Chapter 434: Far Ahead
Artificial intervention in natural rivers may cause some ecological and environmental damage, and change the characteristics of rivers, causing 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 of artificial intervention outweigh the disadvantages, then the East African government must do it.
Under natural conditions, affected by the Coriolis force, rivers are always curved, but the degree of curvature of the river will not continue to increase. When the curvature reaches a certain degree, the flow rate of the river will slow down and silt will easily deposit. So if a free river meander is artificially straightened, what changes will occur in the river?
Because the river channel is straightened without buffer, it is easy to cause floods. The straightening of the river channel reduces the drainage area, which also reduces the utilization rate of river water. Places that originally used surface water for drinking and irrigation have to use groundwater. The reduction of the drainage area reduces the downward infiltration of river water, reduces the water retention of soil, and causes water shortage in many places, which has a great impact on the survival of animals, plants and humans.
Secondly, it is easy to promote the development of eutrophication of water bodies. The channelization of riverbeds is often accompanied by a decrease in water table level, which leads to a general reduction of wetland plants in the natural environment. Subsequently, some river-related natural environments along the river gradually disappeared, such as the forest on alluvial soil evolved into hardwood forest. After the natural meander is artificially straightened, it will still gradually become a meander.
Ernst agrees with this 21st century argument, but this problem is not without a solution. Just like the Taoist advocacy of "ruling by doing nothing", ordinary people think it makes sense, but some people only focus on the word "doing nothing". If you really choose "doing nothing" and do nothing, then you are really stupid.
Ernst's solution to these problems is to follow nature and transform East Africa according to its overall laws, making it more livable.
Ernst, who was in Europe discussing business, took some time to formulate several general directions for the transformation of rivers in the coastal plains of East Africa, and conveyed them to Constantine via telegram:
"First, river reconstruction requires modification based on the original river, such as straightening the river, but the river as a whole cannot deviate from its original position to prevent major changes in the groundwater source."
"Second, widening the river will inevitably erode the vegetation on both sides of the river. While widening the river, new vegetation should be transplanted on both sides of the river to prevent the river from eroding the water and soil along the river bank and preventing mud from accumulating in the new river channel."
“Third, in the process of river channel reconstruction, we must try to avoid damaging the original riverbed and reduce the killing of fish and other organisms in the river as much as possible.”
“Fourth, urban sewers should avoid discharging directly into rivers and other inland natural water bodies, and instead build new pipelines to lead directly into the sea.”
"Fifth, as for the reduction of wetlands after the river is straightened, we should build more small and medium-sized reservoirs along the river to regulate the flow of river water, which will also help ensure agricultural water use."
"Sixth, try not to damage the river network, because building canals and changing river courses will inevitably cut off the connection between some streams and the big rivers. In order to be responsible for the future, we must open them up again to prevent rainwater from flowing into the river and into the sea during the rainy season."
There were six points in total, which was a relatively general guideline. For this reason, Constantine specifically opened the phone and asked, "Ernst, are your six suggestions a bit over-concerned?"
It is normal that Constantine cannot understand. This is how most people of this era think. There is no concept of ecology and pollution.
Ernst: "Father, just follow my instructions. I don't ask for perfection. It's good enough if you can do 70% to 80% of it. I'm just giving you suggestions, not making any hard rules."
It still felt a bit empty, so Ernst began to look for examples to convince Constantine.
"Industry in today's era is developing in a rough way, and not many people pay attention to environmental issues. That's because people don't realize the harm of environmental destruction. In Europe, the most typical example is London."
"London is one of the most industrially developed cities in the world, but the black smoke and sewage from factories are damaging London's environment. Black smoke is still a problem, as it will be blown all over the world by the wind. But even so, London is still a 'fog city', which shows that the power of nature cannot directly purify London's air. The black smoke is absorbed by the human body and is bound to be harmful. Although I can't come up with any scientific evidence, the life expectancy and illness of workers living in the most polluted areas cannot be faked."
"The second is industrial wastewater, which is directly discharged into the Thames. The entire Thames is a large stinking ditch, and a large part of London's domestic water is taken from the Thames. Is this water good to drink? Especially the land near the sewage outlets in industrial areas is barren, not even grass can survive, let alone people. Moreover, these sewage containing various impurities are not managed at all, directly polluting the coastal land. It is very difficult or even impossible to restore the land."
"Besides, urban development must be people-oriented, and the current urban environment in Europe is far inferior to that in the countryside. I believe you can feel this very intuitively from the comparison between Hechingen and Stuttgart."
"East Africa is certainly not rejecting industrialization, but sustainable long-term development. The better we do things from the beginning, the lower the governance and correction costs will be in the future."
Now the Little Rhine’s status to East Africa is the same as that of the Thames to the United Kingdom. The capitals of the two countries are located along its banks, so Ernst is also very concerned about the management of the Little Rhine.
However, the plan to manage the Little Rhine is only suitable for coastal areas, which are not far from the sea. East Africa can build sewage discharge ditches directly connected to the sea through engineering.
Ernst had already experimented with this when the city of Soga was founded, and a separate sewage pipe system was built 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. Ernst also plans to connect the underground sewer system of the First Town with the city of Soga, and finally discharge it into the sea near the coast of Dar es Salaam.
Cities in the Central Province that are close to the sea can do this. In inland cities like 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 promote it in East Africa.
Doing so will simply mean paying more for manpower and material costs, and manpower is the cheapest thing in East Africa. If there is material consumption, there must be production, and it can further improve East Africa's level of industrialization.
The value of rivers such as the Little Rhine is mainly reflected in three aspects: shipping, irrigation and water supply. Although it is convenient to discharge sewage directly into these rivers, it is unnecessary.
In other words, the first town is not an industrial city, otherwise the farmland downstream that relies on the Little Rhine water for irrigation will suffer irreversible pollution.
Looking back in the 21st century at the compromises and concessions East Africa has made to protect the environment, East Africans must thank Ernst for his foresight.
(End of this chapter)
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