Case study:Diversion of the River Nith

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Location: 55° 22' 42.47" N, 4° 18' 11.36" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Economic aspects, Habitat and biodiversity
Country	Scotland
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	East Ayrshire Council, SEPA, SNH, RSPB, Nith Salmon Fisheries Board, New Cumnock Angling Association, Halcrow, River Restoration Centre
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Plan of 2000 Nith channel diversion. From RRC Manual of Techniques (2002) - courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Project summary

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PHASE 1: 2000 - Temporary diversion of the Nith to the north west of its current floodplain to allow for coal extraction by Scottish Coal.

The Nith is an important salmon and trout fishery, however overgrazing, agriculture and past open-cast mining along the reach have affected invertebrate populations and fish spawning grounds.

The primary restoration criteria for the 2000 restoration were:

- design which would convey a 1 in 50 year flood.

- channel which would not dry up during low flow.

- design mimicing pre-diversion channel - ie. similar meander loops, pool-riffle-run sequences and channel profiles.

- design which would create opportunities for enhancement of biodiversity (over and above pre-diversion conditions).

Work commenced in April 2000 and was completed during September of the same year.

PHASE 2: During 2004, the former course was enhanced and reconnected to the rest of the river and the temporary channel cut off to allow mining to progress across the floodplain. The site was subject to significant post-restoration biological monitoring as part of a PhD programme through CRESS (Centre for River Ecosystem Science - University of Stirling) - to ensure the new channel was performing well, ecologically.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Catchment and subcatchment

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Catchment

River basin district	Scotland RBD
River basin	Solway

Subcatchment

River name	Nith
Area category	1000 - 10000 km²
Area (km2)	12301,230 km² <br />123,000 ha <br />
Maximum altitude category	200 - 500 m
Maximum altitude (m)	500500 m <br />0.5 km <br />50,000 cm <br />
Dominant geology
Ecoregion	Great Britain
Dominant land cover
Waterbody ID

Site

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Name	Nith, west of New Cumnock
WFD water body codes	10612
WFD (national) typology	Mid, Small, Calcareous
WFD water body name	River Nith (u/s New Cumnock)
Pre-project morphology
Reference morphology	Reproduce hydromorphology and planform of former channel.
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	Primarily salmon and brown trout.
Dominant hydrology
Dominant substrate	Mixed gravel, pebble and boulder
River corridor land use	Pasture and open-cast mining.
Average bankfull channel width category	2 - 5 m
Average bankfull channel width (m)	4.54.5 m <br />0.0045 km <br />450 cm <br />
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

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Reach length directly affected (m)	30003,000 m <br />3 km <br />300,000 cm <br />
Project started
Works started	2000/04/01
Works completed	2000/09/01
Project completed
Total cost category	more than 10000 k€
Total cost (k€)	Phase 1: 3900000"Phase" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.
Benefit to cost ratio
Funding sources	Scottish Coal

Cost for project phases

Phase	cost category	cost exact (k€)	Lead organisation	Contact forename	Contact surname
Investigation and design			Halcrow
Stakeholder engagement and communication
Works and works supervision			Morrison
Post-project management and maintenance
Monitoring			University of Stirling

Reasons for river restoration

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Mitigation of a pressure
Hydromorphology
Biology
Physico-chemical
Other reasons for the project	Original course running over coal deposits. Channel diverted to exploit resource, while maintaining WFD status.

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	2000: channel bed/ground layer consisted of existing substrate with clay lining. 2004: Geotextile reinforcement of banks, to reduce bank erosion. Clay mattress lining to prevent water percolating through unconsolidated substrate and flowing as groundwater through potentially contaminated mine tailings. Gravel added to bed to create habitat diversity for invertebrates and fish.
Floodplain / River corridor	2000: Containment bund constructed to prevent flooding of mine workings.
Planform / Channel pattern
Other	Addition of boulders to bed, to provide habitat for fish.
Non-structural measures
Management interventions
Social measures (incl. engagement)
Other

Monitoring

Hydromorphological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative

Biological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Macrophytes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Awaiting results
Invertebrates	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Awaiting results

Physico-chemical quality elements

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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

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Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Channel bed morphology.	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Substrate particle size/composition.	No	Yes	No	Yes	No

Monitoring documents

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Image gallery

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Channel diversion in construction (2000). Courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Diverted channel once connected (2000). Courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Diversion channel prior to connection - rip-rap and riffle visible (2000). Courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Diversion channel (2004) showing geotextile bank reinforcement and profiled gravel bed for habitat enhancement. Courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Diversion channel (2004) showing geotextile bank reinforcement, profiled gravel bed and in-channel boulder placement for habitat enhancement. Courtesy of the River Restoration Centre.

Additional documents and videos

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Additional links and references

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Link	Description
http://www.cress.stir.ac.uk/news/documents/CharlesPerfect.pdf	Macroinvert. Monitoring
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland/gallery/landscapes water/	2004 Diversion Image Gallery - BBC Scotland
http://www.therrc.co.uk/pdf/manual/MAN 11 2.pdf	RRC - Manual of Techniques

Supplementary Information

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