This summer has seen the completion of Eden Rivers Trust’s latest river restoration project on the River Lyvennet to improve river habitat and flood resilience.
Over the last two years, Eden Rivers Trust has created a variety of features in the river and on land surrounding the River Lyvennet at Greystone House and Littlebeck near Kings Meaburn.
Completed in partnership with the Environment Agency as part of the Cumbria River Restoration Strategy, the aim of the project was to restore natural river and land processes and reconnect the river with its natural floodplain. This would slow the flow of water downstream and encourage wildlife to thrive.
The plan was to install a series of rapids in the river plus three large wetland scrapes on surrounding land to act as flood storage areas. These scrapes would not only store water – reducing the amount of water flowing downstream in times of high rainfall, but also provide superb habitat for a range of bird, amphibian, butterfly and fish species.
The project kicked off with the creation of two wetland scrapes at Littlebeck in 2018.
The following spring, an army of volunteers, Eden Rivers Trust staff and the local community all pitched in to turn them into green oases by planting 10,000 wildflowers.
Over 30 native species were planted including marsh marigolds, bulrushes and ragged robin. These species were chosen as they can cope with fluctuating water levels and are great for bees and other pollinators.
Part two of the planned improvements had to be postponed until this summer due to the poor weather conditions in July and August 2019. However, work re-started a couple of weeks ago to build a third massive wetland scrape covering an area comparable to nearly three Olympic-sized swimming pools (approximately 3,500m2) and create three rapids in the river.
The work was undertaken by Waitings.
