Project Overview
Łódź is the second biggest city in Poland with 768,755 inhabitants. There are 18 small streams flowing through Łódź. | The Sokolowka River flows across the northern part of Łódź and is supplied with about 50 stormwater outlets. The middle and lower section of the river valley has maintained patches of meadows, wetlands and forests (seminatural environment) | The ecohydrological river rehabilitation took part in three projects: EU SWITCH project (GOCE 018530), EHREK (LIFE08 ENV/PL/000517), Blue-Green Network (City of Łódź).
Conserve Process
NO
Enhance Process
YES
Apply Complementary
YES
Ecosystem Services
Provisioning
- Provisioning Services are ecosystem services that describe the material or energy outputs from ecosystems. They include food, water and other resources.
Regulating
- Regulating Services are the services that ecosystems provide by acting as regulators eg. regulating the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.
- Local climate and air quality: Trees provide shade whilst forests influence rainfall and water availability both locally and regionally. Trees or other plants also play an important role in regulating air quality by removing pollutants from the atmosphere.
- Moderation of extreme events: Extreme weather events or natural hazards include floods, storms, tsunamis, avalanches and landslides. Ecosystems and living organisms create buffers against natural disasters, thereby preventing possible damage. For example, wetlands can soak up flood water whilst trees can stabilize slopes. Coral reefs and mangroves help protect coastlines from storm damage.
- Waste-water treatment: Ecosystems such as wetlands filter both human and animal waste and act as a natural buffer to the surrounding environment. Through the biological activity of microorganisms in the soil, most waste is broken down. Thereby pathogens (disease causing microbes) are eliminated, and the level of nutrients and pollution is reduced.
Habitat / Supporting
- Ecosystem services "that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services". These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation.
- Habitats for species: Habitats provide everything that an individual plant or animal needs to survive: food; water; and shelter. Each ecosystem provides different habitats that can be essential for a species’ lifecycle. Migratory species including birds, fish, mammals and insects all depend upon different ecosystems during their movements.
Cultural
- Cultural Services corresponds nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.
- Recreation and mental and physical health: Walking and playing sports in green space is not only a good form of physical exercise but also lets people relax. The role that green space plays in maintaining mental and physical health is increasingly being recognized, despite difficulties of measurement.
- Aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design: Language, knowledge and the natural environment have been intimately related throughout human history. Biodiversity, ecosystems and natural landscapes have been the source of inspiration for much of our art, culture and increasingly for science.
- Spiritual experience and sense of place: In many parts of the world natural features such as specific forests, caves or mountains are considered sacred or have a religious meaning. Nature is a common element of all major religions and traditional knowledge, and associated custos are important for creating a sense of belonging.
Major Issues
Low water quality and ecological status (presence
Low water quality and ecological status (presence of persistent organic pollutants, POPs)
Channelization of the Sokolowka River
Channelization of the Sokolowka River
Urban floods and droughts
Urban floods and droughts
EH Engineering Solutions
Construction of reservoirs to mitigate the extreme
Construction of reservoirs to mitigate the extreme stormwater flow (fig.1)
Stormwater purification in sedimentary-biofiltration system
Stormwater purification in sedimentary-biofiltration system
Phytotechnology in reservoirs for the development of
Phytotechnology in reservoirs for the development of blue-green network in urban areas health and quality of life (fig.2)
Project Activities
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Rehabilitation of Sokolowka river and its valley
-
Triggering of bottom-up initiatives such as implementation of best management practices (BMPs) by developers in stormwater management
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Elaboration and legalization of the Blue-Green Network Concept
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Academic research (ERCE) and academic training course (Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Ecohydrology)
Expected Outcomes
Revitalization of aquatic ecosystems and improvement of water quality.
Latest Results
The Sequentional Stormwater Purification System (SSPS) reduced the concentrations of total nitrogen and phosphorus by up to 60%, the technology was transfered to another river system in Lódz (Arturuwek, EH-REK project), (Wagner and Breil, 2013).