Case study:Rye Harbour Farm Regulated Tidal Exchange

4.00

(one vote)

To discuss or comment on this case study, please use the discussion page.

Location: 50° 55' 54.59" N, 0° 46' 10.54" E

Edit location

Loading map...

{"format":"googlemaps3","type":"HYBRID","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"limit":50,"offset":0,"link":"all","sort":[""],"order":[],"headers":"show","mainlabel":"","intro":"","outro":"","searchlabel":"... further results","default":"","import-annotation":false,"width":"auto","height":"400px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":14,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[""],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"showtitle":false,"hidenamespace":true,"template":"Location map popup","userparam":"","activeicon":"","pagelabel":false,"ajaxcoordproperty":"","ajaxquery":"","locations":[{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E Rye Harbour Farm Regulated Tidal Exchange\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECountry:\u003C/b\u003E \u003Ca href=\"/wiki/index.php?title=England\" title=\"England\"\u003EEngland\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Status:\u003C/b\u003E Complete\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThemes:\u003C/b\u003E Marine\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Rye Harbour Farm Regulated Tidal Exchange","link":"","lat":50.9318306,"lon":0.76959510000006,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"}]}

Left click to look around in the map, and use the wheel of your mouse to zoom in and out.

Project overview

Edit project overview

Status	Complete
Project web site	http://www.therrc.co.uk/sites/default/files/projects/53_ryeharbour.pdf
Themes	Estuary, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Land use management - agriculture, Marine, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Tom
Main contact surname	Cook
Main contact user ID
Contact organisation	Environment Agency
Contact organisation web site	http://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
Partner organisations	East Sussex County Council, Rother District Council, Sussex Wildlife Trust
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Project picture

Project summary

Edit project overview to modify the project summary.

Regulated Tidal Exchange is the regulated exchange of seawater to an area behind fixed sea defences, through engineered structures (e.g. sluices, tide‐gates or pipes) to create saline or brackish habitats. This regulated tidal exchange project involved a combination of Working with Natural Processes (WWNP) and traditional measures to manage flood risk and create/restore habitat on the Sussex coast at Rye Harbour (Map 1).

• A secondary defence bund to protect low-lying communities
• Non-intervention shingle primary defence within a Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
• Creation of a tidal exchange to provide an intertidal habitat area landward of the primary defence
• Creation of a large tidal creek into the site to provide an important area of saltmarsh, creeks and intertidal mud (Photo 1)
• Saline lagoons and vegetated shingle created
• Coastal grazing marsh and ponds created on landward of the secondary defence

In November 2013, a tidal surge entered the habitat creation area, providing a large area of tidal storage, which was then gradually released via the new creek. The habitats are robust enough to respond positively to tidal changes and also provide a large area where water can be harmlessly stored. The shingle beach is part of the Dungeness SAC and is Europe's largest area of coastal vegetated shingle. The huge diversity of plants and invertebrates makes this one of the country's most important sites for wildlife.

Monitoring surveys and results

This case study hasn’t got any Monitoring survey and results, you can add some by editing the project overview.

Lessons learnt

This case study hasn’t got any lessons learnt, you can add some by editing the project overview.

Image gallery

Edit Image gallery

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Site Edit site Name Rother Estuary WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name 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 No 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) Project started 2003 Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) £1.6m"£" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Flood Defence Grant-in-Aid, Environment Agency, Sussex Wildlife 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 and coastal erosion protection Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Salt marsh and mudflat restoration 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