Case study:Letting the Dove Flow
Project overview
| Status | In progress |
|---|---|
| Project web site | http://http://www.trentriverstrust.org/site/letting_the_dove_flow |
| Themes | Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology |
| Country | England |
| Main contact forename | Julie |
| Main contact surname | Wozniczka |
| Main contact user ID | |
| Contact organisation | Trent Rivers Trust |
| Contact organisation web site | http://www.trentriverstrust.org/site/ |
| Partner organisations | Natural England |
| Parent multi-site project | |
| This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
No |
Project summary
The project's aims were to form a partnership and use this to devise and implement a Restoration Plan for the River Dove in Dovedale and Wolfscote Dale, one of the most renowned stretches of river in Britain.
In 2010 Natural England commissioned a fluvial audit of the Upper Dove catchment to study how the river is transporting sediment through erosion and deposition, how it has changed over time and how it is likely to change in future. Natural England then commissioned an Ecological Restoration Vision (Hyder, 2011).
The Restoration Plan is published by Natural England and you can view it via the following link: http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6259971227385856 It identifies and prioritises physical restoration measures that will help to achieve SSSI favourable condition and Water Framework Directive objectives and was based on: previous studies and data; information provided by the Steering Group organisations; detailed and ongoing discussions with land owners and angling clubs; site visits to the whole length of the river that the report covers, usually with relevant land owners or angling clubs; meetings with archaeologists and the head of Derbyshire Museums.
It is a long term plan, whose approach is to work with landowners and other interested parties to deliver gradual improvements, gathering information and carefully evaluating the work we do together. All the potential actions require further detailed planning with relevant landowners and permission from landowners, Natural England and the lead flood authority (relevant County Councils) and Peak District National Park and/or Environment Agency.
In the short term work will be done with interested parties to implement agreed restoration and to gather evidence of the benefits. By demonstrating the benefits, hopefully it will be possible to work with all relevant landowners to implement restoration action in the longer term
Monitoring surveys and results
We have conducted an audit of the weirs, recorded as an inventory with measurements, bed and bank materials and a suite of photographs for each weir.
A PhD study modelling the effects of weir removal is being carried out at Loughborough University.
There is a long dataset of macro-invertebrate studies on this part of the Dove, conducted for Natural England, Aquascience Consultancy, Salmon and Trout Conservation UK and local fisheries interests.
Lessons learnt
'Always remember, it's not our river!'. By building relationships based on listening and understanding people's concerns we are making steady progress.
We used old paintings to show that the river was different in the past, and a highly prized landscape before most of the weirs were built. This shows the idea that the river is changing and not a fixed entity. In the UK you can find old paintings, searchable by area, at http://artuk.org. From the old paintings we learnt that before the weirs the river was still impounded in places, probably by natural cascades. This informed the geomorphological view of the reference condition, which had been considered to be riffle - pool to one where step-pool and even cascades would be found as well. So when removing weirs, care will be taken to understand which parts would have been natural, as the early weir builders would have built them in places which were already naturally impounded.
The old paintings also enable a conversation, when we engage the public, that is not just 'We want to take away your weirs' but 'we want to find your cascades and to find a more diverse river.'
They have also led to some interesting and subtle conversations with angling clubs and farmers. These have focused on the question of 'what condition do we restore to?' which moves away from a polarised position.
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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