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O
bjectives
The main objective of the project was therefore to provide a
catchment-based
solution to flood risk mitigation, by
attenuating runoff
upstream of the areas most at risk from flooding. The catchment-based approach would also provide
opportunities to address water quality concerns linked to agriculture, which had been identified under theWFD. It therefore
aims to address European requirements related to the Floods Directive (mitigating flooding to homes and infrastructure in a
sustainable way through catchment-based approaches), but also to the
WFD
(achieving good ecological status and objectives
for protected areas), and to
Birds Directive
(protection of habitats for endangered as well as migratory species). National
requirements related to flood risk management are also targeted.
T
hemeasures
implemented
The Belford Burn catchment project was implemented between 2008 and 2013. The project involved the installation of a
suite of
35 small NWRM
, which are operating in combination upstream of the village of Belford. The measures include
interception of diffuse overland flow paths, on-line ditch blocking (including the use of large woody debris) and off-line
ponds. In total they treat slightly less than 570ha. The total storage capacity from the main phase of work (i.e.35 NWRM)
was between 9 000 and 10 000m
3
. The maximum capacity of individual features was up to: 1 000m
3
for overland flow
interception, 150m
3
for online ditch features, 3000m
3
for offline ponds, 150m
3
for large woody debris. A few further features
were also added at a later stage, as opportunity and funding became available, in particular some measures designed more
specifically for sediment trapping. These have increased the total storage towards
15000m
3
.
The upstream characteristics of the watercourse (small channels) are ideal for implementation of these types of NWRM fea-
tures as the scale of flows to be retained is not large and the size of the feature can be kept small, resulting in little loss
of agricultural land. The catchment offers low grade ditches that can be engineered without damaging existing conservation
and ecological factors.
© Environment Agency
Belford catchment, with examples of measures located throughout the catchment
