The ideal meander: Exploring freshwater scientist drawings of river restoration

Abstract

The aesthetic appeal of s-shaped curves in art and landscape design may help explain the prevalence of single-thread meandering channels in river restoration projects where the channel planform is reconfigured. In some restoration projects, the channel planform follows repeating symmetrical bends. To see if freshwater scientists would draw a similar restored planform, we asked scientists to illustrate a restored channel and observed what patterns emerged from the drawings. Most scientists depicted single-thread meanders for the restored channel form with some drawings including large wood in the channel, multi-thread channel forms, and wildlife and human elements. We consider possible explanations for why respondents depicted idealized meanders. We also describe drawings that did not depict the ideal meander but showcased a diversity of channel forms and restored river scenes. While recognizing the role of aesthetics in river restoration, especially in urban settings, designs can be expanded to include disorderly planform designs with non-symmetrical single-thread meanders and multi-threaded channels with forms inspired by local ecology, geomorphology, and social values.