Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) on Friday unveiled and disseminated LakeRevive 1.0 tool, a portal that will help contractors, engineers, other professionals and civic activists to make decisions on suitable Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for lake rejuvenation.

The scientific lake restoration requires moving beyond one-size-fits-all interventions and towards context-specific planning, researchers said at the workshop on Friday.

Priyanka Jamwal, senior fellow and convenor of ATREE’s Water and Society Programme, argued for the need to redefine how restoration success is measured.

She argued that restoration goals should be based on context-specific lake health indicators (water, biodiversity and community) rather than uniform water quality standards. This is where the LakeRevive 1.0 tool comes in. The tool is a “decision-support tool that assists people in selecting appropriate nature-based solutions (NbS)”.

Step-by-step solutions

Based on a set of parameters about any given lake, input by the user, the tool recommends step-by-step solutions.

It uses total phosphorus (TP) levels as a restoration benchmark.

It helps users choose what interventions like wetlands, artificial islands etc. suit the lake conditions best.

K. Jaiprakash, retired secretary to the Government of Karnataka, Water Resources Department, said restoring Bengaluru’s lakes had to have an integrated approach that connects lakes, stormwater drains, streams and rivers.

He said, “Scientific planning, technology, government support and community participation must work together to revive urban freshwater ecosystems.”

The workshop on Friday had several stakeholders including government agencies and citizens from communities around lakes, give feedback on the tool as ATREE embarks on creating the LakeRevive 2.0 tool.