Perception of braided river landscapes: Implications for public participation and sustainable management

Lay, Yves-François Le; Piégay, Hervé; Rivière-Honegger, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.01.006

Cited by 59 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In most cases, however, direct experiences of adverse effects of the risk are most effective when making judgements about risk perceptions [44]. In relation to the analysis of public perception of water quality, with the aim of increasing public participation in water quality restoration, research has been conducted into many successful river management projects, especially in the developed countries [13,[46][47][48], such as the Murray River in Australia [13] and the Rhine in Europe [49]. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that most published studies reported above have taken place prior to planning an intervention, which is the case especially in water-related studies.…”

Section: Risk Research In the Water Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Risk Perception of Water Quality and Its Influencing Factors between Lay People and Factory Workers for Water Management in River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality Kenya

Mumbi

Watanabe

2020

Water

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This study evaluates the differences between risk predictors and risk perception regarding water pollution. Specifically, it focuses on the differences in risk perception between factory workers and lay people situated in textile industries near the River Sosiani in Eldoret, Kenya. The lay people are divided into two groups. The respondents living downstream are situated mostly in town centers and at the mid/lower parts of the river, and the respondents living upstream are mainly found at the upper parts of the River Sosiani. Data were obtained from 246 participants using questionnaires. Several factors influencing risk perception were selected to evaluate the degree of perceived risk amongst the groups. Descriptive statistics, mean score and correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression models were used to analyse the data. The one-way ANOVA results showed statistically different levels of risk perceptions amongst the groups. The partial and bivariate correlation analyses revealed the differences in scientific knowledge between respondents upstream and downstream. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that each group used different variables to determine risks in the region. In the factory group, 56.1% of the variance in risk perception is significantly predicted by sensorial factors, trust in the government’s capacity to manage water pollution and the impact of water pollution on human health. About 65.9% of the variance in risk perception of the downstream inhabitants is significantly predicted by sensorial factors, the possibility of industries generating water pollution, and previous experience with water pollution. For the respondents located upstream, age, sensorial factors, trust in the government and the possibility of being impacted by water pollution factors significantly predicted 37.05% of the variance in risk perception. These findings indicate that enhanced public participation in water governance amongst the residents of Eldoret town is needed, along with an understanding of the different characteristics of the respondents in the region during risk communication. This will boost awareness in the region and promote the adoption of better practices to minimise the adverse effects of water pollution faced by the region.

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Section: Risk Research In the Water Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Risk Perception of Water Quality and Its Influencing Factors between Lay People and Factory Workers for Water Management in River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality Kenya

Mumbi

Watanabe

2020

Water

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“…, Le Lay et al. ). We propose that judgments are also influenced by periphyton, that is, the assemblage of algae, bacteria, and microbes attached to the substrate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical water quality and human perceptions of rivers: an ethnohydrology study

West

Nolan

Scott³

2016

Ecosyst Health Sustain

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Rivers are revered worldwide for their ecologic, scenic, and recreational value. The capacity to communicate effectively among human groups with vested interest in rivers hinges on understanding the nature of human perceptions of water quality and the extent to which they vary intraculturally. Recognizing the intersection between measured water quality and the characteristics of rivers that influence human perceptions facilitates potential for better communication across disciplines and among stakeholders. We conducted interviews and a pile‐sort task with water quality experts and nonexperts. Our analysis suggested human evaluation of water quality is guided by culturally constructed criteria, regardless of respondent expertise, experience, or demographics. Cluster analysis results implied that measured physical and chemical parameters of rivers were directly related to the visible attributes used in human judgments. We suggest that, regardless of variability among individual stakeholders, observable characteristics may be the foundation for a common understanding of water quality in rivers.

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“…What we see is what we understand to be normal and therefore what we expect to see. In this context, fully natural river corridors can strike some people as dangerous, unnatural, and in need of restoration and management, as illustrated by studies of public perceptions of large wood Piégay et al, 2005) and braided rivers (le Lay et al, 2013). Analogously, a river corridor that has been heavily modified by humans may be perceived as natural and fully functional with respect to ecosystem services such as habitat.…”

Section: Legacies and Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forgotten Legacies: Understanding and Mitigating Historical Human Alterations of River Corridors

Wohl

2019

Water Resources Research

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Legacies are persistent changes in natural systems resulting from human activities. Legacies that affect river ecosystems can result from human alterations outside of the river corridor, such as timber harvest or urbanization, or from alterations within the river corridor, including flow regulation, river engineering, and removal of large wood and beaver dams. Human alterations of river ecosystems have been occurring for thousands of years in some parts of the world and are now ubiquitous, yet both river scientists and the public may be unaware of the persistent effects of historical activities. Failure to recognize the legacy of historical activities that no longer occur can skew perceptions of river process and form and the natural range of variability in river ecosystems. Examples come from rivers of the Mid‐Atlantic Piedmont and the Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. Mid‐Atlantic Piedmont streams in which legacy sediment accumulated behind now‐abandoned mill dams experienced a complete transformation from wide, shallow, marshy valleys to sinuous rivers lined with tall cutbanks, but the existence and the cause of this river metamorphosis was not widely recognized until the first decade of the 21st century. Rivers of the Pacific Northwest from which large wood was removed have changed during the past century from spatially heterogeneous, multichannel systems closely connected to their floodplains via frequent channel avulsion and lateral migration to single‐thread channels with more homogeneous floodplains and less lateral connectivity. Again, this river metamorphosis has only been recognized within the past two decades. In each of these regional examples, river process and form have changed so substantially that the river ecosystems can be described as having assumed an alternative state. In these and many other examples, the alternative state provides lower levels of ecosystem services such as habitat, biodiversity, and attenuation of downstream fluxes of water, sediment, organic carbon, and nutrients. River management designed to enhance and restore these ecosystem services can be more effective if the continuing effects of these historical legacies are recognized. The grand scientific challenges resulting from historical human alterations of river ecosystems include the following: (1) to recognize the existence of a legacy that continues to affect river ecosystem process and form; (2) to understand the source of the legacy with respect to chronology, type, spatial extent, and intensity of human activities; (3) to understand the implications of the legacy regarding how river process and form and river ecosystem services have changed; and (4) to design management or restoration strategies that can mitigate the loss of river ecosystem services. In summary, the existence of forgotten legacies challenges river scientists to recognize the continuing effects of human activities that have long since ceased and also poses challenges for the application of scientific understanding to resource ma...

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Perception of braided river landscapes: Implications for public participation and sustainable management

Cited by 59 publications

References 41 publications

Differences in Risk Perception of Water Quality and Its Influencing Factors between Lay People and Factory Workers for Water Management in River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality Kenya

Differences in Risk Perception of Water Quality and Its Influencing Factors between Lay People and Factory Workers for Water Management in River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality Kenya

Optical water quality and human perceptions of rivers: an ethnohydrology study

Forgotten Legacies: Understanding and Mitigating Historical Human Alterations of River Corridors

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