Chapter 434 Far ahead
Artificial intervention in natural rivers may cause some damage to the ecological environment, as well as change the characteristics of rivers and cause unpredictable disasters.
There are real cases of this happening, but Ernst doesn't think so. This is a question of trade-offs. If the benefits obtained through artificial intervention outweigh the disadvantages, then the East African government must do it.
Under natural conditions, rivers are always curved due to the geostrophic deflection force, but the curvature of the river will not continue to increase. When the curvature reaches a certain level, the flow speed of the river will slow down and sediment will be easily deposited. So if the free meander is artificially cut and straightened, what will happen to the river?
Because there is no buffer when the river is straightened, floods are prone to occur. Cutting and straightening the river reduces the drainage area and reduces the utilization rate of river water. Places that used to drink ground water and use ground water for irrigation had to use groundwater. The reduction of the river basin area also reduced the downward penetration of river water, which reduced soil water retention, causing water shortages in many places, which was harmful to animals, plants and humans. great impact on survival.
Secondly, this can easily lead to the development of eutrophication of water bodies. The channelization of river beds is often accompanied by a decrease in the water level, resulting in a general reduction of hygrophytes in the natural environment. Subsequently, some river-related natural environments along the river also gradually disappeared, such as forests on alluvial soil evolving into hardwood forests. Even if a natural river meander is artificially straightened, it will still gradually become a meander.
Ernst agrees with this twenty-first-century argument, but this problem is not without solutions. Just like Taoism advocates "governing by doing nothing", ordinary people think it makes sense, but some people only focus on the word "inaction". If you really choose "inaction" and do nothing, then you are really stupid. And stupid.
Ernst's solution to these problems is to follow nature and transform East Africa on an overall basis, making East Africa more livable.
Ernst, who was in Europe discussing business, took the time to formulate several general directions for river reconstruction in the East African coastal plain, and conveyed this to Constantine via telegram:
"First, river reconstruction must be based on the original river. For example, we need to cut corners and straighten them. However, the entire river cannot deviate from its original position to prevent excessive changes in underground water sources."
"Second, widening the width of the river will inevitably erode the vegetation on both sides of the river. While widening the river, new vegetation must be transplanted on both sides of the river to prevent the river from eroding the water and soil along the coast and silting the new river."
"Third, during the process of river channel reconstruction, we must try to avoid damage to the original river bed and minimize the killing of fish and other organisms in the river."
"Fourth, urban sewers should avoid discharging sewage directly into rivers and other inland natural water bodies, and instead build new pipelines to lead directly into the sea."
"Fifth, for the wetlands that have been reduced after the rivers are cut and straightened, we should build more small and medium-sized reservoirs along the river to regulate the river flow and at the same time help ensure agricultural water use."
"Sixth, try not to destroy the river network, because building canals and changing river courses will inevitably block the connection between some streams and large rivers. In a responsible attitude for the future, we must re-open them to prevent rainwater from being unable to flow into the rivers and flow to the sea during the rainy season. "
There are six points in total, which can be regarded as a relatively general guideline. For this reason, Constantine opened the phone and asked: "Ernst, your six-point suggestion is a bit too worrying!"
It is normal that Constantine cannot understand it. Most people in this era think like this. There is no concept of ecology and pollution.
Ernst: "Father, as long as this kind of thing is done according to my wishes, it doesn't have to be perfect. If you can do it half or eight, it will be good. I am just giving suggestions and not making any strict rules."
Feeling that it was still a bit hollow, Ernst began to look for examples to convince Constantine.
"Industry in today's era is developing roughly, and not many people pay attention to environmental issues. That is because people are not aware of the harm of environmental destruction. In Europe, the most typical example is London." "London is the city with the highest degree of industrial development in the world. One, but the damage to London's environment caused by the black smoke and sewage discharged from the factory is visible to the naked eye. The black smoke is easy to say, and the wind blows it all over the world, but even so, London is still a "fog city". It can be seen that The power of nature cannot directly purify the air in London. The black smoke is absorbed by the human body and must be harmful. Although I can't provide any scientific evidence, the life span and disease of workers living in the most polluted areas are deceptive. Inhumane."
"The second is industrial wastewater, which is discharged directly into the Thames River. The entire Thames River is just a large smelly ditch. A large part of London's domestic water comes from the Thames River. Is this kind of water safe to drink? Especially in industrial areas. The land near the sewage outlet is even barren. Not even grass can survive, let alone people. Moreover, the sewage containing various impurities has not been managed in any way, directly polluting the land along the coast. Land restoration is very difficult, even impossible. of."
"Furthermore, urban development must be people-centered, and the environment of European cities is far inferior to that of rural areas. I believe you will have a very intuitive feeling from comparing Hechingen and Stuttgart."
"East Africa is certainly not rejecting industrialization, but pursuing sustainable and long-term development. If we do things well from the beginning, the cost of governance and correction will be lower in the future."
Now the Little Rhine's status to East Africa is the same as the Thames' status to Britain. There are capitals of both countries along its banks, so Ernst is also more concerned about the management of the Little Rhine.
However, the plan to control the Little Rhine River is only suitable for coastal areas, which are not far from the sea. East Africa can build sewage drainage ditches directly connected to the sea through engineering.
Ernst had already experimented with this when Soga City was founded, building a separate sewage drainage pipe network system that extended to the sea.
The domestic sewage of the First Town (there is basically no industry in the First Town) is currently discharged directly into the Little Rhine River. Ernst also plans to connect the underground sewer system of the First Town to Soga City. Finally, It enters the sea near the coast of Dar es Salaam.
Cities in the Central Province are close to the sea and can do this. In inland cities such as Nairobi and Mbeya, sewage is still discharged into rivers and lakes, and finally flows into the sea through rivers.
Protecting the ecological environment is indeed a bit ahead of its time, but Ernst believes that since he has the ability, he should take the initiative to implement it in East Africa.
Doing so is nothing more than paying more labor and material costs, and the cheapest thing in East Africa is manpower. If there is consumption of materials, there must be production, and it can further improve the level of industrialization in East Africa.
The value of rivers such as the Little Rhine is mainly reflected in three aspects: navigation, irrigation and water supply. Although it is troublesome to directly discharge sewage into these rivers, it is not necessary.
That is to say, the first town is not an industrial city, otherwise the farmland downstream that relies on the Small Rhine water for irrigation will have to suffer irreversible pollution.
Looking back on the compromises and concessions East Africa has made to protect the environment now in the 21st century, East Africans must thank Ernst for his long-term vision.
(End of this chapter)