The Keravanjoki River of Dreams – vision work accelerates water protection
The Keravanjoki kuntoon! (Fix the Kerava River!) project, organised by the Vantaanjoki and Helsinki Region Water Protection Association, began in the summer of 2025. It brings together stakeholders along the river to find a common vision and goals for developing the river, i.e. to create a vision for fixing the Kerava River. The aim is to restore the entire Kerava River to good ecological and chemical condition while ensuring a diverse river environment for the residents of the area.
Much has already been done for the Kerava River – what else is needed?
Key stakeholders in the river area are invited to participate in the Keravanjoki vision work: municipalities, restoration actors, parties promoting recreational use, and land and water area owners. The project aims to identify effective measures for all sub-catchment areas and operating environments in order to improve the condition of the Keravan River. These will be compiled into implementation plans.
The project work aims far into the future. Implementation plans will be partially projectised during this project, but the work will continue in the coming years. The joint vision work aims to ensure that the development of the Kerava River has a common direction and that the necessary resources are available to achieve the objectives.
How is the project progressing?
According to water protection experts, the Kerava River should be restored primarily by reducing the sediment load caused by erosion and the bacterial load from animals and humans. It is also important to take into account the interaction between groundwater and surface water as part of activities in the vicinity of the Kerava River in order to secure good-quality groundwater reserves and river water. In addition, littering along the river is a threat that must be actively combated in the growth centres along the Kerava River. By developing these different areas of water protection, the condition of the Kerava River will improve in the long term.
A diverse steering group has been assembled for the project, comprising representatives from all municipalities in the Kerava River catchment area, representatives of land and water area owners, a representative of the Central Uusimaa Water Protection Municipal Association (KUVES), and representatives of environmental protection. The municipalities are represented by officials from the fields of land use planning, environmental protection, and land use and water management planning. Kirsi Rontu, Mayor of Kerava, has agreed to chair the steering group.
The steering group brings together stakeholders, who are encouraged and helped to identify their own roles in river conservation work. In cooperation with stakeholders, solutions are sought for the problems affecting the Kerava River and the key parties needed to implement the solutions are identified.
This content has been translated using AI