Case study:Guphill Brook Riverine Enhancement

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Location: 52° 24' 43.15" N, 1° 33' 31.22" W

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Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site
Themes	Fisheries, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Social benefits, Water quality, Urban
Country	England
Main contact forename	Tim
Main contact surname	Precious
Main contact user ID	User:TimPrecious
Contact organisation	Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
Contact organisation web site	http://www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Project picture

Project summary

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This river enhancement project is working to reconnect the river once more with its floodplain and to create associated wetland features that have been removed or lost from the River Sherbourne.

The project has created multiple online backwater refuge pools to provide fish and water vole with areas of slack water and cover in times of high flow. Regrading of 4 inside meander banks has been undertaken to improve the hydromorphology of this over deepened and channelised river by increasing gravel deposition, light levels and ultimately macrophytic growth. These outcomes will provide: increased spawning area for fish, increased habitat for invertebrates e.g mayfly, increased cover for fish from predation and cover and food for water vole.

The pools aid in improving water quality by assisting in the drop out of pollutants which are washed from the busy A45 road in times of heavy rainfall.

The online pools provide some additional flood risk reduction downstream by holding back water in times of above average flows.

Lowland meadow will be created on excavated soil bunds and a 200m wetland meadow buffer strip is establishing alongside the brook after being stripped of topsoil and sown with a seed mix in Spring 2016.

Woody debris installed at multiple points with Wild Trout Trust during volunteer days. These deflectors will assist in creating deeper pools for fish to hold up in during average and below average flows. They also provide riffles downstream of deeper pools increasing spawning area for fish.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Fixed point photography. Invertebrate samples at bank regrading points and woody debris installations before works and 2 years after works. Botanical survey of site before works and 2 years after works. Short film documenting enhancement techniques and volunteer involvement.

Lessons learnt

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Start a monitoring plan with help from River Restoration Centre early on in project planning. Set aside sufficient funds to carry on monitoring such as invertebrate sampling and flora surveys for several years. Agree with Council several months before scheduled works if path closure is necessary as this can be very costly. Forming partnerships with Council and EA greatly assists in smooth running of project and maximises gains. Completing excavation works in early spring (February/March) allows for quick regeneration of vegetation after disturbance and an ideal time to plant any plug plants/trees or sow seed mixture.

Image gallery

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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 R Sherbourne - source to conf R Sowe Area category 10 - 100 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category 100 - 200 m Maximum altitude (m) 195195 m <br />0.195 km <br />19,500 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Suburban Waterbody ID GB109054044620 Site Edit site Name Buckingham Rise Amenity Green Space WFD water body codes GB109054044620 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Sherbourne - source to conf R Sowe Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body Yes National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present Yes Species of interest Water Vole, stone loach, kingfisher Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate Clay, Gravel River corridor land use Urban, Grassland, Broadleaf/mixed woodland (semi natural) Average bankfull channel width category Less than 2 m Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category 0.5 - 2 m 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) 400400 m <br />0.4 km <br />40,000 cm <br /> Project started 2014/10/01 Works started 2016/02/23 Works completed 2016/03/08 Project completed Total cost category 10 - 50 k€ Total cost (k€) 24,50024,500 k€ <br />24,500,000 € <br /> Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Catchment Partnership Action Fund, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Members, Environment Agency 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 Hydromorphology Channel pattern/planform, Width & depth variation Biology Fish, Invertebrates Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern regr 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 Bank regrading to enhance hyrdogeomorphology Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description http://www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/current-projects/river-restoration-guphill-brook press release Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information