Case study:Saving Chiswick Eyot

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Location: 51° 29' 15.00" N, 0° 14' 45.00" W

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Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site	http://www.savingchiswickeyot.com
Themes	Economic aspects, Habitat and biodiversity, Social benefits
Country	England
Main contact forename	Martin
Main contact surname	Richardson
Main contact user ID	User:Mobilitydream
Contact organisation	Natural History Museum
Contact organisation web site	http://www.nhm.ac.uk
Partner organisations	Royal Holloway University of London, MoLA, Fullers
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects

Eyot erosion

Project summary

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Saving Chiswick Eyot

1 Martin D. Richardson, 1 Paul Clark, 2 David Morritt

1Department of Zoology, the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London. 2Royal Holloway University of London, Department of Biosciences, Egham, Surrey.

Chiswick Eyot (meaning island) is a small, historically important island in the Thames near Chiswick Mall that is subject to erosion caused in part by burrowing mitten crabs. Crab burrows occur in high densities at the site in excess of 30 per square metre. Individual burrows may be 70 cm in length and 5 cm in diameter so the amount of soil excavated is significant and the banks of the island are considerably weakened as a result thereby accelerating erosion.

We are in the process of establishing an ‘ecosystem’ of partners to address the problem of maintaining the island employing best practice techniques. An initial 3D scan of the entire island will be conducted in association with the Museum of London Archaeology (MoLA), and Leica Geosystems. Subsequent, annual scans will permit calculation of the rate of erosion with analysis of the contribution made by the mitten crab burrowing. A conventional topographic survey of part of one bank was undertaken by MoLA in 2002 and this will allow decadal scale assessment of the erosion rate caused by mitten crab burrows. High resolution aerial photographs and digitized historical Ordnance Survey maps are available dating back to at least the 1930s and these will be used to assess migration of the Eyot up and down the river, and permit analysis of changes to the island itself in terms of long term erosion.

We hope to engage the local community and form partnerships with other organisations including Thames21, the River Restoration Centre, Leica Geosystems, MoLA, and Royal Holloway University of London. Funding is being sought from both commercial and academic sources. Additionally we plan to include international partners: the California department of fish and wildlife as well as several international researchers involved in invasive mitten crab work.

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Image gallery

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tree and collapsing bank

Detail of entrance to mitten crab burrows in the banks of Chiswick Eyot.

Erosion behind defence structures on the north bank of the Eyot

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mitten crab burrows

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Thames River basin London Subcatchment River name Thames Middle Area category Less than 10 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Maximum altitude (m) Dominant geology Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Urban Waterbody ID GB530603911402 Other case studies in this subcatchment: Barking Creek near A13, Barking Creekmouth, Chambers Wharf, Cuckolds Haven Nature Area, Greenwich Peninsula, Lower River Roding Regeneration Project, Mill Pool, Wandsworth Riverside Quarter Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes GB530603911402 WFD (national) typology Intertidal WFD water body name Thames Middle 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 Yes Species of interest Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Urban 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) 290290 m <br />0.29 km <br />29,000 cm <br /> Project started 2014/12/23 Works started 2015/06/01 Works completed Project completed Total cost category 50 - 100 k€ Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Commercial partners. Local charities. Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design 1 - 10 k€ Natural History Museum Paul Clark Stakeholder engagement and communication Less than 1 k€ Royal Holloway University of London Martin Richardson Works and works supervision 100 - 500 k€ Natural History Museum Diana Catovan Post-project management and maintenance 1 - 10 k€ Natural History Museum Paul Clark Monitoring 1 - 10 k€ Natural History Museum Diana Catovon Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Invasive species Hydromorphology Structure & condition of intertidal zone Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) 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 Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information