Taipei - Keelung River - world's dirtiest?

I came across this video and thought this reservoir looked vaguely familiar, and then I remembered!

Heaven forbid they plant living things there to stop erosion naturally!

I think it would probably clog up pretty quickly if they did. The stream near me they have to knock out the vegetation and silt annually with a bulldozer to get back down close to the dyke walls. This area doesn’t look too bad!

I fully support vegetation taking over retaining walls and getting into bodies of water, as long as they’re not crowding out the fishes. Let nature do its thing! (I’m not an engineer, however, so I can understand the reality of structural issues that can result from too many roots and such.)

I’m pretty sure it would very quickly defeat the flood protection function of our dyked stream if so. I guess something similar would be true in conjunction with the dam there

I think it would depend on the vegetation whether it helps or hampers flood control. Mangroves, for example, are basically numbah one when it comes to storm serge protection in wetland areas, especially with regards to hurricanes/typhoons. Having plants along storm drains can also help to slow the speed of water when strategically placed. But your point is that they would also prevent water from collecting in the intended location. I think this is an area of design that few people dare venture into.

Sure, definitely. In our stream mountain silt builds up, reeds, grasses, and small trees grow up like it was pumped full of fertilizer, which builds up more silt, repeat indefinitely. The stream narrows to a very fast-flowing narrow trench in no time. It’s beautiful to walk there when it’s like that with birds everywhere, I find it hard to believe I’m in a major city personally. But I really think if it was left to its own devices the silt would fill the whole thing up in no time.

Can we all just appreciate this quote from 17 years ago. This guy has evidently not seen many rivers in Asia.

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This would have been unthinkable 17 years ago:

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That water is probably filthy still. Pictures mean nothing without real stats.
Keelung river is much worse though. At least at the outlet there in Keelung. It’s a sewer basically.

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I think you’re getting your Keelung rivers mixed up. Keelung River merges with Tamsui River in Guandu, Taipei. It doesn’t go into downtown Keelung. The filthy river with the outlet in the harbor is not Keelung River.

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Ah okay. That makes sense.

I’ve often seen the wakeboarders practicing in that area - they’ve been around at least a few years now.

The other week I saw someone swimming recreationally in the Danshui River (swimcap and all!), off the temple at the very end of the boardwalk area. That person has a lot of faith in their immune system, and its ability to fight off stomach bugs and ear infections.

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There have been windsurfers and boarders on the river for at least ten years .

Yup, I’ve seen windsurfers in the Danshui River for a long time. I’d probably be fine trying that. But swimming … that’s an extra level of exposure.

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Seems the walls are there to prevent floods. Not too far back Sam Choung would flood and cars motors broke from being under water (also I remember people parking on bridges to cars above high water). Since the current walls are there, it does not seem as big a problem as streets do not flood and the first floor of homes are dry as well as the home garden.

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