Case study:Bow Brook Living Landscape

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Location: 52° 12' 38.37" N, 2° 5' 7.23" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Land use management - agriculture, Monitoring, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Lucy
Main contact surname	Wood
Main contact user ID	User:Lucy_WWT
Contact organisation	Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
Contact organisation web site	http://www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/
Partner organisations	Environment Agency
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

100m backwater channel (Sept 2013)

Project summary

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Through the Bow Brook Living Landscape project we are developing a coherent network linked by corridors that can provide benefits for people as well as for biodiversity.

The catchment is largely rural and is intensively farmed and drained. This combined with erosion from cattle and unfenced banks are loading pollutants into the brook. Since the 1960s the town at the headwaters of the brook and many of the villages have increased dramatically in size raising pressures from sewage outfalls.

Farmer meetings have been essential in drawing together the community on topics that are not only of interest to the Wildlife Trust but also those actually working on the land.

The EA approached WWT to work with them in 2011 to help to improve WFD status in Worcestershire.

The Bow Brook is classed as Poor for Phosphate and Moderate for fish. The EA provided funding and support throughout the project.

The capital works on the Bow Brook are split into two categories: firstly to reduce diffuse pollution and second to increase wildlife habitat, particularly for fish. Around 14,725m2 of open water wetland has been created, working on approximately 20% of the main channels length.

Rural diffuse pollution projects across 8 sites include cattle drinkers; fencing key sections and rural sustainable drainage pools.

We have reverted arable fields into wild flower meadows reducing nutrient inputs in the catchment and directly alongside the brook’s banks, channelling the surrounding arable field’s drainage into the pools.

Fish habitat projects are spread across 6 locations including hazel faggot woody debris as deflectors to flush silts from the gravel; reprofiling sections of the dredged banks, to increase bank diversity to the over deepened channel; and the creation of additional braids of channel with deeper resting pools, shallow fringes and online pools.

Monitoring surveys and results

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A newly formed relationship with the University of Worcester has created mutual benefits for both parties. A Sonde collects data and the university use this within their courses and final year projects, which we receive a copy of.

Lessons learnt

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Image gallery

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Bow Brook Farm Relict Channel

Bow Brook Hazel Faggots

Bow Brook Mill Farm After

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Severn River basin Warwickshire Avon Subcatchment River name Bow Bk - Shell to conf R Avon (Warks) Area category 100 - 1000 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Less than 100 m Maximum altitude (m) 8888 m <br />0.088 km <br />8,800 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB109054043712 Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes GB109054043712 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Land drainage, Urbanisation, Invasive species, Pollution incident Hydromorphology Channel pattern/planform, Quantity & dynamics of flow, Substrate conditions, Width & depth variation Biology Fish, Macrophytes and/or phytobenthos: Taxonomic composition Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Introducing large woody debris, Soft erosion solutions, Bank reprofiling, Cattle drinkers Floodplain / River corridor Creation of wetland, Fencing, Tree planting, Pollarding, Control of invasive species Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Arable reversion to wildflower meadow, Soil Health Plan Social measures (incl. engagement) Landowners advised, Flylife course Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description http://www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/news/2013/08/13/bow-brook-improved-wildlife press release http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emiVTLlxjxE Video summarising the project Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information