KUIVAJOKI

KUIVAJOKI

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Key features of the case study

River Kuivajoki is a mid-sized lowland boreal river, with 970 km2 catchment area. The river is 46 km long and descends 89 metres from Lake Oijärvi to Bothnian Bay, northern part of the Baltic Sea.

Lake Oijärvi is regulated for flood protection and for recreational use. From Lake Oijärvi, River Kuivajoki flows first 4 kilometers in two channels: in a natural channel and in an artificial regulation channel. At the upper part of the natural channel there is a submerged weir which may prevent fish migration during low water level. At the upper end of the regulation channel, there is a dam which is a migration barrier for fish.

River Kuivajoki is included in the Salmon Action Plan by International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission aiming to re-establish wild salmon population in the river. Kuivajoki is protected from hydropower construction by the Finnish Act on the protection of rapids.

Water quality of the river is deteriorated due to human activities in the catchment. The main pressures in are peat mining, forestry and agriculture and municipal point sources.

Related Measures

• Improve water retention
• Add/feed sediment
• Ensure minimum flows
• Establish environmental flows / naturalise flow regimes
• Shallow water courses
• Add sediments
• Initiate natural channel dynamics to promote natural regeneration
• Reduce impact of dredging
• Recreate gravel bar and riffles
• Lower river banks or floodplains to enlarge inundation and flooding
• Other measures

Related Pressures

• Sediment discharge from dredging
• Hydrological regime modification
• Artificial barriers upstream from the site
• Alteration of instream habitat
• Embankments, levees or dikes
• Loss of vertical connectivity
• Impoundment
• Channelisation / cross section alteration