Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments

HKDSE New Interactive Geography

Unit 4 Management of river basins

In this unit, we are going to learn…
A. Main concepts
Concept 1
Channelisation
Hard strategies Bank protection
Dam and reservoir

Concept 4
Concept 2 Land use zoning
Effectiveness
River Afforestation of measures
Soft strategies
management Flood warning system
Managed retreat or do nothing

Concept 3 Education and training

Other measures
Legislation and monitoring

Concept 1:
Hard strategies of
river management Definition Types Functions
provided by rivers

1. What is river management? Refer to p. 52 in your textbook

− River management adopts a comprehensive and integrated approach to tackle river problems. It
serves three main purposes:
Reduce flooding and pollution problems
Maintain the stability of river channels
Preserve ecosystems of river basins

2. What are the hard strategies of river management? Refer to p. 52-54 in your textbook

− Hard strategies are traditional engineering measures that aim to resist the energy of running water.
− They involve building artificial structures to change the shape of the river channel.

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 29 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography
a. Channelisation

What is it? An engineering measure to straighten, deepen and widen a river channel

What are its − To control the velocity and discharge of the river
functions? − To reduce the risk of flooding

Refer to Fig.4.1 and answer the questions.

1. Give evidence to support that the river is
channelised.
The rive channel is straight in shape / Little
vegetation found on the river banks / the river banks
are paved with concrete which means human
modifications have been taken
Fig.4.1 A channelised river

2. What are the changes in the following characteristics of the river after channelisation?

Channel depth Increase / Decrease Sinuosity Higher / Lower

Channel width Increase / Decrease River velocity Increase / Decrease

Channel gradient Increase / Decrease Bankfull discharge Increase / Decrease

3. Explain why channelisation can reduce the risk of flooding with reference to the changes above.
River velocity has increased so that excess floodwater can be discharged away rapidly
Bankfull discharge has increased which means the maximum capacity of the river has increased

b. River bank protection

What is it? − Building of artificial structures such as dykes, ripraps, gabions and groynes
along the river banks
− Below are two examples:

Gabion: Metal cages filled with rocks

Riprap: Large rocks piled up along the
river banks
What are its − To disperse energy of flowing water and reduce erosion of river banks
functions? − To raise the river banks and increase the water-holding capacity of a river

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 30 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography
Refer to Fig.4.2 and answer the questions.
1. Identify the type of bank protection in Fig.4.2.
Groynes

2. What kind of materials is it usually made of?

Stones / Concrete

3. What is its function? Fig.4.2 A bank protection measure

To lower river velocity by extending from the banks /
hence to protect the banks from erosion

c. Dam and reservoir

What is it? − Dams are built across a river to control the amount of discharge
− Reservoirs are built behind the dams for storing water
What are its Dam construction is usually a multi-purpose scheme that brings many benefits:
functions? Regulates river flow and prevents flooding
Reservoir stores water for irrigation and other uses
Provides hydroelectricity
Improves navigation in rivers

Refer to Fig.4.3 and answer the questions.

1. Identify the project shown in the photo.
Three Gorges Project

2. In which course of the Chang Jiang is it built?

Middle course

3. Name two main objectives of the project. Fig.4.3 A project along the Chang Jiang
Flood control / Provide hydroelectricity

4. Many government officials support the project. Why?

The project can reduce the risk of flooding in downstream areas, protecting the life and property of
millions of people / The supply of hydroelectricity reduces the dependence on coal / reduces CO2
emission / provides water use in dry seasons

5. Suggest some disadvantages of the project.

Needs huge investment / Extensive areas of forests and valleys are flooded / Loss of important
historical and cultural heritages / Millions of people have to be relocated / Damming of the river
reduces the supply of nutrient-rich sediment to downstream areas

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 31 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography

Concept 2:
Soft strategies of
river management Definition Types Functions
provided by rivers
1. What are the soft strategies of river management? Refer to p. 54-56 in your textbook

− Soft strategies are works with the nature to reduce the impact of erosion, instead of preventing it.
− Their construction and maintenance are usually (more / less) expensive than hard strategies.
Identify the soft strategies shown in the figures below. Answer the questions as well.
a. Type of strategy: Land use zoning
Risk of flooding (increases / b. How does it work?
decreases) away from the river − Assess the risk of flooding on different parts of the floodplain
channel − Assign appropriate land uses to reduce the impact of flooding
− The closer to the river banks, the (higher / lower) the risk of
flooding, and density of development should be (lower /
higher)
− What development is the best at the river bank?
Farming Wetland park Housing development

a. Type of strategy: Afforestation

b. How does it work?
− Vegetation protects the river banks from erosion
− It also promotes infiltration and reduces surface runoff

a. Type of strategy: Flood warning system

b. How does it work?
− Advise people to carry out immediate strategies to reduce the
impacts of imminent floods
− e.g. placing sand bags, evacuating to shelters

a. Type of strategy: Managed retreat or do nothing

b. How does it work?
− Adopted in places with low economic value or no significant
risks to people
− Allows the river to flood naturally
− Sometimes it is called managed flooding

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 32 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography

Concept 3:
Other measures of
river management Types Functions
provided by rivers
1. What are the other strategies of river management? Refer to p. 56 in your textbook

Purpose Example
a. Education and − To raise the awareness of − Information leaflets to update the
training stakeholders and the public of public and the stakeholders about
river management practices and government policies and
environmental conservation corresponding responsibilities
(Fig.4.4)
− Organise training programmes and
seminars for farmers and business
sectors on river-friendly farming
methods and pollution-reduction
technologies
b. Legislation and − To protect river ecosystem − Country Parks Ordinance
monitoring − To reduce pollution − Set up water quality monitoring
stations

1. Guess the reasons for the government to

implement the programme.
Many village houses do not have proper
sewerage collection and treatment
facilities
Growing population living in village
houses
Protect streams and rivers from pollution
2. Under the programme, what responsibilities do
village house owners have?
Carry out the sewer connection from

Sewage from village house their houses to the terminal connection

point
Terminal connection point Bear the future maintenance costs

To sewage
Public sewer
treatment works
Fig.4.4 A brief outline of the programme

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 33 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography

Concept 4:
Effectiveness of
different measures Benefits vs. Costs

1. How effective are these management methods? Refer to p. 57 in your textbook

The table below summarises the various methods in river management. Give ONE benefit and ONE cost for
each method.
Which river problem
Benefit Cost
does it tackle?

Channelisation
Flooding
Refer to textbook p.57

A. Hard for the answers.

Bank protection
engineering Flooding
strategies

Dams and reservoirs

Flooding

Land use zoning

Flooding

Afforestation Soil erosion /

B. Soft Flooding
engineering
strategies Flood warning system
Flooding

Managed retreat or do
nothing Flooding

Education and training Water pollution

and ecosystem
disturbance
C. Other
measures Water pollution
Legislation
and ecosystem
disturbance

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 34 Unit 4

 Worksheets: C2 Managing river and coastal environments
HKDSE New Interactive Geography

Extension Flooding problem in Hong Kong

According to the Drainage Services Department, only 11 flooding black spots remained in Hong Kong in
2014 (Table A). The two major black spots are located in Yuen Long and Tai Po (Table B).

Hong Kong Island 3 Location District

Kowloon 1 Shek Wu Wai Yuen Long
New Territories 7 Ting Kok Road Tai Po
Source: DSD Source: DSD
Table A Distribution of flooding black spots in Table B Two major flooding black spots in Hong Kong in 2014
Hong Kong in 2014

1. In which part of Hong Kong are most flooding black spots located?
New Territories

2. Browse the website of the Drainage Services Department

(http://www.dsd.gov.hk/EN/Flood_Prevention/index.html) and fill in the following information.

Cause of flooding Short-term measure Long-term measure

Shek Wu Wai Low-lying area / Drainage Regular desilting of channel Drainage

channels do not have enough / Drainage improvement improvement works
capacity works

Ting Kok Road Low-lying area / Depletion of
flood storage due to
landfilling / Blockage of inlets
and outlets of embedded
pipes by tree trunks, rubbish
and construction materials
Carry out desilting of Drainage
channel when necessary / improvement works
Installation of grills at the
inlet of the pipes /
Removal of substructure at
the outlet of the pipes

3. a. Wan Chai is a minor flooding black spot in Hong Kong Island. Why does flooding occur there?
Extensive concrete-paved areas result in rapid surface runoff when there is heavy rain / Low-lying
relief / It is an old urban area that the storm water drainage system was built long time ago of
lower protection standard

b. Browse the website and compare the mitigation measures carried out in Wan Chai. Are they
different from those above? Why?
Different measures are carried out in Wan Chai / There are no river channels in Wan Chai /
Rainwater is only removed via the storm water drainage system / However, upgrading of the
system is difficult and takes time due to high development density

© Aristo Educational Press LTD. 2014 35 Unit 4