Case study:Manor Road Park
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Project overview
| Status | In progress |
|---|---|
| Project web site | http://www.affinitywater.co.uk/riverlea |
| Themes | Environmental flows and water resources, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Monitoring, Social benefits, Spatial planning, Water quality, Urban |
| Country | England |
| Main contact forename | Jane |
| Main contact surname | Everett |
| Main contact user ID | |
| Contact organisation | Affinity Water |
| Contact organisation web site | http://www.affinitywater.co.uk |
| Partner organisations | |
| Parent multi-site project | |
| This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
No |
Project summary
Since 2015, Affinity Water has worked closely with landowners, stakeholder groups and our regulators to improve flows and habitats to revitalise these beautiful rivers and meet Water Framework Directive targets by 2027.
The River Lea at Manor Road Park, Luton, falls within an area identified as requiring improvements as part of a wider strategy with the overarching aim of protecting and restoring chalk rivers across our supply area. It was chosen as the first of six projects that have been scoped along a stretch of river where the Environment Agency believes is impacted by our abstraction.
The river was disjointed from the community – hidden by railings, overgrown bushes, and unsightly concrete steps. There was little opportunity for the community to interact with the river, nor for flora and fauna to flourish. We wanted to bring the river back to the community, educate the local community about its importance, and make a beautiful area for people to enjoy. From April 2016 to May 2018, work was undertaken to design and build a new space, restoring the river, creating a new channel, and reconnecting it to the surrounding environment.
We removed the concrete steps and channel which confined the river along the edge of the park behind iron railings. Tree branches were cut back to allow more light to the river. We created a new flood plain providing another 1,550m3 of flood capacity which will help ease flooding further downstream during times of high flow. The new meandering river channel has been designed and constructed with many in channel features such as riffles and pools that create multiple habitats for plants, insects and fish to establish and help support the River Lea in meeting good ecological potential under the EU WFD. A riverside path was built and runs alongside the new meandering river. Visitors can sit on natural benches within the banks and admire the specialist chalk stream plants which have been planted along the berms and banks.
The river provides an opportunity to help people to recognise the connection between the river, the water that comes out of their taps and the impact that has on groundwater and river flows. We hope to see huge environmental benefits as species begin to repopulate the area.
From a wider perspective the project can be used to demonstrate the need for greater investment for further improvement works and collaboration between organisations in catchment areas.
Monitoring surveys and results
Early analysis of the Modular River Physical surveys (MoRPh) was undertaken in 2016 and January 2018 prior to the restoration works, and in July 2018 immediately after the river works. This demonstrate the river’s physical habitat complexity and aquatic vegetation has immediately improved.
We have a baseline of results from our monitoring prior to the river restoration works being undertaken. We will continue monitoring Manor Park for plants, insects and fish over the next few years. It is still early days in our data collection so we need to wait for further data collection to be able to analyse the results of the data and to demonstrate the many benefits associated with the river restoration works. We may not see any improvements for the first 18 months in respect of macroinvertebrates and fish as we wait for species to recolonise the stream.
We have set up the following monitoring network to capture the benefits of the river restoration works.
• Modular River Physical surveys (or MoRPh surveys). The park was surveyed in 2016; in January 2018 prior to the restoration works; and in July 2018 after the river works. Results from the surveys will show the channel’s physical habitat complexity improve/change over time. • Macroinvertebrate surveys have been undertaken since 2016 for both spring and autumn samples. • Macrophyte surveys have been undertaken once a year. • Spot gauging has been undertaken once a month since December 2015 to measure discharge. • River level monitoring has been recorded every 15 minutes since January 2016. • A fish survey was carried out prior to river works and a further survey will be commissioned in 2020. • Set point photographs have been taken to capture changes over time.
We want to continue long-term monitoring of fish, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and MoRPH surveys to capture the long-term benefits of the restoration works. We want to capture any improvements in ecological potential under the EU WFD.
Lessons learnt
The project also highlights the other factors which are impacting the river, such as misconnections, surface run-off, water quality and litter. There is an ongoing challenge of pollution pressures, evidenced by tomato plants growing on the new flood plain and banks. This is caused by misconnections of household plumbing being connected to the surface water drains instead of the sewer system in Luton and is something we need to educate within the community.
Image gallery
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Catchment and subcatchment
Site
Project background
Cost for project phases
Reasons for river restoration
Measures
MonitoringHydromorphological quality elements
Biological quality elements
Physico-chemical quality elements
Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic
Monitoring documents
Additional documents and videos
Additional links and references
Supplementary InformationEdit Supplementary Information
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