Restoration of small rivers in Vinnytsia
photo: Dasha Zhytanska
On the Day of Water Resources Protection, March 22, we share an example of water conservation in the city of Vinnytsia, one of the EECU member communities, which approved the Small Rivers Development Concept 2035 on June 22, 2023.
The Vinnytsia Small Rivers Concept is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals accepted in 2015. The project is related to five of them:
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 13: Climate action
Goal 15: Life on land
According to the studies, there are 64 small rivers and streams in Vinnytsia that belong to the Southern Bug basin. This document is an instruction on how to preserve or restore small rivers so that they fulfill their functions.
According to Nazar Kovalenko, Director of the Urban Development Institute, the approach to working with small rivers is based on four main aspects: environmental, social, spatial, and managerial.
Another important benchmark for the implementation of the Concept is the European Green Deal adopted in 2019. This is a set of policy initiatives put forward by the European Commission to make the European continent climate neutral by 2050. The key areas of the EGD are clean energy, climate action, biodiversity, pollution reduction, construction and renovation, sustainable industry, sustainable mobility, and sustainable agricultural policy. The Vinnytsia City Council proclaimed the Vinnytsia Green Deal (starting in January 2022) as a strategic direction for the development of Vinnytsia's metropolitan area and the basis for the development and implementation of all policies, infrastructure development, and investment attraction. Vinnytsia has adopted a Roadmap that defines specific tasks, responsible executors, and implementation deadlines for the period up to 2030. Among the Roadmap's tasks, the most important is "Development and approval of the Concept for the development of blue-green infrastructure based on the city's river network."
The document is a strategic tool for implementing the Small Rivers of Vinnytsia project. The Concept considers the potential of small rivers to turn them into functional natural spaces in different parts of the city.
Small rivers are an important component of the environment and a source of various ecosystem services. When used sustainably, they serve as a sanatorium river (recreational function), an air conditioner river (reducing the impact of heat islands), a respirator river (purifying the air), a sponge river (collecting and filtering rainwater), and a nature center.