Case study:Wensum River Restoration Strategy

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Location: 52° 46' 52.77" N, 0° 57' 38.38" E

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Bintree\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 Water quality\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"River Wensum Rehabilitation Project - Bintree","link":"","lat":52.781326,"lon":0.96066,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E River Wensum Restoration, Reach 10 Lenwade\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 Hydromorphology\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"River Wensum Restoration, Reach 10 Lenwade","link":"","lat":52.724991033395,"lon":1.1195729929763,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E River Wensum Restoration, Reach 3a Costessey\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 Hydromorphology\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"River Wensum Restoration, Reach 3a Costessey","link":"","lat":52.666313212733,"lon":1.2024262792237,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E River rehabilitation on the River Wensum at Swanton Morley\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 Hydromorphology\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"River rehabilitation on the River Wensum at Swanton Morley","link":"","lat":52.718293625333,"lon":0.99492788314819,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E Sculthorpe Moor Restoration Scheme\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 Hydromorphology\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Sculthorpe Moor Restoration Scheme","link":"","lat":52.832950830209,"lon":0.81453323364258,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E Upper Wensum Restoration Project\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 Monitoring\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Upper Wensum Restoration Project","link":"","lat":52.795423491337,"lon":0.78328520317655,"icon":"/wiki/images/a/af/Red_marker.png"},{"text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EProject Title:\u003C/b\u003E Wensum River Restoration Strategy\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 In progress\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThemes:\u003C/b\u003E Water quality\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"Wensum River Restoration Strategy","link":"","lat":52.781326,"lon":0.96066,"icon":"/wiki/images/c/ce/Green_marker.png"}]}

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Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site
Themes	Habitat and biodiversity, Monitoring, Water quality
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	http://www.therrc.co.uk
Partner organisations
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	Great Ryburgh End Restoration Scheme, Meander reinstatement on the River Wensum at the Ryburgh Loop, River Tat Restoration Scheme, River Wensum Rehabilitation Project - Bintree, River Wensum Restoration, Reach 10 Lenwade, River Wensum Restoration, Reach 3a Costessey, River rehabilitation on the River Wensum at Swanton Morley, Sculthorpe Moor Restoration Scheme, Upper Wensum Restoration Project

Wensum at Great Ryburgh, July 2011 (post-restoration)

Project summary

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The River Wensum Restoration Strategy has been developed by Natural England, in partnership with the Environment Agency and the Water Management Alliance, to facilitate restoring the physical functioning of the river in order that it can sustain the wildlife and fisheries characteristic of a Norfolk chalk river.

In essence parts of the river are too wide, too deep and too straightened, as well as being heavily impounded by mill structures. The Wensum is also disconnected from its floodplain by spoil banks resulting from historical dredging for land drainage and industrial (milling)activities. For the first time we have looked at a whole river scale to see what action needs to be taken to restore each section of the channel. The main recommendations of the strategy include narrowing the channel, restoring the gravel bed, reductions in impoundment, reconnecting the floodplain, improving channel sinuosity and increasing the amount of large woody material in the channel. There is no intention to return the river to some former “natural” condition that it might have had at a specified time in the past.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Catchment and subcatchment

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Site

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Name	Bintree
WFD water body codes	GB105034051100
WFD (national) typology	R19
WFD water body name
Pre-project morphology	Single channel
Reference morphology	Single channel
Desired post project morphology
Heavily modified water body	true
National/international site designation	EU - Special Area of Conservation
Local/regional site designations
Protected species present
Invasive species present
Species of interest
Dominant hydrology	Groundwater
Dominant substrate	Gravel
River corridor land use	Intensive agriculture
Average bankfull channel width category	2 - 5 m
Average bankfull channel width (m)
Average bankfull channel depth category	0.5 - 2 m
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)
Project started	2000/08/01
Works started
Works completed	2000/10/01
Project completed
Total cost category	50 - 100 k€
Total cost (k€)	73 k€73,000 € <br />
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			Environment Agency	Simon	Johnson
Stakeholder engagement and communication
Works and works supervision			Environment Agency	Rob	Dryden
Post-project management and maintenance
Monitoring

Reasons for river restoration

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Mitigation of a pressure	Agriculture
Hydromorphology	Channel pattern/planform, Quantity & dynamics of flow, Connection to groundwaters
Biology	Invertebrates: Taxonomic composition
Physico-chemical
Other reasons for the project	Landscape enhancement, Flood risk management

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	Bed raising
Floodplain / River corridor
Planform / Channel pattern	Channel narrowing
Other
Non-structural measures
Management interventions
Social measures (incl. engagement)
Other	Participation in maintenance

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
Invertebrates: Taxonomic composition	Yes	Yes

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

Monitoring documents

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Image gallery

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Additional documents and videos

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Additional links and references

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Link	Description

Supplementary Information

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