoring system for measuring success. Collection of baseline data is
essential to the process of understanding the results of restoration actions
and improving the reliability of future efforts
2. Construction ‐ Project managers implement project designs.
3. Project Monitoring – Physical and biological response is monitored and
compared with reference and baseline condition to determine project
success.
4. Lessons Learned and Adaptive Management ‐ Information and experience
gained is published and made available to improve the quality and reliability
of ongoing and future restoration projects.
 A proper understanding of river restoration science is a pre-requisite for a
successful implementation of restoration project. Following are the areas in
which scientific research and understanding is required:
1. Intertidal and Shallow Habitat Restoration
2. Tidal Wetland Restoration
3. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Restoration
4. Shoreline Restoration
5. Tributary Restoration (fish passage and dam removal)

Source: Miller, Daniel E., 2013. Hudson River Estuary Habitat Restoration Plan,
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Hudson River Estuary Program.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5082.html