Better Becks

Fellfoot Forward natural flood management project completed

Eden Rivers Trust, on behalf of the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme (LPS), started working with farmers in April 2020 to complete a ground-breaking programme of natural flood management and habitat improvement on becks flowing into the River Eden. These works, which include tree planting, riparian fencing, leaky dams, and ‘re-wiggling’ stretches of river that have been straightened in the past, are now completed.

We worked with fourteen farms delivering a suite of natural flood management interventions and engaged sixty-nine volunteers in these works. Some of the interventions include:

• 6,748 square metres of wetland created
• 6660 trees planted
• 23 leaky dams created or restored
• 2697 metres of hedgerows created or restored with 14835 hedgerow plants
• 37 hectares of woodland created
• 99 hectares of woodland restored
• 230 metres length of river restored

At 80 miles long, the River Eden is one of the UK’s finest examples of a limestone and sandstone river. It has five sub catchments in the Fellfoot Forward project area: Glassonby, Raven, Gelt, Croglin Water and Cairn Beck. These host rare species, such as the native white-clawed crayfish and lamprey, and provide vital ecosystem services for communities downstream, such as water quality and flood protection.

Eden Rivers Trust have implemented measures that will ‘slow the flow’ of flood water, helping to reduce flooding risk to communities downstream, and making the Fellfoot Forward landscape more resilient to climate change. Through vital work with farmers, woodland creation, riverbank protection, and new meanders have also created new habitats for wildlife and improved water quality.

Jenny Garbe, Better Becks Project Manager, Eden Rivers Trust said:  “The Better Becks project gave us the rare opportunity to attract funding from a wide range of sources that would allow us to create an exciting programme of natural flood management and river restoration work that could be spread over three years to tackle some of the key issues in this area such as flood risk to communities, poor water quality and disconnected, degraded habitats.

What’s great about this project is that the benefits will only keep getting better over time. Only ten months after completion, we’ve already seen natural river erosion and deposition, regeneration, tree growth, and wildflowers emerging. We have also seen footage of otter, polecat, and badgers using the Townfoot site and I’m looking forward to doing fish surveys later this year to see what species have moved into the new channel.”

The outcomes of the project include a reduction in downstream flood risk, biodiversity improvements, carbon sequestration, improvements in water quality, and engagement with volunteers.

The Better Becks project has now been completed but Eden Rivers Trust will continue to work with the North Pennines National Landscape on natural flood management and environmental improvement projects as part of the Fellfoot Forward LPS. There are two funding pots available to apply to:

• The Environment Grant through the Fellfoot Forward LPS is still available to apply for until 2024.
• The Farming in Protected Landscapes funding is available for any farms within the North Pennines National Landscape.

Please get in touch with Eden Rivers Trust or North Pennines National Landscape if you have any projects you would like to discuss with us.