Case study:Kirkstone Beck River Restoration

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Location: 54° 29' 59.68" N, 2° 55' 39.33" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Alice
Main contact surname	James
Main contact user ID	User:Alice.James
Contact organisation	The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
Contact organisation web site	http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

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Project summary

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Located upstream of Brothers Water in the Ullswater valley, Kirkstone Beck runs through the valley bottom at Hartsop Hall Farm. The beck, and its tributaries, had been subjected to significant modifications, straightened and with large embankments completely disconnecting the channel from the floodplain.

However, Hartsop Hall Farm is one of the few farms in the Lake District which still produces all its own silage and hay on-farm. With limited valley bottom land, every little bit of floodplain is therefore vital to the success of the farm business. In 2019 the National Trust’s Riverlands project, part of a national programme of river and catchment restoration work, began working closely with the tenant farmer to develop a river restoration design which allowed the development of natural processes within a confined area, protecting the meadows that are relied upon to feed livestock over winter. Other partners in the scheme design included the Environment Agency and Natural England.

An interest in potential change was triggered by Storm Desmond in 2015, during which the only access bridge to the farmstead was damaged and a novel solution was sought. After consultation with the tenant farmer to agree which bits of land could be given over to the river, the resulting design aimed for a continuous thread of restoration along ~2km of channel. The aims of the project were to restore natural processes to this length of river, improve the SSSI condition of Brothers Water immediately downstream of the restored reach, and deliver a sustainable, flood resilient access solution to the farmstead.

The project was delivered in 2022. Embankments were set back from the channel, retaining protection for the meadows but allowing the river much more space. T-junction style tributary confluences were restored to wide, wandering systems, and the narrow single-span bridge was replaced with a wider double-span crossing. In the fens of Brothers Water, the design took a process-led approach, blocking the existing channel with large woody debris to encourage the natural evolution of an anastomosing system across the delta.

Initial analysis shows that the total river area has increased significantly, from 1,850m2 to 23,300m2; that’s more than 12 times as much river habitat available post-restoration compared to the baseline. Considering the level of compromise required on this project, these figures are impressive. Furthermore, flood events since construction have seen dynamic changes throughout the restored areas, with channels shifting through three large boulder wandering sections (semi-permanent gravel bar consisting of larger, boulder-type material). Large areas of open standing water have also been created, adding an important habitat which is so often missing from the landscape.

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Image gallery

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Kirkstone Beck pre-restoration, a snarrow, single thread channel with revetments, embankments and little diversity

The completed restoration of Kirkstone Beck, with a wider river channel and diversity of features

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present Invasive species present Species of interest 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) 20002,000 m <br />2 km <br />200,000 cm <br /> Project started 2019 Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category 500 - 1000 k€ Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Water Environment Grant, National Trust 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 Flood risk to infrastructure (bridge) Hydromorphology River restoration to restore natural process and floodplain reconnection - responding to physical modifications on the waterbody Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Embankment removal, Diversification of in-channel features Floodplain / River corridor Rejuvination of river delta, widening of river channel Planform / Channel pattern Widening to allow wandering sections Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) partnership working with organisations including the EA, NE & LDNPA, as well as the tenant farmer; site visits hosted to share project success and lessons 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