What happened to the Neva bay?
St. Petersburg Flood protection dam
The city of St.Petersburg has a big history of floods. The water in the Baltic sea often rose due to high water and back water. Protection against these floods only just started in 1980 with the build of the Neva Dam. The Neva Dam completed in 2011, but did the completion of this dam solve all the problems that occur in and around the Neva Bay?
01
Introduction
Since the completion of the dam there has been done some research on the Neva Bay. Those researches concluded that the Neva Dam indeed protected St.Petersburg against flooding. The Dam also helped with transport problems in and around the city. However the completion of the Dam didnt only bring positive effects to the Neva Bay.
Researchers also showed that water quality and biodiversity changed due to the completion of the Dam. But how did this change and what possible solutions could be implemented to solve these problems in the Neva Bay?
02
Problems
Researchers showed that multiple problems occured after completion of the Neva Dam, with some problems having major impact on the environment of the Neva Bay. These problems are listed below:
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Filamentous algea: Construction of the Dam changed a lot in the flow regime of the Bay. Filamentous algea acclimated in the bay, causing the suffocation of other organisms and disruption of the ecosystem.
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Plastic Pollution: Every year about 1,500 tons of plastic garbage gets into the water from St.Petersburg alone. Thereby, it effects the ecosystem of the bay and is responsible for degrading biodiversity.
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Degrading spawning grounds: Dredging near the shore caused underwater meadows to disappear, these meadows are crucial for the survival and habitat of small fish and function as spawning grounds. The lack of protection and a shift to market oriented fishing is responsible for the decay in fish.
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Eutrophication: Agriculture and other human impacts cause minerals and other substances to pollute the water. Due to this high concentration of minerals fish get poisoned and algea grows fast.
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Petroleum Pollution: The water quality in the Neva Bay is greatly diminished by petroleum leaks of shipping traffic. These leakages result in the degradation of aquatic organisms and pollutes the water.
03
Solutions
For a company as LekkerDam it's hard to see such big problems in waterbodies. It is important to find the best solutions for these big problems.
LekkerDam has done research on possible solutions for these problems in the Neva bay. These solutions are substantiated below:
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Implementing mussel beds: Adding mussel beds to Neva Bay. The mussels filter the water and create a new source of food. This will contribute to improved water quality.
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Implementing nature-friendly banks: Nature-friendly banks can filter the water and function as a spawning ground for small fish. With this solution the water quality, ecology and aesthetic of the dam and Neva Bay will improve.
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Reducing the plastic flow to the Neva Bay: Placing plastic collecters in the Neva River and a stricter policy on plastic discharge in the river will reduce the amount of plastic in the Neva Bay.
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Stricter policy on fuel leakages: This ensures that shipping traffic will be regularly checked for petroleum leakage to prevent it from leaking in the Neva Bay and fine the polluters.
04
Conclusion
The Neva bay is really polluted and that's not how it should be. LekkerDam has done research on the occuring problems and solutions to these problems. This research is documented in a scientific article, shown below.
LekkerDam recommends that all the measures should be investigated for the Neva Bay. These measures will be, along with the existing dam, a complete solution for the Neva Bay and the city of St. Petersburg. However, it's up to the Russian government and the city of Saint Petersburg to choose if any of the given solutions will be implemented.
05
Additions
This page originated from a scientific article by LekkerDam. The article sums up even more problems and viable solutions for the Neva Bay. The article can also be downloaded.
LekkerDam also created a Multi-Criteria Analysis tool to support the conclusion of the scientific article. This tool can determine which solutions are recommened to each ecological problem within waterbodies. The tool can also be downloaded.