<
https://www.positive.news/environment/a-new-flow-pioneering-uk-river-restoration-declared-a-success/>
"We can restart our computers with a simple ctrl-alt-delete, but how easy is it
to do a full reset on a river? A year on from the completion of a three-year
project on the National Trust’s Holnicote estate in Somerset, scientists say
they’ve proven it can be done – and with impressive, lasting results.
In what was the UK’s first large-scale attempt to reset a river by reconnecting
its waters with the surrounding floodplain, a 1.2km managed section of the
river Aller was deepened and filled in. It transformed the area and created
seven hectares – the equivalent of over 10 football pitches – of waterscapes
and wetlands, which those behind the project say are vital for slowing water
flow, storing carbon and providing homes for wildlife.
Almost immediately after completion in September 2023 the landscape was put to
the test, during England’s wettest 18-month period on record. The newly
rebooted area helped to slow the flow of water after several periods of heavy
rainfall, helping to protect communities downstream from flooding.
“Trying any new technique is of course challenging but we need to be bold in
order to tackle the climate and nature crisis,” said Ben Eardley, project
manager at the National Trust. “We had just the worst winter you can imagine
post restoration in terms of the number of storms and sheer volume of rain.
“But despite record-breaking conditions with high flowing water levels, the
site responded really well… demonstrating the value of the restoration in
providing resilience to hydrological extremes.”
Researchers from various universities worked alongside the National Trust on
the project, monitoring water flow, water quality and changes to habitat.
“Ground water levels rose dramatically across the site, in some places by over
a metre,” explained Dr Richard Mason from Umeå University in Sweden. “This
allows the site to act as a large sponge or filter in the river catchment.”
He said the site had moved from a “very simple, static system with little
opportunity for wildlife” to one with “significant dynamic complexity”,
describing it as an “explosion in life”.
“Put simply, the system has moved from a very tidy area with little for
wildlife to a messy complex jumble of waterscapes and diverse habitats that is
full to the brim with a huge variety of plants and animals.”
Monitoring of the site has indicated improved water quality and reduced
cloudiness, improving the habitat for fish and reducing the impacts of
pollution from agriculture. The aquatic habitat has increased, researchers say,
by almost 1,800%, with greater diversity ay of wetland habitat types."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
