Lakes and rivers

Lakes and rivers form strategic resources worldwide and specifically for the many intensively-populated deltas. However, this intensive use comes at a price: many lakes and rivers suffer from the impacts of human pressure. Problems like pollution, loss of habitats and species, and loss of resilience to cope with changing climate conditions (like changing precipitation patterns) put the environmental state of the lakes and rivers at risk and threaten the well-being of riparian communities. The Building with Nature approach can provide a solution to reduce the human impacts on these systems, while at the same time creating additional ecosystem service value. In order to adequately implement such an approach, knowledge on ecosystem behaviour in interaction with human uses of fresh water resources is necessary. Also, the governance of lakes and rivers is essential, since their management is usually influenced by a variety of different stakeholders.

Read more about: Lakes environment 

Read more about: Rivers environment

Read more about riverine and terrestrial solutions specifically in the UK in the Environmental Agency's evidence-base directory.