Let Rivers Flow and Flood Naturally

We're a pretty clever species, having countless times demonstrated our ability to design and build very impressive things. When it comes to rivers, however, particularly to managing and controlling them, it's hard to improve upon the design results provided by nature itself.

Our intentions have been good, but researchers are discovering that flood control infrastructure may be more expensive and risky in the long run compared to allowing rivers to return to more natural flow conditions. Writing in the journal Science, a group of water resource professionals argues the case for letting rivers be rivers. Renewing the connections between them and their flood plains would require a shift in land use, but would reduce disaster losses and provide valuable ecological services.

As reported by BBC, the research team behind the study admits that financial losses due to flooding are likely to increase due to changes in climate, in hydrology and in intensity of land use in flood-prone areas — but it's a small price to pay! Allowing our rivers to return to natural flooding patterns would cost less in the long run and would provide huge benefits according to the authors.

Reconnecting rivers with their floodplains will make them healthier and more vibrant natural systems whose forested banks will sequester atmospheric carbon. In addition, a return of rivers to natural flow and function conditions will decrease the risk of extreme flooding events.

No quick and easy solution is in the offering. If we want to do it right, it'll mean that floodplains will be set aside to allow rivers to do their natural thing. We would need to rethink (and remove) a lot of buildings and infrastructure, and limit our activity within floodplain lands to agricultural uses. But the potential economic and environmental benefits that we would enjoy from naturally flowing, naturally flooding rivers are too substantial to simply dismiss these researchers as being all wet. We've got it in us to get back to nature, no doubt.

Photo courtesy of Christian Fischer, via Wikimedia Commons