African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 447: Chapter 125 Far Ahead

Artificial intervention in natural rivers may trigger some ecological destruction and unpredictable disasters due to changes in the river’s characteristics.

There are indeed real cases of this happening, but Ernst does not see it that way; it is a matter of trade-offs. If the benefits gained from artificial intervention outweigh the disadvantages, then the East African government must proceed.

Under natural conditions, influenced by the Coriolis force, rivers are always winding. However, the degree of winding does not continuously increase. When the curvature reaches a certain point, the river’s flow speed slows down, making sedimentation easier. So, if a meandering river is artificially straightened, what changes will occur to the river?

With the riverbed straightened, there is no buffer, making floods more likely. Straightening the river reduces the drainage basin area and therefore decreases the efficiency of water utilization. Areas that originally relied on surface water for drinking and irrigation have to resort to groundwater. The reduction in drainage basin area also decreases the downward permeation of river water, lowering the soil’s water retention and causing many areas to face water shortages, significantly impacting the survival of flora, fauna, and humans.

Additionally, this also easily facilitates the development of water eutrophication. Channelization of the riverbed is often accompanied by a drop in the water table, leading to a widespread reduction of hydrophytic plants in the natural environment. Subsequently, natural environments related to the river gradually disappear, such as forests on alluvial soil evolving into hardwood forests. After artificially straightening the natural meanders, they will still gradually return to being meanders.

This theory of the 21st century is something Ernst strongly agrees with, but there are solutions to these issues. Like the Taoist advocacy of ”governing by doing nothing,” ordinary people find it very reasonable, while some only focus on the term ”doing nothing.” If you really choose ”doing nothing” and do nothing at all, that is truly foolish.

As for these issues, Ernst’s solution is to comply with nature and transform East Africa within the overall laws of nature to make East Africa more livable.

While discussing business in Europe, Ernst took the time to formulate several general directions for the river modifications on the East African coastal plain and communicated them to Constantine via telegraph:

”First, river alterations should be made on the basis of existing rivers. We must implement measures such as straightening, but the river as a whole should not be severed from its original position to prevent excessive changes in groundwater sources.”

”Second, widening the river channel will inevitably erode the vegetation on both riverbanks. While widening the channel, new vegetation should be transplanted on both banks to prevent the river from eroding the bank’s soil and the new channel from silting with mud.”

”Third, during the process of river alteration, try to avoid damaging the original riverbed and minimize the capture of fish and other organisms within the river.”

”Fourth, urban sewers should avoid discharging directly into inland natural water bodies like rivers. Instead, new pipelines should be built to directly lead wastewater into the ocean.”

”Fifth, for the wetlands reduced by river straightening, we should build more small to medium-sized reservoirs along the line to regulate river flow, which also helps ensure water for agriculture.”

”Sixth, try to avoid disrupting the river network. Building canals and altering river courses will inevitably sever connections between some streams and main rivers. From the standpoint of being responsible for the future, we must reconnect them to avoid rainwater being unable to merge into the river system during the rainy season and flow into the ocean.”

There are six points in total, which serve as relatively rough guiding opinions. For this, Constantine specifically called to inquire: ”Ernst, isn’t some of your six suggestions overly concerned?”

It is quite normal for Constantine not to understand; the thinking of people in this era is generally like this, with little concept of ecology and pollution.

Ernst: ”Father, just follow my intentions with such matters. It doesn’t need to be perfect; achieving seventy or eighty percent is good enough. I’m just giving some suggestions and not making strict regulations.”

Feeling it was still somewhat vague, Ernst started to find examples to persuade Constantine.

”In contemporary times, industry develops roughly, with few people paying attention to environmental issues. This is because people have not realized the hazards of environmental destruction. For us in Europe, the most typical example is London.”

”London is one of the world’s cities with the highest level of industrial development, but the black smoke and wastewater discharged from factories visibly damage London’s environment. It’s fine that the black smoke can be blown away by the wind to the whole world, yet even so, London remains the ’Mist City.’ It shows that the power of nature can’t directly purify London’s air. This black smoke absorbed by the human body must be harmful. Although I can’t provide scientific evidence, the lifespan and diseases of workers living in the most polluted areas do not lie.”

”Secondly, industrial wastewater is directly discharged into the Thames River, turning the whole Thames into a massive stinking drainage ditch. A large portion of London’s domestic water is drawn from the Thames; how can this water be good for consumption? Particularly the lands near industrial districts’ sewage outlets where not even grass grows, let alone humans. These polluted waters with various impurities are unmanaged, directly polluting nearby land that is extremely difficult or even impossible to restore.”

”Moreover, urban development must prioritize people. Currently, European urban environments are far inferior to rural areas. I believe you will have a very intuitive understanding of this by comparing Heixinggen and Stuttgart.”

”East Africa certainly does not reject industrialization but aims for sustainable and long-term development. By doing things well from the beginning, the future costs of management and correction will be much lower.”

Currently, the status of the Little Rhine River in East Africa is akin to the Thames in England, with the capitals of both nations along their banks. Hence, Ernst pays considerable attention to the management of the Little Rhine River.

However, the plan to manage the Little Rhine River is only suitable for coastal areas. Being not far from the sea, East Africa can directly connect the sewage discharge channels to the sea through engineering construction.

Ernst had already experimented with this while developing Soga City, constructing an independent sewage pipeline system extending directly to the sea.

The domestic wastewater from First Town City (which essentially does not have any industry) is currently discharged directly into the Little Rhine River. Ernst also plans to connect the subterranean sewage system of First Town City with Soga City, eventually discharging into the ocean near the coast of Dar es Salaam.

In the Central Province cities close to the sea, this is feasible. However, in inland cities like Nairobi and Mbeya, wastewater is still discharged into rivers and lakes, ultimately flowing into the ocean via rivers.

Protecting the ecological environment is somewhat ahead of its time, but Ernst feels that since he has the capacity, he should actively implement it in East Africa.

Doing so merely incurs additional labor and material costs. However, labor is the most inexpensive resource in East Africa, and material consumption necessarily aligns with production, further elevating East Africa’s industrialization level.

The value of rivers like the Little Rhine is evident mainly in navigation, irrigation, and water supply. Although discharging waste directly into these rivers is convenient, it is not necessary.

If First Town were an industrial city, the downstream areas relying on the Little Rhine for agricultural irrigation would suffer irreversibly from pollution.

The compromises and concessions made by East Africa to protect the environment will in the 21st century be seen as reasons for East Africans to be grateful for Ernst’s foresight.