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| {{Case study status | | {{Case study status}} |
| |Approval status=Draft
| | {{Location}} |
| }} | | {{Project overview}} |
| {{Location | |
| |Location=51.87674301108736, -0.40493664357609304
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| {{Project overview | |
| |Status=In progress
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| |Project web site url=www.affinitywater.co.uk/riverlea
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| |Themes=Environmental flows and water resources, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Monitoring, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality, Urban
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| |Country=England
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| |Main contact forename=Jane
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| |Main contact surname=Everett
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| |Contact organisation=Affinity Water
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| |Contact organisation url=www.affinitywater.co.uk
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| |Multi-site=No
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| |Project picture=River Restoration Award High res image 1.JPG
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| |Picture description=Image of the park area after work was completed on the river.
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| |Project summary=Since 2015, Affinity Water has worked closely with landowners, stakeholder groups and our regulators to improve flows and habitats to revitalise these beautiful rivers and meet Water Framework Directive targets by 2027.
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| The River Lea at Manor Road Park, Luton, falls within an area identified as requiring improvements as part of a wider strategy with the overarching aim of protecting and restoring chalk rivers across our supply area. It was chosen as the first of six projects that have been scoped along a stretch of river where the Environment Agency believes is impacted by our abstraction.
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| The river was disjointed from the community – hidden by railings, overgrown bushes, and unsightly concrete steps. There was little opportunity for the community to interact with the river, nor for flora and fauna to flourish. We wanted to bring the river back to the community, educate the local community about its importance, and make a beautiful area for people to enjoy.
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| From April 2016 to May 2018, work was undertaken to design and build a new space, restoring the river, creating a new channel, and reconnecting it to the surrounding environment.
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| We removed the concrete steps and channel which confined the river along the edge of the park behind iron railings. Tree branches were cut back to allow more light to the river. We created a new flood plain providing another 1,550m3 of flood capacity which will help ease flooding further downstream during times of high flow. The new meandering river channel has been designed and constructed with many in channel features such as riffles and pools that create multiple habitats for plants, insects and fish to establish and help support the River Lea in meeting good ecological potential under the EU WFD.
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| A riverside path was built and runs alongside the new meandering river. Visitors can sit on natural benches within the banks and admire the specialist chalk stream plants which have been planted along the berms and banks.
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| The river provides an opportunity to help people to recognise the connection between the river, the water that comes out of their taps and the impact that has on groundwater and river flows. We hope to see huge environmental benefits as species begin to repopulate the area.
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| From a wider perspective the project can be used to demonstrate the need for greater investment for further improvement works and collaboration between organisations in catchment areas.
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| |Monitoring surveys and results=Early analysis of the Modular River Physical surveys (MoRPh) was undertaken in 2016 and January 2018 prior to the restoration works, and in July 2018 immediately after the river works. This demonstrate the river’s physical habitat complexity and aquatic vegetation has immediately improved.
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| We have a baseline of results from our monitoring prior to the river restoration works being undertaken. We will continue monitoring Manor Park for plants, insects and fish over the next few years. It is still early days in our data collection so we need to wait for further data collection to be able to analyse the results of the data and to demonstrate the many benefits associated with the river restoration works. We may not see any improvements for the first 18 months in respect of macroinvertebrates and fish as we wait for species to recolonise the stream.
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| We have set up the following monitoring network to capture the benefits of the river restoration works.
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| • Modular River Physical surveys (or MoRPh surveys). The park was surveyed in 2016; in January 2018 prior to the restoration works; and in July 2018 after the river works. Results from the surveys will show the channel’s physical habitat complexity improve/change over time.
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| • Macroinvertebrate surveys have been undertaken since 2016 for both spring and autumn samples.
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| • Macrophyte surveys have been undertaken once a year.
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| • Spot gauging has been undertaken once a month since December 2015 to measure discharge.
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| • River level monitoring has been recorded every 15 minutes since January 2016.
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| • A fish survey was carried out prior to river works and a further survey will be commissioned in 2020.
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| • Set point photographs have been taken to capture changes over time.
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| We want to continue long-term monitoring of fish, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and MoRPH surveys to capture the long-term benefits of the restoration works. We want to capture any improvements in ecological potential under the EU WFD.
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| |Lessons learn=The project also highlights the other factors which are impacting the river, such as misconnections, surface run-off, water quality and litter. There is an ongoing challenge of pollution pressures, evidenced by tomato plants growing on the new flood plain and banks. This is caused by misconnections of household plumbing being connected to the surface water drains instead of the sewer system in Luton and is something we need to educate within the community.
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| |Project title=Manor Road Park
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| }} | |
| {{Image gallery}} | | {{Image gallery}} |
| {{Image gallery end}} | | {{Image gallery end}} |
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| {{Toggle content start}} | | {{Toggle content start}} |
| {{Case study subcatchment}} | | {{Case study subcatchment}} |
| {{Site | | {{Site}} |
| |Name=Manor Road Park
| | {{Project background}} |
| |WFD water body code=GB106038033391
| | {{Motivations}} |
| |WFD water body name=Lea (from Luton to Luton Hoo Lakes)
| | {{Measures}} |
| |Pre-project morphology=Concrete straight channel confined to edge of park behind wall and railings
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| |Desired post project morphology=Two-stage earth banks connected to flood plain
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| |Heavily modified water body=Yes
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| |Protected species present=No
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| |Invasive species present=Yes
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| |Dominant substrate=Gravel,
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| |River corridor land use=Urban,
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| |Average bankfull channel width category=5 - 10 m
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| |Average bankfull channel depth category=0.5 - 2 m
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| |Mean discharge category=1 - 10 m³/s
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| }} | |
| {{Project background | |
| |Reach length directly affected=140
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| |Project started=2016/04/04
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| |Works started=2018/02/14
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| |Works completed=2018/06/01
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| |Project completed=2018/06/01
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| |Total cost category=100 - 500 k€
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| |Investigation and design cost category=10 - 50 k€
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| |Investigation and design Lead organisation=Affinity Water Limited
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| |Investigation and design Other contact forename=Jane
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| |Investigation and design Other contact surname=Everett
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| |Stakeholder1 engagement cost category=1 - 10 k€
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| |Stakeholder engagement Lead organisation=Affinity Water Limited
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| |Stakeholder engagement Other contact forename=Jane
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| |Stakeholder engagement Other contact surname=Everett
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| |Works1 and supervision cost category=100 - 500 k€
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| |Works and supervision Lead organisation=Affinity Water Limited
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| |Works and supervision Other contact forename=Jane
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| |Works and supervision Other contact surname=Everett
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| |Monitoring1 cost category=10 - 50 k€
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| |Monitoring Lead organisation=Affinity Water Limited
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| }} | |
| {{Motivations | |
| |Specific mitigation=Abstraction, Urbanisation,
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| |Hydromorphological quality elements=Structure & condition of riparian/lake shore zones,
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| |Biological quality elements=Fish, Invertebrates,
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| |Other motivation=Improving the local park for the community, to engage and educate local community groups and schools.
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| }} | |
| {{Measures | |
| |Bank and bed modifications measure=Removed concrete bed and right wall confining the river to the edge of the park.
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| |Floodplain / River corridor=Reconnected the river to its natural flood plain in the park creating a further 1,550m3 of capacity. This has helped slow the flow and ease flooding further downstream. Also reinstating the hyporheic zone important for surface water/groundwater interactions.
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| |Planform / Channel pattern=The river now meanders through the park with a sequence of riffles and pools to reinstate natural river processes
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| |Social measures=Funding was provided to set up the Junior River Warden Scheme run by Groundwork Luton & Bedfordshire (who are also the Luton Lea River Catchment Partnership hosts). This project engages and empowers local children and young people to take part in a volunteer network programme with scientific credentials. Junior River Wardens assess and monitor the health of the River Lea, allowing for better decision-making and intelligent interventions and improvements.
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| |Wider stakeholder / citizen engagement=Affinity Water teams also joined the project volunteering their time through the ‘Affinity Days’ policy – our teams worked on a clean-up of the flood plain where tomato plants had grown as a consequence of misconnected pipes in homes. Our Water Savings Squad also got involved on the open day when eight of our team spent time talking to the community about how they can save water in their homes.
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| }} | |
| {{Hydromorphological quality elements header}} | | {{Hydromorphological quality elements header}} |
| {{Hydromorphological quality element table row | | {{Hydromorphological quality element table row |
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| {{End table}} | | {{End table}} |
| {{Biological quality elements header}} | | {{Biological quality elements header}} |
| | {{Biological quality element table row |
| | |Element=Fish |
| | |Monitored before=Yes |
| | |Monitored after=No |
| | |Qualitative monitoring=No |
| | |Quantitative monitoring=Yes |
| | |Control site used=No |
| | |Result=Awaiting results |
| | }} |
| | {{Biological quality element table row |
| | |Element=Invertebrates |
| | |Monitored before=Yes |
| | |Monitored after=Yes |
| | |Qualitative monitoring=No |
| | |Quantitative monitoring=Yes |
| | |Control site used=Yes |
| | |Result=Awaiting results |
| | }} |
| | {{Biological quality element table row |
| | |Element=Macrophytes |
| | |Monitored before=Yes |
| | |Monitored after=Yes |
| | |Qualitative monitoring=No |
| | |Quantitative monitoring=Yes |
| | |Control site used=Yes |
| | |Result=Awaiting results |
| | }} |
| {{End table}} | | {{End table}} |
| {{Physico-chemical quality elements header}} | | {{Physico-chemical quality elements header}} |
