Restoration of Urban Lakes
Description
Urban Lakes: Ecosystems in Peril and the Path to Restoration
Description: Explore the significance of urban lakes, their ecological services, degradation factors, and the need for clear governance and restoration efforts.
Urban Lakes
According to National Lake Conservation Plan, the definition of urban lakes seems to those located entirely within city limits (census town) and directly surrounded by urban developments, with some recreation facilities limited to the shoreline area (parks, playgrounds).
Ecological services of lakes
• They moderate temperatures and affect the climate of the surrounding area.
• By storing water they help regulate stream flow, recharge ground water aquifers and moderate droughts.
• They provide habitat to aquatic and semi aquatic plants and animals, which in turn provide food to many terrestrial animals, adding to the diversity of the landscape.
• Proper lake function can ease the impact of floods and droughts by storing large amounts of water and releasing it during shortages.
• Lakes also work to replenish groundwater, positively influence water quality of downstream watercourses, and preserve the biodiversity and habitat of the area.
• Lakes located in most Indian cities are generally permanent bodies of open water, with a significant size (>0.1 ha). These lakes are located according to the cities’ topography and are often placed in a series (inter-linked) to play a key role in urban stormwater management. Urban lakes also help to mitigate the density of urban developments by creating passive open space areas.
Hence restoration of lakes is must for the development of urban areas. However, over time, human settlements near water bodies and lakes have transformed the natural environment into the towns and cities we see today.
Reasons for degradation of lakes
A) Pollution
• Degradation of lakes occurs by discharge of municipal and industrial wastewater, non-point degradation like urban and agricultural run-off within a lake's watershed.
• Major degrading factors include excessive eutrophication due to nutrient and organic matter loading; siltation due to inadequate erosion control in agricultural, construction, logging and mining activities; introduction of exotic species; acidification from atmospheric sources and acid mine drainage; and contamination by toxic (or potentially toxic) metals such as mercury and organic compounds such as poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides.
• In addition, physical changes at the land-lake interface (eg. draining of riparian wetlands) and hydrologic manipulations (eg. Damming outlets to stabilise water levels) also have major impacts on the structure and functioning of these ecosystems.
B) Issues related to governance
• One of the obstacles for effective protection of these interlinked lakes in cities is the lack of a clear definition of an ‘urban lake’ in the Indian context. The definition provided under the guideline of NLCP acknowledges only broad hydrological criteria to define a water body as a lake.
• This definition ignores the fact that the water depth and spread keep changing every year, depending on various environmental factors. In fact, there are very few urban lakes that fit into this definition since most of them occupy a small area (<10 ha), are seasonal and shallow.
Government initiatives
What needed?
• No clear definition of ‘Urban Lake’ and thereby missing the approach of ‘Urban Lake management plan’. Hence government should focus on this.
• Encourages partnerships between concerned citizens, special interest groups, government body and water resources management practitioners with a common regulatory framework.
• Specified roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders along with Centre, state and urban local bodies need to be defined.
How to Prepare for IAS | FAQs on UPSC | Up to date Current Affairs | Latest Videos & Updates | Article: Waste Management
