Case study:River Wye Habitat Restoration Project

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Location: 51° 38' 15.60" N, 0° 46' 35.33" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Social benefits, Urban
Country	England
Main contact forename	Joshua
Main contact surname	Robins
Main contact user ID	User:JoshRRC
Contact organisation	High Wycombe District Council; River Restoration Centre
Contact organisation web site
Partner organisations	Five Rivers Environmental Contracting Ltd (5R), Environment Agency, Wild Trout Trust, Chiltern Society, Chiltern Chalk Streams Project, Wycombe Wildlife Group, High Wycombe Society
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Project picture

Project summary

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This project is located on Desborough recreation grounds towards the west of Wycombe. The river Wye flows through council parkland which is surrounded by domestic and commercial developments and two busy roads. It is a popular site for dog walking and is used regularly by the local community and school. It's a highly valued recreational area.

Aims

• Increased habitat diversity within the watercourse and along marginal zones to include the increase and diversity of nursery habitat.
• Enhance local aquatic vegetation, benthic communities and fish populations helping to improve ecological status (as measured under the WFD).
• Improve ecosystem services and aesthetic value for the local community and park users.

Implementations

• Remove and dispose of concrete revetment from the banks of selected sections of watercourse.
• Remove and remediate a concrete fish-pass, which is largely ineffective, favor of a more naturalised channel.
• Excavate a new meander in place of the fish-pass to lengthen the watercourse and decrease water velocity.
• Re-grade and re-profile the river bed and banks in selected sections to reduce the width of over-wide channels and create a narrower self-cleansing system.
• Define a more sinuous bank edge with coir rolls and brushwood faggots.
• Install soft revetment along selected sections of the river helping to promote marginal growth and prevent bank erosion.
• Restore and enhance marginal vegetation through planting of aquatic and marginal plants.
• Engage with local schools and provide learning opportunities for pupils.

As well as these there were also a few smaller actions that the project looked to do. These included the use of environmentally friendly plant equipment a vibrating post driver which is more environmentally friendly than a regular post driver. Like most restoration projects there were also some constraints that had to be considered. These included flood risk, project waste disposal and maintaining park safety. In total the project cost £80,000 and took 25 days.

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Image gallery

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New flow deflectors (High Wycombe District Council)

Before and after image (High Wycombe District Council)

Before during and after image (High Wycombe District Council)

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Thames River basin Thame and South Chilterns Subcatchment River name Wye (Source to High Wycombe fire station) Area category 10 - 100 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category 200 - 500 m Maximum altitude (m) 265265 m <br />0.265 km <br />26,500 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB106039023890 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) Project started 2014/06/01 Works started 2014/06/16 Works completed 2014/07/11 Project completed 2014/07/11 Total cost category Total cost (k€) 8080 k€ <br />80,000 € <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 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 Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit 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 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