River culture: How socio‐ecological linkages to the rhythm of the waters develop, how they are lost, and how they can be regained

Wantzen, Karl M.

doi:10.1111/geoj.12476

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 143 publications

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“…Two pre‐deltaic territories (Chilia and the central part of Stipoc levee) are also present in the deltaic space, naturally acting as nodes of multiple pathways in and out of the Delta. These natural features were themselves subject to fluctuations, as we have already indicated through the work of Wantzen (2022). Yet their relative stability in the natural delta was very important, given the radical fluctuations in the lower parts of the deltaic plain.…”

Section: The History Of Roads In the Danube Deltamentioning

confidence: 84%

Moving through liquid territories: A cartographic history of roads in the Danube Delta

Constantinescu

Tănăsescu

2022

Geographical Journal

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We present an analysis of the Danube Delta (Romania) that is focused on the evolution and use of roads, so as to highlight the primacy of movement in spatialisation and the fluidity of roads themselves. We demonstrate that local inhabitants of the Danube Delta have relied on a network of roads for survival and have in the process fitted themselves to a deltaic space full of affordances that foreign observers have missed. Our objectives are achieved by juxtaposing a cartographic archive spanning from the 19th century up to 2019 with the lived experience of the deltaic space. The maps we uncover and redraw show how the road infrastructure in the Danube Delta has evolved. We explain what has driven this evolution by interpreting the archive in light of long‐term field work (2015–2019). This allows us to re‐characterise the deltaic space as a hybrid of solidity and liquidity, and to show the evolution of the local perspective in relation to traversing this complicated land. This is a completely new historical and cartographic contribution to a severely understudied area, the Danube Delta.

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Section: The History Of Roads In the Danube Deltamentioning

confidence: 84%

Moving through liquid territories: A cartographic history of roads in the Danube Delta

Constantinescu

Tănăsescu

2022

Geographical Journal

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“…Moreover, the goal of DRYRivERS is to raise awareness of the importance of drying events in river networks (Datry et al, 2021). Wantzen et al (2016) and Wantzen (2022) highlight with the concept of River Culture that proper stewardship of hydrosystems could come from the gradual reintegration of more river rhythms into human life, quite close to the slow living movement increasingly popular in North America and Western Europe, with its rejection of high-tech, engineered, fast paced lives (Botta, 2016). Following this perspective, authors also include underflows, in that even the invisible waters swing in rhythm.…”

Section: The Social Recognition Of the Hyporheic Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Groundwater, and the associated hyporheic zone, are “a thick and complex three‐dimensional environment” (Powis, 2021, p. 93) where water and ground are intimately intertwined depending on the distance to the surface, and the degree of water saturation of the aquifer. As interests in conserving and restoring the underground flows and their interactions with the surface have strengthened (Boulton, 2007; Melo‐Zurita et al, 2018; Wantzen, 2022), verticality thus comes to matter in the process of making sense of these interrelations between surface and subsurface by articulating with existing hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecologic analyses, but also with current modes of governing and policing resources and people.…”

Section: Thinking Verticality: Why It Matters In Socio‐hydrosystem St...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research has implemented participatory social surveys (Turner & Richter, 2011; Zuniga‐Teran et al, 2022) where citizens get to map dry and wet sections of their local streams. These “dry and wet surveys” are parts of a set of initiatives made to recover the loss of socio‐cultural connectivity to the rhythm of rivers (Jackson et al, 2022; Wantzen, 2022). Indeed, citizens can play a major role in helping scientists to understand drying river networks, by reporting drying events in rivers and streams.…”

Section: Reclaiming the Hyporheic Zone For A Holistic Approach To Soc...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over time, the literature on river restoration has expanded its focus to include two additional dimensions in the exploration of connectivity within hydrosystems: the temporal dimension (Amoros et al, 1987; Arnaud et al, 2021; Eschbach et al, 2018; Ward, 1989) and more recently the socio‐cultural one (Boyer et al, 2018; Kondolf & Pinto, 2017; Pradilla et al, 2021; Wantzen, 2022; Wölfle‐Erskine, 2017). Cultural and territorial attachment, along with the inclusion of local political dynamics are both acknowledged as central components in the implementation of water conservation and river restoration projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The social connectivity of subsurface flows: Towards a better integration of the vertical dimension in socio‐hydrosystem studies

Boyer,

Blanchon,

Schmitt

et al. 2023

WIREs Water

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This contribution points out that while the importance of hydrologic, geomorphic, ecological, temporal, and socio‐cultural connectivity in the functioning of hydrosystems has been acknowledged in three dimensions (longitudinal, lateral, and vertical), vertical connectivity has often been overlooked. Drawing on a multidisciplinary literature review, the authors aim to highlight the socio‐cultural connectivity of subsurface flows and aquifers as a crucial factor for socio‐hydrosystem understanding and management. The piece builds on emergent literature which underscores how groundwater, shallow groundwater, and the hyporheic zone are coproduced by nature and society through time. Furthermore, the review explores how verticality has become an important heuristic dimension at the intersection of the environmental and social sciences, and there has been a particular focus on the hyporheic zone to look at how notions of interstitiality and (in)visibility can be better integrated with socio‐hydrosystem science and management. Finally, the paper calls for further research to integrate the vertical dimension of hydrosystems into more comprehensive socio‐hydrological frameworks, which remain, at times, empirically and theoretically weak on questions of social power, even if they do incorporate aspects of political systems. Especially as societies' relationships to groundwater may be at the heart of climate change adaptation strategies, greater consideration of the social connectivity to subflows is a necessary direction for sustainable water resource management and scholarship.This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Science of Water > Hydrological Processes Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change

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Societal drivers for the integration of hydrogeomorphology and human benefits in river restoration projects

Gariépy‐Girouard,

Buffin‐Bélanger,

Biron

2024

River Research & Apps

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Integrating hydrogeomorphological (HGM) principles into the restoration of degraded rivers can achieve sustainable results and provide various human benefits. HGM principles mainly involve understanding the context and processes that shape a fluvial system before any intervention, in order to support its dynamism and to align with its potential functioning and uses. Despite recent management approaches inspired by HGM principles, most restoration projects carried out in Quebec (Canada) are not process‐based and target specific one‐dimensional objectives. Although there is an overall lack of post‐project monitoring, several projects appear to have failed or had mixed success. This research aims to shed light on the diversity of societal drivers behind river restoration projects and to examine how they influence the integration of HGM principles and human benefits. Four restoration projects were characterized through participant observation and interviews with the organizations running them. Representatives of two ministries involved in river restoration and management were also interviewed. The results show that projects were mainly shaped by public acceptance disregarding HGM principles, which can lead to poorly‐informed action. Project funding and stakeholders' expertise have also challenged project implementation and played a key role in defining their objectives. The addition of these components improve the current analytical frameworks for identifying river restoration objectives. Depending on specific sociocultural, political and legislative contexts, funding programs and stakeholders' expertise may either facilitate or restrict the integration of HGM principles and human benefits in the projects. Recognizing these key drivers reframes river restoration as a fundamentally social activity and enlightens how they could impel innovative approaches towards more sustainable results.

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River culture: How socio‐ecological linkages to the rhythm of the waters develop, how they are lost, and how they can be regained

Cited by 17 publications

References 143 publications

Moving through liquid territories: A cartographic history of roads in the Danube Delta

Moving through liquid territories: A cartographic history of roads in the Danube Delta

The social connectivity of subsurface flows: Towards a better integration of the vertical dimension in socio‐hydrosystem studies

Societal drivers for the integration of hydrogeomorphology and human benefits in river restoration projects

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