Riparian Vegetation Management: Reconciling Environmental and Anthropogenic Issues
Caroline Zanetti,
Nelly Liency
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2019
Pages:
31-38
Received:
5 July 2019
Accepted:
3 August 2019
Published:
28 August 2019
Abstract: Historically, people lived in harmony with watercourses, cultivating their land and creating their habitat according to the benefits and the whims of the rivers. Since the beginning of the 20th century, man has domesticated his environment with determination. The rural exodus, the agricultural depreciation and the numerous river amenities have resulted in a momentum of area closures and in the modification of hydraulic conditions during the flow of flood waters. An unmanaged vegetation colonization along the edge of watercourses (protection dikes, retention dams, appointed river banks) induces various issues; however, a drastic management is not absolutely beneficial and sometimes even runs counter to the objective. The environmental issues conciliation – positive impact on fluvial ecosystems (shade, water decontamination, bank stabilization, biodiversity) – with anthropogenic issues is therefore essential to identify these suitable management solutions. Since 1970 and until 2006, phytopharmaceutical products were used extensively to control vegetation development on dikes, dams and canals due to their high-speed action and their low-cost implementation. Phytopharmaceutical product prohibition induces a great expansion of vegetation on structure cladding. Pioneer trees species like poplar are largely represented. Implanted near water points they grow fast in phytopharmaceutical treatment prohibited zone. Woody vegetation control methods are frequently implemented too late, when impacts caused by roots are observed; structural reparation costs are consequently very high. New vegetation management solutions have to be developed, in order to allow both risk reduction and environmental preservation. Some different eco-friendly solutions exist but must be promoted by rivers and dikes managers. This paper presents these integrated solutions and illustrates through some case studies the implemented solutions to reconcile the antagonist environmental and anthropogenic issues.
Abstract: Historically, people lived in harmony with watercourses, cultivating their land and creating their habitat according to the benefits and the whims of the rivers. Since the beginning of the 20th century, man has domesticated his environment with determination. The rural exodus, the agricultural depreciation and the numerous river amenities have resu...
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Physicochemical Characteristics of Surface Water and Sediment of Silver River, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, Niger Delta, Nigeria
Edori Onisogen Simeon,
Kieri Ben Smith Idomo,
Festus Chioma
Issue:
Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2019
Pages:
39-46
Received:
11 September 2019
Accepted:
7 October 2019
Published:
21 October 2019
Abstract: Water and sediment samples were collected from Silver River to determine the levels of various physicochemical parameters in both sediment and water from the river. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the extent of deterioration of the river as a result of artisanal refining of crude oil. The result obtained showed that the mean values of the different parameters examined in the water were; conductivity (26,567±464.28 µS/cm), total dissolved solids (TDS), (13,250±187.08 mg/L), total suspended solids (TSS), (17.78±3.07 mg/L), turbidity (15.57±2.45 NTU), pH (7.12±0.03), salinity (8766.67±449.69 mg/L), total hydrocarbon content (THC) (45.43±3.86 mg/L), nitrates (NO3‑), (4.93±0.61 mg/L), sulphates (SO42‑) (1471.07±1058.43 mg/L), phosphates (PO43), (0.64±0.16 mg/L), dissolved oxygen (DO), (4.73±0.57 mg/L), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), (33.20±2.33 mg/L) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), (50.13±3.21 mg/L). Physicochemical parameters such as conductivity, TDS, salinity, THC, SO42‑, DO, BOD and COD fall below the standard requirement for domestic water consumption, while TSS, turbidity, pH, NO3‑ and PO43- were within the acceptable range for drinking water by WHO. The mean values of sediment physicochemical parameters were; pH (7.20±0.03), conductivity (16701.67±513.65 µS/cm), total organic carbon (TOC) (2.37±0.05%) and total organic matter (TOM) (4.09±0.09%). The particle size examination showed that clay was 7.33±1.25%, silt (14.67±1.25%) and sand (78.00±1.63%). The examined sediment nutrient species showed that the mean values were 0.51±0.01, 8.81±12.09 and 0.27±0.01mg/kg for NO3-, SO42‑ and PO43- respectively. The findings of this work showed that the silver river (both water and sediment) are under human influence which not handled in the immediate, can in the near future constitute a major health risk to the entire environment.
Abstract: Water and sediment samples were collected from Silver River to determine the levels of various physicochemical parameters in both sediment and water from the river. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the extent of deterioration of the river as a result of artisanal refining of crude oil. The result obtained showed that the mean...
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