River and floodplain management measures involve the restoration of a stretch of river and/or its associated floodplain to a more natural functioning state. This can include channel re-meandering or channel feature reinstatement (e.g. measures to restore channel river bars). Where redundant embankments are present, it may also be possible to breach, set back or remove these embankments, restore floodplain connectivity and re-activate floodplain features. Where naturally occurring wood is absent from a river, leaky barriers can be installed. These help attenuate flood flows by slowing and deflecting flow out of the channel on to the floodplain, thereby increasing water storage.
Shelforkie Moss lies due west of the A9 just up from Greenloaning. The bog spans roughly 100 hectares and provides habitat for a range of wildlife including sphagnum mosses, dragon flies and more.
The bog had been ditched in the 20th century with two large and deep ditches cut into the peat to help remove water from the bog and drain it into the Allan.
Revive the Allan is a project delivered in partnership with Blackford Estates to restore the upper reaches of the Allan Water. The stretch of the Allan Water which flows from Greenloaning to Blackford was heavily modified in the 1800’s when the Stirling to Perth railway line was installed. The river, a once meandering, diverse river was straightened along the line of the railway with embankments created to reduce areas of farmland around the river from flooding.
A new open access book entitled “Spatial Flood Risk Management: Implementing Catchment-based Retention and Resilience on Private Land” has been published. Centralising the role of land and landowners, the book brings together knowledge from socio-economy, public policy, hydrology, geomorphology, and engineering to establish an interdisciplinary knowledge base on spatial approaches to managing flood risks. It contains chapters from over 25 different European authors and is an output from the EU funded COST action "Natural Flood Retention on Private Land".
The Riverwoods initiative (see main website for more info) aims to create a network of thriving riverbank woodlands and healthy river systems across Scotland. It has recently published an interactive storymap which allows users to explore projects across Scotland and find out more generally on the initiative. This storymap can be accessed below.
A manual supporting the implementation of Natural Flood Management measures has been published by CIRIA. It aims to set out the key stages in the delivery process of NFM. The manual has five parts which cover an overview of NFM, the philosophy behind NFM, detailed information behind a selection of measures, the delivery process and a supporting appendices. The manual can be accessed via the link below.
A new policy note has been published by the Centre of Expertise for Waters on "Better Buffer Design, Placement and Management". The publication was produced by the James Hutton Institute and examines how considering an enhanced range of designs, and targeting them to most suitable landscapes and pressures on the environment, can be achieved to improve multiple outcomes (e.g. flood management), including aspects of wider context for improving the uptake of enhanced riparian measures. Many of the measures presented here could be viewed as Natural Flood Management approaches.
International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) for Flood Risk Management have now been published. The guidelines provide practitioners with the best available information concerning various elements of NNBF implementation. The guidelines cover a series of land uses and measures from uplands to coastal measures. They were developed as part of an international collaboration and the guidelines contain 20 chapters. Please click the link below to get more information on this publication and to download the guidelines.
The Engineering with Nature initiative has now launched a new book "Engineering With Nature: An Atlas, Volume 2". The book showcases 62 international projects that demonstrate the concept of Engineering with Nature. Two Scottish case studies are highlighted in the new volume of the Atlas (Eddleston Water and River Nairn restoration projects). Please visit the link below for more information on the Atlas.
Results have recently been published from the Scottish Government’s flagship NFM study in the Eddleston Water catchment. Seeking to examine the effectiveness of NFM measures combined across the 69 km2 area of the Eddleston Water catchment, the study examines hydrological lag as an index of the effectiveness of NFM measures, and how this changes as a function of catchment scale. The paper shows that median lag time increases by more than 2 hours in headwater catchments treated with the installation of ponds and flow rest
A newly published paper in the international journal Water Security (Hankin, Page, McShane, Chappell, Spray, Black & Comins 2021) features results from Scotland’s Eddleston Water NFM study in attempting to answer this important question.