Ecological values called into question

Most interviewees specified that while the Polis program added recreational and aesthetic values to the river, it did not improve the river's ecological condition.  In terms of water quality, an interviewee mentioned a study by a Spanish environmental NGO that suggests the need to retrofit the sewage treatment plant downstream of the city, but which the Polis project did not address.  The project has also likely encouraged construction of high-rise apartment buildings, where poor stormwater management practices would like discharge sediment into the river.  Sedimentation also likely results from forest fires upstream aggravated by the highly flammable nonnative species of pines and eucalyptus.

In terms of habitat, the project did not improve the fate of the endangered lampreia species, whose migratory spawning pattern is restricted by the dam at Ponte do Açude dowstream of Parque Verde.  The dam gives the river a more lake-like appearance, which according to an interviewee may be more pleasant than the river's low-flow summertime appearance.

Interviewees also provided ideas and general critiques aimed at further improving the river within the city:

1) Overall, most agreed the project should continue and be completed, especially on the other side of the river where the park still looks incomplete.

2) Intervention would also be needed to regulate construction patterns, both to prevent a glut in the housing market, and reduce the impact of sedimentation.  The construction boom has also greatly altered the character of the river banks and surrounding city.

3)  Local stakeholders interviewed pointed the increasing demand for ecological integrity by local residents.  Water quality needs to be monitored and improved both for ecological and human purposes.  A migration passage for the endangered lampreia, accompanied by interpretive ecological center at the dam Ponte do Açude, would help restore the endangered species population as well as educate the public.  Lastly, two interviewees disagreed with the project's highly artificial approach of completely destroying the orange groves that previously occupied the plot of land, only to replant it with orange trees.  Some of the mature orange trees could have been preserved during the construction process.

4)  One interviewee highlighted the possibility of restoring smaller streams draining into the Mondego to reinforce the riparian habitat, notably at Mata Naçional do Choupal.  Another stream, Ribela, starts from its headwaters at Parque Santa Cruz, and has been known to carry endangered frog species.

Lack of connection between Choupal and smaller streams within it, and the Rio Mondego

Headwaters of Rio Ribela in Parque Santa Cruz

5)  Some stakeholders implied the project is somewhat isolated from the historical areas of Coimbra, Alta and Baixa, and called for improving the connection between the historic center and the river itself.  The lack of connections was further elaborated upon in the next section of the interview. 

6)  One interviewee posited that Parque Verde's parking lot seems too large, both reducing the amount of green space and encouraging people to drive to the park.  She observes that downtown goers are now more likely to drive from points in the greater Coimbra, park at this lot, and then walk to downtown.  

The next section of the interviewee covers specifically access to the river from various areas of Coimbra, including the historical center, the botanical gardens, and surrounding residential areas.