Chapter 7 - Ecohydrology solutions

Abstract

This chapter discusses ecohydrology solutions for some of the environmental threats and human health threats. Ecohydrology was first proposed by Zalewski (2002) and then by UNESCO (2006) as the best-practice environmental management to achieve sustainable development. Ecohydrology integrates different branches of environmental science, including ecology and hydrology, and merges this with engineering to find practical solutions to increase the capacity of the aquatic environment to cope with human impacts. The solutions often involve improving the capacity of the environment to absorb human impacts through modified and improved natural hydrological processes. In contrast with purely technological solutions, ecohydrology works from within ecosystems. Ecohydrology recognizes that environmental degradation can only be remedied by restoring some of the working of the ecosystem and helping the partially restored system to improve itself naturally. Furthermore, in freshwater, ecohydrology has been successfully applied to constructed wetlands, rivers, and floodplains, for issues concerning aquaculture, managing shorelines and river beds to maximize fish yields, and improving water quality in reservoirs.