Case study:Restoring the River Mease Catchment
Project overview
| Status | In progress |
|---|---|
| Project web site | http://rivermease.co.uk |
| Themes | Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Monitoring, Urban, Water quality |
| Country | England |
| Main contact forename | Ruth |
| Main contact surname | Needham |
| Main contact user ID | User:Ruth_Needham |
| Contact organisation | Trent Rivers Trust |
| Contact organisation web site | http://www.trentriverstrust.org/ |
| Partner organisations | Catchment Sensitive Farming, Derbyshire County Council, Environment Agency, Leicestershire County Council, Lichfield District Council, Natural England, North West Leciestershire District Council, South Derbyshire District Council, Staffordshire County Council |
| This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
Cotom in the Elms, Edingale, Gilly Mease Confluence, Grange Farm, Yew Tree Farm |
Project summary
The Mease catchment project demonstrates how coordinated, collaborative action can improve river health, support nature recovery, and sustain food production.
The catchment is dominated by high quality agricultural land and supports an active, productive farming community. Ashby and Measham are the main urban centres. In 1998, the river was designated as an SSSI for its small but nationally important, populations of Spined Loach Cobitis taenia and Bullhead Cottus gobio.
Like many lowland UK rivers, the Mease had long suffered from habitat loss, flooding and pollution, particularly phosphate, at a time when food production was the priority. Few people, including the farmers, were aware of the Mease, its fish, or the pressures on its wildlife.
The SSSI/SAC designation in 2005 opened up funding that supported land use change and management practices that value nature. From the early 2000s, work began to bring farmers and stakeholders together. The early years were challenging; the protected status was unpopular with many farmers. The partnership strengthened significantly after TRT, and the EA came on board in 2013.
Since then, landowners have been closely engaged to identify solutions that balance food production with habitat creation and water retention on farmland.
The partnership has delivered substantial capital works and extensive engagement. Together we are working towards a genuinely restored catchment where food production is balanced with space for nature. We have demonstrated that rivers can be restored and connected to their floodplain within a productive farmed landscape.
Objectives of the Partnership 1. Restore the catchment by balancing land use for food production, nature recovery and making space for water. 2. Deliver nature based capital works across the River Mease and its tributaries. 3. Promote good practice and interventions that trap and store pollution and slow flood flows. 4. Restore the River Mease SSSI to good ecological health.
Monitoring surveys and results
Monitoring and evaluation is fundamental to all the activities, to help evaluate impact as well as inform future work. The evidence collected includes fixed point photography, invertebrate and species surveys, water quality monitoring, recording of landowner engagement and volunteer activity.
A programme of fixed point photography has been carried out across key restoration sites, capturing seasonal changes and fluctuations in water levels. These images clearly show how restored river habitats establish and evolve over time, and they provide valuable material to share with farmers and other stakeholders.
Surveys for freshwater aquatic invertebrates at key sites have been able to show how the river is starting to recover, once river restoration has been completed.
Phosphate monitoring at intervention sites and on all the major tributaries has helped to evaluate schemes, as well as inform the future targeting of work, including the nutrient neutrality framework.
Engagement has been a key focus. We maintain an engagement tracker which helps to strengthen our understanding of landowner and communities’ interests in the methods used.
Specific species surveys have been undertaken including White clawed-crayfish, fish and INNS.
The evidence is assessed on a regular basis to report the impact, influence future work and raise awareness of achievements.
Lessons learnt
Engagement and collaboration is key. We are restoring and rivers, and finding places to protect nature within a farmed landscape. The concept is unfamiliar to many landowners and stakeholders. Naturally functioning rivers that are connected to their floodplain create habitats, store water and trap pollution. Yet they take up space, especially when in flood. Farmers and landowners in the Mease historically would farm right up to the bank top, and are reluctant to lose productive land. It can take several years for a farmer to agree to a scheme. It needs to blend into their wider farmer management, utilising buffers, margins and field corners. It might include areas that lie wet. Schemes are best secured with a grant such as a Countryside Stewardship Scheme or Sustainable Farm Incentive.
Allow time to talk to the farmer / landowner. Look at the site from the landowners' perspective, understand where they are able to amend their management, and what grant revenue might offset any production losses. Survey for ecology, archaeology and services, they all can have a big influence on how a scheme can take shape. Present plans to the farmer at an early stage. Look for wider benefits in addition to river restoration, such as trapping pollution or flood storage. Engage with the regulatory bodies early, such as the Lead Local Flood Authority or the Environment Agency. It can take time to get the permissions in place. The best time for capital works is June to September, outside of bird breeding season, the fish spawning season and when river levels and flood risk is low. Talk to a contractor early, get an indication of price. Make sure your funder is aware of the constraints and timeline. Allow some extra budget for contingency. Usually something doesn't go quite to plan!
Project background
| Reach length directly affected (m) | |
|---|---|
| Project started | 2013-09-02 |
| Works started | 2019-06-03 |
| Works completed | |
| Project completed | |
| Total cost category | 100 - 500 k€ |
| Total cost (k€) | |
| Benefit to cost ratio | |
| Funding sources | Local Planning Authorities, Natural England, The Environment Agency |
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 |
Supplementary funding information
Works have taken place at many locations across the Mease catchment. Capital works have taken place at several sites along the main river and some of the key tributaries. All of the main delivery sites have had monitoring alongside to evidence the work completed, including photography and invertebrate monitoring. Engagement has taken place with farmers and landowners and stakeholders across the entire catchment, seeking to address land use and land management opportunities that trap pollution and naturalise flows, downstream in the main river.
Catchment and subcatchment
Edit the catchment and subcatchment details
(affects all case studies in this subcatchment)
Catchment
| River basin district | Humber |
|---|---|
| River basin | Tame Anker and Mease |
Subcatchment
| River name | River Mease from Gilwiskaw Bk to Hooborough Brook |
|---|---|
| Area category | 10 - 100 km² |
| Area (km2) | 170km217,000 ha <br /> |
| Maximum altitude category | 100 - 200 m |
| Maximum altitude (m) | 185185 m <br />0.185 km <br />18,500 cm <br /> |
| Dominant geology | Calcareous |
| Ecoregion | Great Britain |
| Dominant land cover | Arable and Horticulture |
| Waterbody ID |
Other case studies in this subcatchment: Cotom in the Elms, Edingale, Gilly Mease Confluence, Grange Farm, Yew Tree Farm
|Project title=Restoring the River Mease Catchment }}
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Image gallery
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Site
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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