Case study:Blackwater River Habitat Enhancements & Fish Passage

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Location: 51° 22' 32.59" N, 0° 57' 3.58" W

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Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site	http://acountrychap.wordpress.com/
Themes	Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Land use management - agriculture, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Matt
Main contact surname	Drew
Main contact user ID	User:ACountryChap
Contact organisation	ACountryChap
Contact organisation web site	http://acountrychap.wordpress.com/
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Newly created high/low flow channel with graded banks & woody debris.

Project summary

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To improve habitat, fish passage, spawning and recruitment opportunities, native fish stocks and implement Water Framework Directive improvements to achieve Good Ecological Status within the catchment. Also, to decrease any risk of the property flooding, improve the ecology, repair the damage from historic dredging and land use of the grounds and create sympathetic use of the pasture land.

- Introduction of naturally occurring LWD to encourage flow diversity and increase channel sinuosity

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Lessons learnt

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Image gallery

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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 Loddon Subcatchment River name Blackwater (Bramshill to River Loddon confluence at Swallowfield) Area category 100 - 1000 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Less than 100 m Maximum altitude (m) 100100 m <br />0.1 km <br />10,000 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB106039017320 Other case studies in this subcatchment: Blackwater River Habitat Enhancements & Fish Passage Site Edit site Name Wolsey Cottage, Church Road, Swallowfield, Berkshire WFD water body codes GB106039017320 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Blackwater (Bramshill to River Loddon confluence at Swallowfield) Pre-project morphology Naturally straight, Reinforced banks, Straightened, Single channel, Artificial channel Reference morphology Desired post project morphology 2-stage channel, Low gradient passively meandering, Pool-riffle Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present Yes Species of interest American mink (Mustela vison ), American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera ) Dominant hydrology Groundwater, Quick run-off, Artificially regulated Dominant substrate Gravel River corridor land use Improved/semi-improved grassland/pasture 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 1 - 10 m³/s Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category 0.001 - 0.01 Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) 850850 m <br />0.85 km <br />85,000 cm <br /> Project started 2014/11/12 Works started 2015/03/14 Works completed Project completed Total cost category 1 - 10 k€ Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Landowner Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Less than 1 k€ ACountryChap Matt Drew Stakeholder engagement and communication Less than 1 k€ ACountryChap Matt Drew Works and works supervision 1 - 10 k€ ACountryChap Matt Drew Post-project management and maintenance 1 - 10 k€ ACountryChap Matt Drew Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Land drainage, Flood risk management, Flood protection maintenance works, Barriers to fish migration Hydromorphology Freshwater flow regime, Quantity & dynamics of flow Biology Fish: Abundance, Fish: Age structure, Invertebrates, Invertebrates: Abundance, Invertebrates: Diversity, Macrophytes Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Bank erosion, Landscape enhancement, Recreation, improve fishing, reduce flood risk Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Adding sinuosity, Alteration in channel dimensions, Bank reprofiling, Bank improvement, Bank stabilisation, Cleaning of spawning gravels, Creation of gravel banks, Creation of fish spawn nursing places, Creation of shoals/berms, Decrease sedimentation, Cut back of trees, Deflectors, Depth variation, Developing angling infrastructure, Diversification of in-channel features, Erosion Repair, Fenced off riverbank, Fencing, Fish habitat restoration, Gravel augmentation, Improvement of natural flows, Installation of bioengineering elements, Introducing large woody debris, Introduction of gravel, Livestock fencing, Introduction of spawning gravels, Lowering of embankments, Riparian planting, New bioengineering elements in order to stabilize slope banks, Placement of faggots, Removal of invasive plants, Tree management, Weir modification, high banks were “pushed” into the channel to create a low flow channel with natural bank profiles that support a range of emergent and marginal habitats., Removal of invasive species, Deculverting, Bed reprofiling, Habitat diversification, Large woody derbis dams, Creation of pools, Creation of berms, Creation of low flow channel, Opening of cut-off meanders, Riffle creation, Restoring gravel bed, Meandering channel, Creation of fish passes, Eel pass, Removal of fish barriers, Creation of fish passes, Weir modification Floodplain / River corridor Adding sinuosity, Creation of fish refuge areas, Creation of fish spawn nursing places, Creation of shoals/berms, Decrease sedimentation, Cut back of trees, Deflectors, Depth variation, Developing angling infrastructure, Diversification of in-channel features, Erosion Repair, Fenced off riverbank, Fencing, Fish habitat restoration, Gravel augmentation, Improvement of natural flows, Installation of bioengineering elements, Introducing large woody debris, Introduction of gravel, Livestock fencing, Introduction of spawning gravels, Lowering of embankments, Riparian planting, New bioengineering elements in order to stabilize slope banks, Placement of faggots, Removal of invasive plants, Tree management, high banks were “pushed” into the channel to create a low flow channel with natural bank profiles that support a range of emergent and marginal habitats, Improving fish migration, Deculverting, Create riffle/pool, Vegetation removal Planform / Channel pattern Adding sinuosity, Bank reprofiling, Bank improvement, Bank stabilisation, Cleaning of spawning gravels, Construction of gravel banks, Creation of fish refuge areas, Creation of fish spawn nursing places, Creation of pools and riffles, Creation of shoals/berms, Decrease sedimentation, Cut back of trees, Flow deflectors, Depth variation, Developing angling infrastructure, Diversification of in-channel features, Erosion Repair, Fenced off riverbank, Fencing, Fish habitat restoration, Gravel augmentation, Improvement of natural flows, Installation of bioengineering elements, large, Introducing large woody debris, Introduction of gravel, Livestock fencing, Introduction of spawning gravels, Lowering of embankments, Riparian planting, New bioengineering elements in order to stabilize slope banks, Placement of faggots, Removal of invasive plants, Tree management, high banks were “pushed” into the channel to create a low flow channel with natural bank profiles that support a range of emergent and marginal habitats, Improving fish migration, Actively meandering, Deculverting Other Adding sinuosity, Alteration in channel dimensions, Bank reprofiling, Bank improvement, Bank stabilisation, Cleaning of spawning gravels, Construction of gravel banks, Creation of fish refuge areas, Creation of fish spawn nursing places, Creation of pools and riffles, Creation of shoals/berms, Decrease sedimentation, Cut back of trees, Deflectors, Depth variation, Developing angling infrastructure, Diversification of in-channel features, Erosion Repair, Fenced off riverbank, Fencing, Fish habitat restoration, Gravel augmentation, Improvement of natural flows, Installation of bioengineering elements, Introducing large woody debris, Introduction of gravel, Livestock fencing, Introduction of spawning gravels, Lowering of embankments, Riparian planting, New bioengineering elements in order to stabilize slope banks, Placement of faggots, Removal of invasive plants, Tree management, high banks were “pushed” into the channel to create a low flow channel with natural bank profiles that support a range of emergent and marginal habitats, Improving fish migration, Deculverting 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 http://acountrychap.wordpress.com Blog on the river and associated habitat works http://twitter.com/ACountryChap Twitter Feed Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information