Richmond Park Beverley Brook Restoration Techniques: Large woody debris implemented to narrow channel; bank regrading; vegetation planting; fencing Project location: Richmond Park, London SW15 5JP River: Beverley Brook Visited: 4th April 2016, 6 months after completion of work Cost: This project was made up of a number of funding sources. The CPAF contribution was £15.5k and the overall project budget for the first year’s work was £135k Project summary This project aimed to address the scarcity of in-stream and bankside habitat for fish and macroinvertebrates in Beverley Brook through Richmond Park, London. The Brook had been historically straightened and had very steep banks and little in-channel habitat diversity. Overgrazing by deer in the park was also impacting banks. The approach was to regrade sections of the bank to improve marginal habitat, and narrow the Brook through the use of large woody material to create channel and flow diversity. The work was fenced off to restrict deer, human and dog impact, so that the bankside vegetation could recover. At this site, the CPAF funding was used to supplement funding obtained through other sources. Project objectives Creation of 100 m2 backwater habitat as fish refuge and additional flood storage (Feb 16) Improve hydromorphology and in-stream habitat quality through Richmond Park through the introduction of Large Wooded Material (LWM) (Feb 16) Summary of works undertaken Large woody material, brash and faggots used to create sinuosity and narrow the channel. Sections of western bank regraded, trees and marginal vegetation planted. Fence erected to exclude deer, people and dogs. Technical assessment of project objectives and delivery Objectives The objectives for this project clearly and succinctly communicate what the project was trying to achieve. The second objective could be improved in the ‘measurable’ element of SMART1 , but this is not considered to be a big concern because measurability is covered in the project’s monitoring planner. The objectives are targeted to address some of the problems identified in the Water Framework Directive assessment. A paucity of in-stream habitats (particularly refuge habitats) in the waterbody has been recognised as limiting waterbody health, and this project has targeted actions to make achievable habitat improvements. 1 Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound 1 Habitat potential The narrowing has provided an immediate improvement in habitat diversity in the channel. By the time of the site visit, some gravel, sand and silt had accumulated behind and within newly constructed channel features, suggesting that these were establishing as intended. Variability of bank profile, bed structure and stream depth was observed, and new riffles and eddies were also present. In a few places woody material was placed well above water level ( Figure 1). In general, the closer the material is installed to the bed below low flow level, the less prone it is to rotting or damage from flood flows, while still being effective at trapping sediment and narrowing the channel. In this case, it was explained that the arrangement of woody material was deliberately varied as part of an on-site experiment. All of the material was observed to be in good condition and functioning effectively during the site visit, approximately six months after its installation. Figure 1 Woody material above water level Monitoring A variety of baseline and ongoing monitoring activities occurred for this project. This included use of a drone to take ‘before’ aerial photos of the straight brook. If this is repeated after works have established, it will be a useful and attractive communication tool. Lessons learned by the partnership Refuge habitat challenging Project partners described unanticipated challenges with the extent of restrictions on excavating near protected mature trees on site. This meant that there was not sufficient room to create the large backwater habitat that was originally planned, or to undertake extensive bank re-profiling. The design was adapted accordingly, and the bank was re-graded as low as possible within the available space to provide additional capacity at higher flows (Figure 2). Figure 2 Section of new shallow bank Additional benefits of CPAF funding To complete the exclusion fencing for the site, the project partners designed and constructed robust hanging deer fences ( Figure 3) over the brook. Education boards describing the intentions of the project were installed at both ends of the fenced off sections, which is a useful communication and education tool in such a highly visited park. Figure 3 Innovative hanging deer fences designed and constructed by project partners 2 .