An effective way of improving river discharge and reducingflood risk. The trouble is that it simply displaces the river downstream. Some other location may well be overwhelmed by the increased discharge.
Kissimmee River
Drained 60% of wetlands
Disturbed hydrological cycle
Lowered plant diversity
Lowered fish and waterfowl biodiversity
However, controlled flooding well
Dams
Block the flow of sediment down a river, so the reservoir gradually fills up with silt; downstream there is increased river bed erosion
Interrupts hydrological cycle
River embankments
Designed to protect floods from a given magnitude
They can fail when a flood exceeds the capacity
Inevitably, when this happens, the scale of flooding is that much greater
