What do you mean by ecological flow of a river?
The term ecological flow means not only the quantity but also the quality of flowing water and also its cultural and aesthetic value. It identifies the required quantity, quality and distribution of flow patterns from the source to mouth of a river, preserving the life in and around the channels.
What is meant by environmental flow?
An environmental flow is water released from a dam or a weir to maintain downstream river health. … Environmental flows can help to: Protect aquatic ecosystems and reduce aquatic weeds and frequency of algal blooms. Improve river health.
What is minimum ecological flow?
Minimum ecological flow is based on the principle that a certain amount of minimum flow must be present in a flowing freshwater ecosystem such as a river or an estuary so that the ecological quality of the flowing freshwater ecosystem is maintained.
What is eco flow in civil engineering?
Environmental flows describe the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well being that depend on these ecosystems.
What are environmental flow requirements?
Environmental flow requirement (EFR) for water resources allocation requires that a certain amount of water be purposefully left in or released into an aquatic ecosystem to maintain it in a condition that will support its direct and indirect use values [5].
How does water flow through the environment?
Water in different phases moves through the atmosphere (transportation). Liquid water flows across land (runoff), into the ground (infiltration and percolation), and through the ground (groundwater). Groundwater moves into plants (plant uptake) and evaporates from plants into the atmosphere (transpiration).
How are environmental flows obtained?
Environmental Flows is a term we use to describe managing our freshwater resources in a way that mimics Mother Nature. Based on well-defined science, Environmental Flows express the quantity, quality and timing of water that are necessary to sustain a river, wetland or coastal zone and the associated fish and wildlife.
What is the ecosystem of flowing water called?
lacustrine ecosystem, also called still-water ecosystem or lentic ecosystem, any pond or lake viewed as an ecosystem. A riverine, or lotic, ecosystem, by contrast, has flowing water—e.g., a river or a stream.
What is ecosystem explain in detail?
An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving parts.