Application of the Unified Stream Assessment Method to Determine the Direction of Revitalization of Heavily Transformed Urban Rivers

Abstract

The issues related to the assessment of the hydro morphological status of urban rivers in order to identify the revitalisation actions possible to be carried out, has been acquiring significant importance in recent years. The revitalisation of urban rivers and the waterfront urban space must be preceded by an assessment and determination of the direction of revitalisation measures necessary to be implemented. Most of the methods used worldwide to assess the hydro morphological condition of the river do not include the element of planning revitalization activities. Meanwhile, there is a close relationship between the morphological conditions of the river and its corridor, and the range of necessary and feasible activities aimed at recreating some of the natural features of the river, with the simultaneous increase in the possibility of using the adjacent area as a safe public space. The existing methods used to identify places where revitalisation works are possible, omit many morphological elements of the rivers under analysis. This makes impossible to monitor their morphological status later and assess the effectiveness of the implemented works. The paper presents the results of the Unified Stream Assessment (USA) method of the urban river Kłodnica, located in Upper Silesia, which is the area with the largest degree of urbanisation and industrialisation in Poland. The conducted assessment allowed to determine possible revitalization activities, indicated significant limitations as well as the need to modify the USA method. Results of the study revealed that proposed revitalisation actions based on the USA assessment should take into account the nature of the whole watershed and not just river corridor. The modification of USA method results proper development of urban river assessment and revitalisation process.