ECOENGINEERING FRESHWATER FLOWS FOR ESTUARY HYDROLOGICAL STATE

Abstract

The quantity, quality and timing of freshwater inflow into estuaries is critical to support estuarine ecosystem health. However, most estuaries are affected by upstream manipulation of freshwater inflows. Coinciding with the United Nations Decade of Restoration (2021–2030), there is great interest in re-creating functional estuarine ecosystems, including by modifying the physio-chemical characteristics with the premise that a functional ecosystem will follow (ecoengineering). To restore estuarine ecology, the physical processes of the system must first be conductive to supporting the re-establishment and sustenance of biota. These physical processes are generally under-monitored and often not used as a measure of restoration success. We explore ecoengineering to restore freshwater inflows to estuaries, focused on hydrological state. We use the Pressure—State—Response (PSR) framework to set the context for this review.