River health view

Like ecosystem health, the concept of river health has also been questioned. Some scholars believe that the concept of river health is subjective and vague in the scientific sense, and there is no objectivity, and the health standards are also subjective and arbitrary. Some people think that the concept of "health" is only applicable to humans and animals, because they have objective health standards, that is, a series of medical physiological and chemical indicators (for example, the normal body temperature of human beings is 37℃), which can provide an objective and quantitative health standard for rivers? Can river health be measured by technical methods? Later, the compromise point of view was not to get entangled in the discussion of concepts. Since the concept of river health is not a scientific concept in a strict sense, we might as well use it as an evaluation tool for river management and answer some practical questions about ecological protection. Although river health assessment is based on scientific research and monitoring, the final evaluation result is easy to understand, which can serve as a bridge for river managers, developers and the public to promote the establishment of consultation mechanism and find a balance between development and protection. This view has been widely recognized by the engineering and management circles.