Case study:Lullingstone Castle
This case study is pending approval by a RiverWiki administrator.
Project overview
| Status | Complete |
|---|---|
| Project web site | |
| Themes | Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology |
| Country | England |
| Main contact forename | Nick |
| Main contact surname | Elbourne |
| Main contact user ID | User:NickRRC |
| Contact organisation | River Restoration Centre |
| Contact organisation web site | |
| Partner organisations | |
| Parent multi-site project | |
| This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
No |
Project summary
The River Darent is a tributary of the River Thames. This groundwater fed chalk river exhibits typical attributes including clear water, abundant macrophytes, low banks and reasonably stable flows.
The river has suffered from over abstraction as well as being heavily modified for historical agricultural irrigation and to provide power for milling. The rivers course through a number of large lakes fragment habitats and put pressure on water quality and quantity.
The North West Kent Countryside Partnership and King Fisher Angling and Preservation Society carried out a project in 2010/2011 where the Darent runs through the grounds of Lullingstone Castle. The Wild Trout Trust undertook an advisory visit in July 2009 to identify the project area which exhibited historical straightening, slow flows and high water temperatures due to its location just downstream of the 15ha on-line lake. Heavy siltation in the channel and dense wooded banks also contributed to an overall poor habitat for fish (particularly native Brown Trout).
Objectives included:
• Improve in stream habitat for juvenile and adult fish as well as provision of spawning habitats by the creation of areas of clean loose gravels and increased flow rates
• Increased flow levels to ensure a healthy flow to maintain habitats even during summer low flows
• Increase marginal habitats by clearing trees and scrub and planting new marginal aquatic plants to support invertebrate, wildfowl and water vole populations
• Narrowing and meandering of the channel using large woody debris and faggots
• Increase fishing opportunities by improving condition of the river
The Environment Agency initiated the project, with the North West Kent Countryside Partnership engaging with local fishing clubs who had initially developed and planned the project to provide advice and support work delivery. This partnership ensured the ability to deliver a wide range of objectives. Project delivery was between January and April 2011 (to correspond with the closed fishing season) by KAPS and NWKCP staff and volunteers. The Environment Agency funded the £3,640 cost including materials and NWKCP officer time. The reach was divided into sections A-F a brief review of work completed is:
A- Installation of deflector
B- Channel narrowing, faggoting to encourage new bank development and increase marginal habitat
C- Faggot barrier to block inlet, installation of coir rolls between faggot bundles to create vegetation
D- Block off artificial channels by installing faggots, planting area using coir pallets
E- Installation of large woody debris and coir rolls to narrow channel
F- Group deflectors at varying lengths, pack faggot bundles between deflectors to create marginal habitats
These works have all been successful, having had a noticeable difference on fishing quality (reports of increased catch rates). A habitat has now been created which has a variety of habitats beneficial to the fish population. The KAPS and NWKCP are keen to continue works and have begun identification of possible sites for the future.
Monitoring surveys and results
Lessons learnt
Catchment and subcatchment
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
| Reach length directly affected (m) | |
|---|---|
| Project started | |
| Works started | |
| Works completed | |
| Project completed | |
| Total cost category | |
| Total cost (k€) | |
| Benefit to cost ratio | |
| Funding sources |
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
| Mitigation of a pressure | |
|---|---|
| Hydromorphology | |
| Biology | |
| Physico-chemical | |
| Other reasons for the project |
Measures
Structural measures
| |
|---|---|
| Bank/bed modifications | |
| Floodplain / River corridor | |
| Planform / Channel pattern | |
| Other | |
Non-structural measures
| |
| Management interventions | |
| Social measures (incl. engagement) | |
| Other | |
Monitoring
Hydromorphological quality elements
| Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative | |||
Biological quality elements
| Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative | |||
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
| Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative | |||
Monitoring documents
Image gallery
Additional documents and videos
Additional links and references
| Link | Description |
|---|
Supplementary Information
Edit Supplementary Information