Case study:Test and Itchen River Restoration Strategy: Difference between revisions
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Up to June 2014, approximately 2km has been improved by bed raising, narrowing and encouraging a change in management. Five restoration projects were completed in 2013 and a further six are planned for 2014. | Up to June 2014, approximately 2km has been improved by bed raising, narrowing and encouraging a change in management. Five restoration projects were completed in 2013 and a further six are planned for 2014. | ||
<i>Project 1: River Test, Bossington Estate, close to Bossington Park(completed 2013)</i> | <i>Project 1: River Test, Bossington Estate, close to Bossington Park(completed 2013)</i><br> | ||
At the Bossington Estate, the Environment Agency and Natural England have worked with Cain Bio-engineering to narrow the channel considerably (up to 40-60% in some sections) to restore a more natural river which has already led to significant improvement in the variety of river bed heterogeneity and in-channel habitats observed. The Estate have supported the project as they would like to attract anglers who prefer fly fishing in a more ‘challenging’ environment, than on other sections of the middle River Test, to offer this in the Test Valley. The total cost of the scheme was £65,000 for approximately 450m of restoration. | At the Bossington Estate, the Environment Agency and Natural England have worked with Cain Bio-engineering to narrow the channel considerably (up to 40-60% in some sections) to restore a more natural river which has already led to significant improvement in the variety of river bed heterogeneity and in-channel habitats observed. The Estate have supported the project as they would like to attract anglers who prefer fly fishing in a more ‘challenging’ environment, than on other sections of the middle River Test, to offer this in the Test Valley. The total cost of the scheme was £65,000 for approximately 450m of restoration. | ||
<i>Project 2: River Test, Houghton Estate, close to Stockbridge(completed 2013)</i> | <i>Project 2: River Test, Houghton Estate, close to Stockbridge(completed 2013)</i><br> | ||
The Houghton Club, one of the first fisheries to establish in England if not the world, has been open-minded. They agreed to modify historic bank management practices to enhance the channel and side channel scrapes have been created to reconnect the river to its floodplain in strategic areas. Selective channel narrowing has also taken place. Flooding in winter 2013/4 immediately showed the benefits of reconnecting the river with the surrounding land (which is designated SSSI). From a flood risk management perspective, holding water on this land prior to the river reaching Stockbridge was noted to have had a positive influence on flood risk reduction in the village. | The Houghton Club, one of the first fisheries to establish in England if not the world, has been open-minded. They agreed to modify historic bank management practices to enhance the channel and side channel scrapes have been created to reconnect the river to its floodplain in strategic areas. Selective channel narrowing has also taken place. Flooding in winter 2013/4 immediately showed the benefits of reconnecting the river with the surrounding land (which is designated SSSI). From a flood risk management perspective, holding water on this land prior to the river reaching Stockbridge was noted to have had a positive influence on flood risk reduction in the village. | ||
|Monitoring surveys and results=Students at the University of Southampton are monitoring the Bossington Estate project, and are working with the Environment Agency on other sites too. | |Monitoring surveys and results=Students at the University of Southampton are monitoring the Bossington Estate project, and are working with the Environment Agency on other sites too. | ||
Revision as of 09:27, 11 July 2014
This case study is pending approval by a RiverWiki administrator.
Project overview
| Status | In progress |
|---|---|
| Project web site | |
| Themes | Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Monitoring |
| Country | England |
| Main contact forename | Heb |
| Main contact surname | Leman |
| Main contact user ID | |
| Contact organisation | Environment Agency |
| Contact organisation web site | http://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency |
| Partner organisations | Natural England, local fisheries and riparian owners |
| This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
Old Station Beat restoration, River Test at Bossington, Test and Itchen River Restoration Strategy 2 |
Project summary
The Test and Itchen River Restoration Strategy is a collaborative project between the Environment Agency, Natural England, local fisheries and riparian owners.
Presently the SSSI status of the Test and Itchen is in unfavourable condition. This is due to historic dredging, the number of structures, industry and historic management. The aim of the Strategy is to collaboratively work with landowners to restore both rivers so that they reach favourable condition in the future.
Up to June 2014, approximately 2km has been improved by bed raising, narrowing and encouraging a change in management. Five restoration projects were completed in 2013 and a further six are planned for 2014.
Project 1: River Test, Bossington Estate, close to Bossington Park(completed 2013)
At the Bossington Estate, the Environment Agency and Natural England have worked with Cain Bio-engineering to narrow the channel considerably (up to 40-60% in some sections) to restore a more natural river which has already led to significant improvement in the variety of river bed heterogeneity and in-channel habitats observed. The Estate have supported the project as they would like to attract anglers who prefer fly fishing in a more ‘challenging’ environment, than on other sections of the middle River Test, to offer this in the Test Valley. The total cost of the scheme was £65,000 for approximately 450m of restoration.
Project 2: River Test, Houghton Estate, close to Stockbridge(completed 2013)
The Houghton Club, one of the first fisheries to establish in England if not the world, has been open-minded. They agreed to modify historic bank management practices to enhance the channel and side channel scrapes have been created to reconnect the river to its floodplain in strategic areas. Selective channel narrowing has also taken place. Flooding in winter 2013/4 immediately showed the benefits of reconnecting the river with the surrounding land (which is designated SSSI). From a flood risk management perspective, holding water on this land prior to the river reaching Stockbridge was noted to have had a positive influence on flood risk reduction in the village.
Monitoring surveys and results
Students at the University of Southampton are monitoring the Bossington Estate project, and are working with the Environment Agency on other sites too.
Lessons learnt
The sections of river that have been restored demonstrate the contrasting approaches of contractors working on different sites (see Image Gallery). The extent of channel narrowing and restoration works take into account varying views of the landowners, the aspirations of the fishery and the requirement to improve the SSSI.
Image gallery
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Catchment and subcatchment
Site
Project background
Cost for project phases
Reasons for river restoration
Measures
MonitoringHydromorphological quality elements
Biological quality elements
Physico-chemical quality elements
Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic
Monitoring documents
Additional documents and videos
Additional links and references
Supplementary InformationEdit Supplementary Information
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