Case study:River Soar fish refuge and wetland scrape

This case study is pending approval by a RiverWiki administrator.

Approve case study

 

0.00

(0 votes)

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

Location: 52° 42' 59.96" N, 1° 7' 9.46" W

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 River Soar fish refuge and wetland scrape\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 Habitat and biodiversity\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E","title":"River Soar fish refuge and wetland scrape","link":"","lat":52.716656398444,"lon":-1.1192943714559,"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
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity
Country	England
Main contact forename	Swati
Main contact surname	Nettleship
Main contact user ID	User:Jfreeborough
Contact organisation	Environment Agency
Contact organisation web site	http://https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
Partner organisations	Leicestershire and Rutland 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.

This was a partnership project to create a fish refuge at Cossington Meadows, to boost the number of fish in the River Soar and thereby improve its ecological condition. Additional biodiversity benefits were achieved by the creation of a wetland scrape.

Significant modification of the River Soar by dredging and straightening to aid drainage and navigation has resulted in a loss of floodplain connectivity. This has lead to a loss of backwaters and other wetland habitats which in turn has impacted the species that rely on those habitats to survive.

WFD failures in the River Soar have been partially attributed to a lack of suitable fish habitat. Creation of a fish refuge area is expected to contribute towards improvements in the Fish element.

The EA and LRWT plan to continue to deliver improvements in WFD and provide wider biodiversity benefits.

Monitoring surveys and results

Edit project overview to modify the Monitoring survey and results.

The wetland scrape has created 0.8 hectares of priority habitat and expected to attract additional priority species.

Successfully created new habitats that will have an immediate ecological benefit to the overall biodiversity of the site. Interpretation boards placed along the public footpath adjacent to the site will help to inform the wider community about the habitats created and why this work is so important.

Lessons learnt

Edit project overview to modify the lessons learnt.

Ensure that all soil testing is undertaken months ahead of any scheduled groundwork.

Image gallery

Edit Image gallery

Before works

During works

After work's completed

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Humber River basin Soar Subcatchment River name River Soar from Rothley Brook to Long Whatton Brook Area category 1000 - 10000 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category 200 - 500 m Maximum altitude (m) 230230 m <br />0.23 km <br />23,000 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB104028047211 Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes GB104028047211 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name River Soar from Rothley Brook to Long Whatton Brook 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 2013/01/01 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 Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Fish, lack of fish habitat Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Wader scrape creation Planform / Channel pattern Fish refuge creation, Bank reprofiling of Hobley Lake to create an island 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