River Glyme habitat restoration
Funders:
Thames Water, Environment Agency, Cotswold Rivers Trust, Cotswold Flyfishers, Paul Snell, Blenheim Estate
Organisation:
Evenlode Catchment Partnership
Date:
February 2016
Copyright:
Evidence:
Applied research
Related theme:
Watch the video
Resource explained:
This video is a record of the river restoration project undertaken by the Evenlode Catchment Partnership on the River Glyme at Stratford Bridge. It shows key moments during the restoration process and provides an overview of the expected benefits to the catchment in terms of its ecology, reduction in flood risk and water quality.
Findings & recommendations:
Key messages are:
- Careful physical restoration of a damaged river channel has the potential to improve instream habitat for a range of species.
- Raising the bed by introducing stone and gravel not only improves instream habitat but also increases hydrological connectivity with the surrounding flood plain.
- This in turn improves floodplain ecology, attenuates flood flows and traps sediment and nutrients that would otherwise remain within the channel to its detriment.
- Monitoring of river flow has shown that the impact of the work can be recorded up to 10 km downstream.