Freshwater biodiversity, from fish to frogs and microbes to macrophytes, provides a vast array of services to people. Mounting concerns focus on the accelerating pace of biodiversity loss and declining ecological function within freshwater ecosystems that continue to threaten these natural benefits. Here, we catalog nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people, organized into three categories: material (food; health and genetic resources; material goods), non‐material (culture; education and science; recreation), and regulating (catchment integrity; climate regulation; water purification and nutrient cycling). If freshwater biodiversity is protected, conserved, and restored in an integrated manner, as well as more broadly appreciated by humanity, it will continue to contribute to human well‐being and our sustainable future via this wide range of services and associated nature‐based solutions to our sustainable future.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/wat2.1633

People need freshwater biodiversity

Levees don't protect, they disconnect: A critical review of how artificial levees impact floodplain functions.

Flood risk management along German rivers – A review of multi-criteria analysis methods and decision-support systems

Freshwater connectivity and the associated flow regime are critical components of the health of freshwater ecosystems. When freshwater ecosystems are fragmented, movements and flows of species, nutrients, sediments, and water are altered, changing the natural dynamics of freshwater ecosystems. The consequences of these changes include declines and loss of freshwater species populations and freshwater ecosystems, and alterations in the delivery of certain ecosystem services, such as fisheries, buffering of flood events, healthy deltas, recreational and cultural values, and others. Measures exist that can maintain and restore connectivity or mitigate against its loss in the face of constructed barriers or other habitat alterations. These measures include system-scale planning for energy and water resources that includes options for limiting loss of freshwater connectivity; putting in place protections for keeping critically important freshwater habitats connected; mitigating impacts on freshwater ecosystems via barrier design, fish passage or implementation of environmental flows; restoring freshwaters via barrier removal and reconnection of rivers, wetlands and floodplains and via active management of groundwater recharge. We present case studies of measures applied in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas and reflect on the next generation of innovation needed to further enhance and advance the implementation of restoration and protection and the mitigation of freshwater connectivity impacts.

Measures to Safeguard and Restore River Connectivity

Enthusiasm for and investments in nature-based solutions (NBS) as sustainable strategies for climate adaptation and infrastructure development is building among governments, the scientific community, and engineering practitioners. This is particularly true for water security and water-related risks. In a freshwater context, NBS may provide much-needed “win-wins” for society and the environment that could benefit imperiled freshwater biodiversity. Such conservation benefits are urgently needed given the ongoing freshwater biodiversity crisis, with declines in freshwater species and their habitats occurring at more than twice the rate of marine or terrestrial systems. However, for NBS to make meaningful contributions to safeguarding freshwater biodiversity, clear links must be established between NBS applications and priorities for conservation. In this paper, we link common water-related NBS to six priority actions for freshwater life established by the conservation science n community, and highlight priority research and knowledge that will be necessary to bring NBS to bear on the freshwater biodiversity crisis. In particular, we illustrate how NBS can play a direct role in restoring degraded aquatic and floodplain ecosystems, enhancing in-stream water quality, and improving hydrological connectivity among freshwater ecosystems. System-level monitoring is needed to ensure that freshwater NBS deliver on their promised benefits for ecosystems and species.

/pdf/the-potential-for-nature-based-solutions-to-combat-the-18kx1rvv.pdf

The potential for nature-based solutions to combat the freshwater biodiversity crisis

Conventional flood control has emphasized structural measures such as levees, reservoirs, and engineered channels—measures that typically simplify river channels and cut them off from their floodplain, both with adverse environmental consequences. Structural measures tend to be rigid and not easily adapted to increased flooding regimes resulting from environmental change. Such actions also limit the natural hydrologic benefits of floodplains such as storing floodwaters, improving water quality, providing habitat for invertebrates and fish during periods of inundation, and supporting a multitude of cultural services. As these benefits are more widely recognized, policies are being adopted to encourage projects that reduce flood risks and restore floodplain ecosystems, while acknowledging the social-ecological context. The number of such projects, however, remains small. We assessed four multi-benefit floodplain projects (two in California, United States, and two in Germany) and characterized their drivers, history, and measures implemented. In both United States cases, the dominant driver behind the project was flood risk reduction, and ecosystem restoration followed, in one case inadvertently, in the other as a requirement to receive a subsidy for a flood risk reduction project. One German case was motivated by ecosystem restoration, but it was more widely accepted because it also offered flood management benefits. The fourth case was conceived in terms of balanced goals of flood risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, and recreation. We conclude that projects that both reduce flood risk and restore ecosystems are clearly possible and often cost-effective, and that they could be more widely implemented. The principal barriers are often institutional and regulatory, rather than technical.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.778568/pdf

Restoring Rivers and Floodplains for Habitat and Flood Risk Reduction: Experiences in Multi-Benefit Floodplain Management From California and Germany

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Restoring Rivers and Floodplains for Habitat and Flood Risk Reduction: Experiences in Multi-Benefit Floodplain Management From California and Germany