River reclamation and flooding

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Bible Ch 22 v 1, Revelation of St John the Divine)

In the past, 'improving' rivers meant increasing their flow capacity. In future it should refer to multiï¾­purpose schemes designed to improve the capacity of each river valley to function as a visual amenity, a recreation area, a fishery, a nature reserve, a water supply, a storm detention area, a drainage network, and a movement corridor for boats, walkers, cyclists and equestrians. We are fortunate that the means have become available: 1)multi-purpose planning 2)managed flooding 3)storm detention basins 4) infiltration facilities 5) vegetated roofs 6)porous pavements 7)natural riverworks As discussed below, these measures should be used to increase the base flow in rivers, to reduce flood peaks and to improve the physical design of river channels.