River Leck 1 Bucks CC have secured funding to Partnership work with Leckhampstead PC and local landowners to undertake projects & a study seeking ways to reduce flooding which cuts the community activities... off from surrounding settlements. Flood modelling will be used to help identify appropriate locations and forms of cost effective natural processes. About us... Passenham / Stony 2 © 201 Stratford Bypass Channel 7 M The Upper & Bedford Ouse Catchment Partnership’s il to n vision is for our rivers and their catchment to be MKPT and the EA have undertaken K e y a joint project to re-open a former n healthier, richer in wildlife and valued by all. Around 20 e s natural channel of the River Great P organisations form the partnership, working towards a

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Ouse to provide a fish bypass at k

s this vision being a reality. Together we plan and deliver

a large weir on the main river. T r

u activities and projects that improve water quality,

s The new structure is designed to t allow flows over the crest of the channel structure, habitat and biodiversity. weir only at times of higher water Our catchment covers an area from the headwaters levels, while maintaining a low level flow at other times by means of the River Great Ouse (west of Buckingham and of a slot in the weir, which also aids Brackley) to east of Huntingdon and St Ives. The River fish passage. Great Ouse dominates the catchment, with its main tributaries being the rivers Tove, Ouzel, Flit, Ivel, Kym; t rus s T and Padbury, Clayden and Alconbury Brooks. rk Woughton Fish Refuge a 3 P s e n MKPT and the EA have opened up y e K a dried-up side channel to create n o a refuge for young fish, which is t l i

M particularly valuable during times

7 1 Get involved...

of flash rises/flooding. By providing

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shelter from the fast flows in the © main river, fry and yearlings are We would like to hear from you if: not washed downstream, enabling a local and naturally sustainable • you are an organisation, whose activities relate population to thrive. to the work of the U&BOCP • you are a commercial business, who could offer sponsorship opportunities for our events and © River Ouzel in 20 17 projects 4 G r Leighton Linslade e e n s • you are a landowner / manager with The Greensand Trust have led a n © 2017 Milton Keynes Parks Trust d

watercourses or wetland features on your land works using natural materials T

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to enhance channel diversity s t and habitat quality by reducing • you are a local resident, who could become one erosion and sedimentation and of our Volunteer River Wardens increasing light into the channel. www.ubocp.org.uk If any of the above apply to you, do get in touch: Local volunteers are undertaking Working together for water and wildlife ongoing monitoring to assess the E-mail: [email protected] impact of the works. Website: www.ubocp.org.uk Version 2.1 | Spring 2017 Oughtonhead Common Slug it Out Our Catchment and 7 8 017 Wildlife T NHDC, CMS and volunteers have AW’s Slug it Out campaign works River Flit © 2 ru 6 st BC worked together to enhance with farmers to find ways to The Wildlife Trust (BCN) and N Current Activities the head of the River Oughton reduce the amount of the pollutant Greensand Trust are winning in Hitchin. Recent works have metaldehyde (the active ingredient the battle against the Himalayan The Upper and Bedford Ouse Catchment included rewetting reedbeds, of most slug pellets) lost from Balsam at Flitwick Moor SSSI Partnership and its members are actively opening up ditches, de-shading farmland into the River Great Ouse. and other County Wildlife Sites. and the installation of coarse involved in a range of projects which help Ongoing monitoring and clearance © 2017 C oun woody debris into the channel. tr ys to deliver our vision of our rivers and their work by staff, volunteers and id e contractors has significantly M catchment to be healthier, richer in wildlife and a n reduced the amount and spread a valued by all. Biggleswade Common g 9 e of this invasive non-native species m

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BRCC and local volunteers have n

which out-competes native flora t

The Environment Agency is a key partner S

and leads to bank erosion. enhanced watercourses around e r v

providing information and advice, consenting to Biggleswade Common by reducing i c

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works and funding some of the projects. The bank erosion and sedimentation C

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through the installation of woody S projects identified here are selected highlights ) of projects which we have recently completed, bundles to trap sediment and the installation of stock control fencing are ongoing or are being planned. and dedicated cattle-drinks to Purwell Valley © 10 201 7 C minimise poaching. Partnership involving NHDC, en t ra l CMS, HCC and the local Clipstone Brook B © 2 5 e 017 d C community, looking at a whole f en o t CBC and the Environment r ra d catchment approach to improving l s B Agency worked in partnership h e i d the river corridor through Hitchin. r 8 f e o

to reduce the risk of flooding r C Works have included channel de- d

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from the Clipstone Brook in u h n shading, woody debris installation, i

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i Leighton Buzzard. Works have l

C access improvements, signage o

included the creation of a 2-stage u and interpretation on a series of n

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channel to take flood flow and the i l publicly accessible sites. construction of a small flood bank.

Millbridge and Common 12 Pix Brook Brook, Gamlingay 12 11 CBC, the Bedford Group of Internal BRCC and local volunteers have Drainage Boards and HCC are improved the habitat value of 9 working in partnership to deliver this watercourse by using hazel a catchment wide study of the Pix bundles and log deflectors to Brook. The study will investigate modify the flow. Sediment the factors causing the Pix Brook entering the channel from eroding 3 1 to flood and identify opportunities banks has been reduced; and 2 6 to minimise future flood risk. the main flow of the water is Natural interventions, hard 11 now narrower and meandering, defences and land management scouring out sediment to expose changes will be explored. the gravel bed. 10 7

5 Volunteer River Wardens 4 We have begun to recruit volunteers to survey and monitor our watercourses; and to identify and help implement enhancement projects. Undertaking activities which interest them and suit their local watercourses, volunteers will be trained to undertake baseline surveys, identify key species (good and bad), spot pollution incidents, undertake basic water quality testing; and monitor changes through regular surveys and fixed-point photography. For more information visit: http://ubocp.org.uk/get-involved/ Copyright © UBOCP, | Design: 2017 BRCC Creative Services Ltd | bedsrcc.org.uk