]> 2026-04-14T13:42:18+00:00 Case study:River Don Restoration project 500 en Draft Bank reprofiling Yes Yes Yes No Awaiting results No Fish,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Awaiting results Invertebrates,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Awaiting results Macrophytes,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Fish Invertebrates Macrophytes Yes Environment Agency Tyne Rivers Trust Wild Trout Trust Northumbrian Water Sunderland City Council Gateshead Council South Tyneside Council NEEEP Durham Wildlife Trust WEIF Highways England Developer contributions ENGO in knd Yes No Yes true Yes Yes No Yes No change Improvement Yes Channel pattern/planform,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,No change Continuity of sediment transport,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Improvement Quantity & dynamics of flow,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes, Structure & condition of riparian/lake shore zones,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Improvement Width & depth variation,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Improvement Substrate conditions,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,Improvement Channel pattern/planform Continuity of sediment transport Quantity & dynamics of flow Structure & condition of riparian/lake shore zones Width & depth variation Substrate conditions Yes Yes 50 - 100 k€ River Restoration Centre River Restoration Centre Tyne Rivers Trust Environement Agency • Planning process – Getting in at early enough stage in order to help developer understand how River Restoration could benefit them & their site. Setting up early meetings with dev & work with Local Authorities assisted with this. • Permitting process - understanding this complex process was a challenge and helping developers to apply. Engaging the appropriate people helped with this. • Watervoles – Concern over temporary damage to WaterVole habitat. Short term loss/long term gain • Land ownership – challenges leading to restriction in where River Restoration could take place. Overcame this issue by presenting case studies from River Restoration Centre website & talking with developers consultants who were designing development sites. 54.950122679933,-1.5043813052364 Sjholland Shonah Environment Agency Holland Misconnections campaign Highways England drainage agricultural land managment river restoration via development Bank reprofiling,Fish passage improvements, ,Misconnections campaign, Highways England drainage, agricultural land managment, river restoration via development,, 10 - 50 k€ Environement Agency At the inception of the River Don Restoration project a need to improve confidence in the baseline data was identified. Whilst there was a significant amount of data associated with the Don we wanted to increase confidence levels in the data. In order to achieve this a baseline ecology study was carried out, as well as a baseline geomorphology report. SONDES (constant water monitoring equipment were installed) to gather baseline data in 2016. This gave a more in depth analysis of the condition of the river. Since the baseline monitoring was carried out a number of river restoration interventions have been delivered. This has mainly included re-naturalisation of the river, improving fish passage and working with landowners to improve nutrient management in the catchment. Further river restoration will be delivered over the next 12 months, with significant levels of restoration to be delivered via opportunities presented though development. Following on from this in 2020/21 further monitoring requirements have been identified through the Environment Agency’s Strategic Monitoring Review (SMR) which sets out localised monitoring requirements. In addition to the water quality monitoring an ecological and geomorphological assessment will be carried out to assess improvements and benefit realisation. Yes No Yes No Yes No Improvement Awaiting results No Yes Channel bed morphology.,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Improvement European otter,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Awaiting results Flood risk management,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Awaiting results Public Accessibility,Yes,Yes,Yes,Yes,No,Awaiting results ,No,No,No,No,No, Yes No Channel bed morphology. European otter Flood risk management Public Accessibility 24001 Tyne Rivers Trust, Wild Trout Trust, Northumbrian Water, Sunderland City Council, Gateshead Council, South Tyneside Council, NEEEP, Durham Wildlife Trust Yes Yes Yes No Awaiting results No Nutrient concentrations,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,Yes,Awaiting results PH,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Temperature,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Oxygen balance,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Nutrient concentrations PH Temperature Oxygen balance Yes Map showing River Don catchment Map showing Don Catchment 2016-04-01Z 2457479.5 In progress The River Don restoration project was initiated after the River Don was identified as a priority area for work by the Tyne Catchment Partnership. The waterbody is failing for Water Framework Directive and there are a number of large scale developments planned within the catchment which offered and opportunity for restoration. The Don Catchment Partnership was set up in 2016, when a partnership vision for the Don was prepared. In 2016 when a need for a vision was identified there were 3 main areas of focus which were ‘water quality’, ‘flood risk’ and ‘Geomorphology/Ecology’. The need for a river restoration project which could encompass all 3 of these elements provided the basis of the vision. In 2017 the River Restoration Centre were commissioned via a partnership project to develop a proposed River Restoration design for the Don. In addition to the Wild Trout Trust developed a report to identify issues relating to fish passage. The River Restoration proposals have since been used to influence Highways England and the Planning Inspectorate for a major upgrade to the A19. As a result of this Highways England have allocated £950,000 to river restoration, which is due to be delivered. The proposals have been used to influence a major development known as the ‘Follingsby Enterprise Zone’ which has the focus of developing economic growth. The project team worked closely with 3 Local Authorities to develop policies in the local plan which was used to safeguard a 50m strip either side of the River for river restoration purposes. This has now been embedded as a condition within the planning application for this site, thus delivering 11km of River Restoration. The proposals have also been used to influence a major development known as the ‘International Advanced Manufacturing Park’ (IAMP). This is a nationally significant infrastructure project which is located in a greenbelt. The project team worked with Local Authorities and the planning inspector to embed river restoration into the Development Consent Order successfully. In addition to the above the Environment Agency has been working with the Don Catchment Partnership to deliver land management campaigns, improving fish passage and reducing misconnections within the catchment to address WFD failures for Fish Passage, Phosphate, and Heavily Modified Status. The holistic approach to River Restoration has been used as an example in the Catchment Based Approach (CABA) urban water management workshop as well as in the ‘Water Hub’ which is looking at innovative approaches to river restoration working with Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s). River Don Restoration project river don restoration project Yes Fish passage improvements River Don river don Water Vole 50 - 100 k€ Tyne Rivers Trust Economic aspects Fisheries Flood risk management Habitat and biodiversity Hydromorphology Land use management - agriculture Monitoring Social benefits Spatial planning Water quality Urban 100 - 500 k€ GB103023075690 River Don from source to tidal limit 50 - 100 k€ Tyne Rivers Trust 2017-04-01Z 2457844.5 2019-02-20T10:45:47Z 2458534.9484607 2019-02-20T11:38:26Z 2458534.9850232 River Don Restoration project