Ecosystem technologies for sustainable water
management
Griessler Bulc T., Kompare, B, Uršič M., Jarni, K., Krivograd Klemenčič A.
University of Ljubljana
Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering & Faculty of Health Sciences
SLOVENIA
Introduction: City of Ljubljana (Slovenia) has been dealing with flooding for many years. However,
the events of recent years have pointed out that the flood protection needs additional measures to
achieve higher resilience to climate change. The usage of ecosystem technologies (ET) that mimic
natural environment could offer new approach in flood reservoirs management by changing them into
multipurpose green urban areas.
The paper presents the case study of a re-design of a flood reservoir Podutik built in 1986 into a multifunctional flood reservoir (Podutik) with the usage of ET (7FP Turas project). The ET was constructed
within Podutik consisting of a constructed wetland and a new river bed with meanders to provide
several functions regarding environmental protection: a) Flood prevention, b) Water retention for
irrigation purposes for urban gardens; c) Water pollution mitigation from urban gardens and sewage
overflows; d) Increased self-cleaning capacity of ecosystems; e) Increased biodiversity; f)
Establishment of recreation and education path.
Material and methods: Evaluation of hydraulic capacity of Podutik was tested by different hydraulic
models. ET efficiency performance was estimated based on the physical, chemical, and
microbiological analyses of water on regular base from 2006 to 2013 as well as algae community
composition to assess biodiversity and ecological status of Podutik was determined.
Results: The efficiency performance of the ET regarding water quality parameters showed that
pollutant concentrations met the outflow permitted levels. Biodiversity of algae community in Podutik
was high and ecological status of Podutik was high or good.
Conclusion: In the context of sustainable water management, the application of technologies that
mimic healthy natural ecosystems became vital. Moreover, these systems have the remediation
ability; provide a high level of biodiversity and higher stability of ecosystems, which can assure higher
resilience to climate change.
Keywords: flood reservoir, constructed wetland, ecosystem technology, water pollution, water
retention