Rivers By Design

DIVA sociological history of flood control politics that examines how local and regional pro-growth interests organized to press the federal government to protect land from flooding, and how this action altered the relationship between regions and the federa/div

Urban riverbanks are attractive locations and highly prized recreational environments. The designs of urban river landscapes must fulfill a broad range of requirements: flood control, open space design, and ecology are as a rule the three dominant themes, and they must often be reconciled within a very restricted space. The river must be understood as a process: governed by changing water levels, shifting seasons, erosion, and sedimentation, the river environment is not a static entity but constantly changing—the design must be flexible and take this into account. This book is the product of a multi-year study that subjected more than fifty Western European projects to a comparative analysis. The result is a systematic catalog of effective strategies and innovative design elements. First, designers and planners are given an overview of the broad and varied spectrum of design possibilities. The book’s process-oriented approach is especially helpful where the focus is on long-term, sustainable measures. The publication consists of two linked volumes that enable the reader to consult the systematic catalog and the case study section side by side. The easy-to-navigate structure and an extensive glossary provide further guidance, while the work’s highly distinctive design makes it visually appealing as well and invites the reader to leaf through and explore it.

Our rivers are in crisis and the need for river restoration has never been more urgent. Water security and biodiversity indices for all of the world’s major rivers have declined due to pollution, diversions, impoundments, fragmented flows, introduced and invasive species, and many other abuses. Developing successful restoration responses are essential. Renewing Our Rivers addresses this need head on with examples of how to design and implement stream-corridor restoration projects. Based on the experiences of seasoned professionals, Renewing Our Rivers provides stream restoration practitioners the main steps to develop successful and viable stream restoration projects that last. Ecologists, geomorphologists, and hydrologists from dryland regions of Australia, Mexico, and the United States share case studies and key lessons learned for successful restoration and renewal of our most vital resource. The aim of this guidebook is to offer essential restoration guidance that allows a start-to-finish overview of what it takes to bring back a damaged stream corridor. Chapters cover planning, such emerging themes as climate change and environmental flow, the nuances of implementing restoration tactics, and monitoring restoration results. Renewing Our Rivers provides community members, educators, students, natural resource practitioners, experts, and scientists broader perspectives on how to move the science of restoration to practical success.

Urban riverbanks are attractive locations and highly prized recreational environments. However, they must meet the requirements of flood control, open space design and ecology at the same time, often a challenging task for the designer. This book is the product of extensive research that identified some 60 best-practice examples and subjected them to a comparative analysis. The result is a systematic catalog of effective strategies and innovative design tools that provides readers with an inspiring overview of the broad spectrum of design possibilities for river spaces. Each project is illustrated with photographs taken especially for the book and each design strategy and tool is explained by diagrams. This revised edition introduces ten new case studies chiefly from North America.

Urban riverbanks are attractive locations and highly prized recreational environments. However, they must meet the requirements of flood control, open space design and ecology at the same time, often a challenging task for the designer. This book is the product of extensive research that identified some 60 best-practice examples and subjected them to a comparative analysis. The result is a systematic catalog of effective strategies and innovative design tools that provides readers with an inspiring overview of the broad spectrum of design possibilities for river spaces. Each project is illustrated with photographs taken especially for the book and each design strategy and tool is explained by diagrams. This revised edition introduces ten new case studies chiefly from North America.

The United States has one of the largest and costliest flood control systems in the world, even though only a small proportion of its land lies in floodplains. Rivers by Design traces the emergence of the mammoth U.S. flood management system, which is overseen by the federal government but implemented in conjunction with state governments and local contractors and levee districts. Karen M. O’Neill analyzes the social origins of the flood control program, showing how the system initially developed as a response to the demands of farmers and the business elite in outlying territories. The configuration of the current system continues to reflect decisions made in the nineteenth century and early twentieth. It favors economic development at the expense of environmental concerns. O’Neill focuses on the creation of flood control programs along the lower Mississippi River and the Sacramento River, the first two rivers to receive federal flood control aid. She describes how, in the early to mid-nineteenth century, planters, shippers, and merchants from both regions campaigned for federal assistance with flood control efforts. She explains how the federal government was slowly and reluctantly drawn into water management to the extent that, over time, nearly every river in the United States was reengineered. Her narrative culminates in the passage of the national Flood Control Act of 1936, which empowered the Army Corps of Engineers to build projects for all navigable rivers in conjunction with local authorities, effectively ending nationwide, comprehensive planning for the protection of water resources.

Urban riverbanks are attractive locations and highly prized recreational environments. However, they must meet the requirements of flood control, open space design and ecology at the same time, often a challenging task for the designer. This book is the product of extensive research that identified some 60 best-practice examples and subjected them to a comparative analysis. The result is a systematic catalog of effective strategies and innovative design tools that provides readers with an inspiring overview of the broad spectrum of design possibilities for river spaces. Each project is illustrated with photographs taken especially for the book and each design strategy and tool is explained by diagrams. This revised edition introduces ten new case studies chiefly from North America.

Featuring more than 150 illustrations, many in color, The Invention of Rivers integrates history, art, cultural studies, hydrology, and geography to tell the story of how rivers have been culturally constructed as lines granted special roles in defining human habitation and everyday practice.