Restoring part of the Lake District’s Swindale Beck to its natural meandering path, we collaborated with the RSPB, landowner United Utilities, the Environment Agency and Natural England to reintroduce the river’s bends, slowing water flow through the valley to reduce flooding downstream.
The Swindale Beck was straightened over 100 years ago to generate space for farming. This caused the river to rapidly shoot downstream, increasing the risk of flooding and degrading the natural habitats for fish and invertebrates.
Creating a new, much-longer, channel than the straightened river, we have helped remove the raised banks from the new channel, allowing for a more natural flooding pattern. During high rainfall, the river can now spill over into the floodplain meadows, at the same time water will also flow back into the channel more gradually.
Our natural-process approach has included: reinstating habitats for fish and insects, and almost immediately after the works were complete salmon spawned in the river; and the planting of native tree species that will become homes for wildlife, while a rich variety of new plant species will flourish from the natural flooding regime.
The project was delivered alongside farming activities, demonstrating the multiple benefits, from flood control to habitat improvements and biodiversity that can be created through close partnership working. The project is adding to the growing knowledge base of natural flood management and helping to raise awareness of the benefits that these schemes can deliver for the greater public good.