Case study:River Don Restoration project

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Location: 54° 57' 0.44" N, 1° 30' 15.77" W

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Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site
Themes	Economic aspects, Fisheries, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Monitoring, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality, Urban
Country	England
Main contact forename	Shonah
Main contact surname	Holland
Main contact user ID	User:Sjholland
Contact organisation	Environment Agency
Contact organisation web site	http://https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
Partner organisations	Tyne Rivers Trust, Wild Trout Trust, Northumbrian Water, Sunderland City Council, Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council, NEEEP, Durham Wildlife Trust
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

File:Map showing Don Catchment

Map showing River Don catchment

Project summary

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The River Don restoration project was initiated after the River Don was identified as a priority area for work by the Tyne Catchment Partnership. The waterbody is failing for Water Framework Directive and there are a number of large scale developments planned within the catchment which offered and opportunity for restoration.

The Don Catchment Partnership was set up in 2016, when a partnership vision for the Don was prepared. In 2016 when a need for a vision was identified there were 3 main areas of focus which were ‘water quality’, ‘flood risk’ and ‘Geomorphology/Ecology’. The need for a river restoration project which could encompass all 3 of these elements provided the basis of the vision.

In 2017 the River Restoration Centre were commissioned via a partnership project to develop a proposed River Restoration design for the Don. In addition to the Wild Trout Trust developed a report to identify issues relating to fish passage.

The River Restoration proposals have since been used to influence Highways England and the Planning Inspectorate for a major upgrade to the A19. As a result of this Highways England have allocated £950,000 to river restoration, which is due to be delivered.

The proposals have been used to influence a major development known as the ‘Follingsby Enterprise Zone’ which has the focus of developing economic growth. The project team worked closely with 3 Local Authorities to develop policies in the local plan which was used to safeguard a 50m strip either side of the River for river restoration purposes. This has now been embedded as a condition within the planning application for this site, thus delivering 11km of River Restoration.

The proposals have also been used to influence a major development known as the ‘International Advanced Manufacturing Park’ (IAMP). This is a nationally significant infrastructure project which is located in a greenbelt. The project team worked with Local Authorities and the planning inspector to embed river restoration into the Development Consent Order successfully.

In addition to the above the Environment Agency has been working with the Don Catchment Partnership to deliver land management campaigns, improving fish passage and reducing misconnections within the catchment to address WFD failures for Fish Passage, Phosphate, and Heavily Modified Status.

The holistic approach to River Restoration has been used as an example in the Catchment Based Approach (CABA) urban water management workshop as well as in the ‘Water Hub’ which is looking at innovative approaches to river restoration working with Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s).

Monitoring surveys and results

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At the inception of the River Don Restoration project a need to improve confidence in the baseline data was identified. Whilst there was a significant amount of data associated with the Don we wanted to increase confidence levels in the data. In order to achieve this a baseline ecology study was carried out, as well as a baseline geomorphology report. SONDES (constant water monitoring equipment were installed) to gather baseline data in 2016. This gave a more in depth analysis of the condition of the river.

Since the baseline monitoring was carried out a number of river restoration interventions have been delivered. This has mainly included re-naturalisation of the river, improving fish passage and working with landowners to improve nutrient management in the catchment. Further river restoration will be delivered over the next 12 months, with significant levels of restoration to be delivered via opportunities presented though development.

Following on from this in 2020/21 further monitoring requirements have been identified through the Environment Agency’s Strategic Monitoring Review (SMR) which sets out localised monitoring requirements. In addition to the water quality monitoring an ecological and geomorphological assessment will be carried out to assess improvements and benefit realisation.

Lessons learnt

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• Planning process – Getting in at early enough stage in order to help developer understand how River Restoration could benefit them & their site. Setting up early meetings with dev & work with Local Authorities assisted with this. • Permitting process - understanding this complex process was a challenge and helping developers to apply. Engaging the appropriate people helped with this. • Watervoles – Concern over temporary damage to WaterVole habitat. Short term loss/long term gain • Land ownership – challenges leading to restriction in where River Restoration could take place. Overcame this issue by presenting case studies from River Restoration Centre website & talking with developers consultants who were designing development sites.

Image gallery

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Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Site Edit site Name River Don WFD water body codes GB103023075690 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name River Don from source to tidal limit Pre-project morphology HMWB Poor status Reference morphology Desired post project morphology HMWB Good potential Heavily modified water body Yes National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present Yes Invasive species present Yes Species of interest Water Vole 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 2016/04/01 Works started 2017/04/01 Works completed Project completed Total cost category 100 - 500 k€ Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources WEIF, Highways England, Developer contributions, ENGO in knd Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design 50 - 100 k€ River Restoration Centre Stakeholder engagement and communication 50 - 100 k€ Tyne Rivers Trust Works and works supervision 50 - 100 k€ Tyne Rivers Trust Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring 10 - 50 k€ Environement Agency Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Urban, Land Management, HMWB, Water Company Hydromorphology HMWB Biology Fish Physico-chemical Phosphate Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Bank reprofiling Floodplain / River corridor Fish passage improvements Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Misconnections campaign, Highways England drainage, agricultural land managment, river restoration via development 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 Channel pattern/planform Yes Yes Yes Yes No No change Continuity of sediment transport Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Quantity & dynamics of flow Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Structure & condition of riparian/lake shore zones Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Width & depth variation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Substrate conditions Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Fish Yes Yes No Yes Yes Awaiting results Invertebrates Yes Yes No Yes Yes Awaiting results Macrophytes Yes Yes No Yes No Awaiting results 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