Case study:LIFE Dee River

Project overview

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Status	In progress
Project web site	http://naturalresources.wales/LIFEDeeRiver?lang=en
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Land use management - agriculture, Monitoring
Country	Wales
Main contact forename	Josh
Main contact surname	Robins
Main contact user ID	User:JoshRRC
Contact organisation	Natural Resources Wales
Contact organisation web site
Partner organisations	Environment Agency, European Union (EU), River Restoration Centre, Snowdonia National Park Authority, Welsh Water, Welsh Government
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

River Dee

Project summary

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LIFE Dee River is a £6.8m project to transform the River Dee and its catchment by restoring the river and its surroundings back to their natural state. This will bring many benefits to the environment, most notably improving the numbers of salmon, lamprey and freshwater pearl mussels to help them become more sustainable in future.

The Dee is the largest river in North Wales with a catchment area of more than 1,800 km². It is one of the most highly regulated rivers in Europe, and along with Llyn Tegid it has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

From its headwaters in the uplands of Eryri (Snowdonia), the Dee descends via Llyn Tegid, the largest natural lake in Wales. After flowing through a broad valley to Corwen, it tumbles eastwards through the spectacular Vale of Llangollen, under the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site, before breaching the Welsh foothills near Bangor-on-Dee, and meandering northwards through the Cheshire plain to its tidal limit just below Chester.

The main uses of the River Dee are farming, predominantly cattle and sheep grazing; water abstraction for water supply for 2.5m people; tourism including recreational angling, canoeing and navigation; and nature conservation.

The project actions include:

• removing the constraints to fish migration and wider ecological connectivity
• restoring or improving natural riverine physical processes, features and habitats in at least 55 km of river
• improving agricultural and forestry land management practices to reduce the input of nutrients and sediment entering the SAC
• initiating conservation management for the critically-endangered freshwater pearl mussel
• establishing and building long-term positive relationships with key stakeholders during and beyond the life of the project

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Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment 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 Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) Other 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