Case study:North Devon Riverlands

Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site	http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/arlington-court-and-the-national-trust-carriage-museum/north-devon-riverlands-project#rt-the-opportunity-in-north-devon
Themes	Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Land use management - forestry, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	James
Main contact surname	Thomas
Main contact user ID	User:James.thomas
Contact organisation	National Trust
Contact organisation web site
Partner organisations
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects

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Project summary

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The North Devon Riverlands Project restores wetland habitats across North Devon. Collaborating with four Ranger teams—Arlington Court, West Exmoor, Hartland, and Woolacombe—we focus on nature-based solutions to enhance water quality, reduce flood risk, combat soil erosion, and improve drought resilience, while promoting biodiversity. These efforts will create healthy, natural spaces for all to enjoy.

The Riverlands project The Riverlands project is an ambitious, long-term programme of work, at the heart of the Trust’s ambitions for restoring a healthy, natural environment. We're creating larger, connected spaces for nature on the land we care for, working in partnerships to achieve sustainable landscapes that benefit both people and wildlife.

Currently only 14% of England’s rivers are in good health, with 13% of freshwater and wetland species now threatened with extinction in the UK. 90% of lowland ponds were lost in the 20th century and 90% of our wetland habitat has been lost over the past century. We're setting out to reverse this trend through our work.

Our Vision Our vision is to restore: 

“A dynamic network of varied and naturally functioning wetland habitats across North Devon to create a diverse and resilient area for wildlife to thrive and people to enjoy.”

Background Centuries of land drainage across North Devon for farming and development have harmed wildlife and the environment. Streams and rivers were canalized and disconnected from floodplains, resulting in wetlands lost, reduced water quality, and an increased risk of flash flooding and soil erosion.

These practices have also had profound impacts upon wildlife, massively reducing the once widespread wetland habitats that many plants and animals depend on for their survival. This includes some of our most threatened and iconic species, such as water voles, otters, and kingfisher. 

With more extreme weather causing floods, droughts, and further habitat loss, there is a growing need for sustainable water management to protect both wildlife and landscapes.

The opportunity in North Devon Working across four Ranger teams and portfolios, with our partners, offers the opportunity to restore significant areas of wetland habitats across North Devon. This will be done by removing man-made drainage features and working with natural processes to allow the land to function in a more natural way.

From simple measures such as creating new ponds and scrapes to increasing open water, blocking land drains and drainage ditches to expand wetland habitat, all the way through to wet woodland creation, floodplain reconnection and resetting the land through stage zero techniques. Stage zero techniques involve restoring rivers and tributaries to a more natural state before human interference.

These measures will help hold water across a wider area for longer, thereby improving water quality, reducing flood risk and improving drought resilience. This creation of wetland, will also have a positive impact of biodiversity, increasing habitat for bird such as pied flycatchers, small mammals and invertebrates along with an increase in dragonflies and damsel flies, which are insects that support farmland birds and bats.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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The video summarising project work so far can be seen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TcxL3JD6UQ&t=153s

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	Leaky Dams, Floodplain Reconnection
Floodplain / River corridor	Riparen Tree Management, Scrapes, Pond Creation, Contour Ditches
Planform / Channel pattern	Channel Widening, Backwater
Other
Non-structural measures
Management interventions
Social measures (incl. engagement)	Engagement with a wide range of stakeholders
Other

Reasons for river restoration

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Mitigation of a pressure	Land drainage, Barriers to fish migration, Invasive species, Flood risk management, Drinking water storage and supply
Hydromorphology
Biology
Physico-chemical
Other reasons for the project

Catchment and subcatchment

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Catchment

River basin district	South West
River basin	North Devon

Subcatchment

River name	TAW / TORRIDGE
Area category
Area (km2)
Maximum altitude category
Maximum altitude (m)
Dominant geology
Ecoregion	Great Britain
Dominant land cover
Waterbody ID	GB540805015500

Other case studies in this subcatchment: The Taw River Improvement Project (TRIP)

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Location: 51° 8' 9.78" N, 4° 14' 43.12" W

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Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present Invasive species present Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources 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 Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information