Environment m jm A gen cy River Ure: Geomorphological Audit Report N°: UC446/1 April 2000 EA - /vJ i>fth 'E oj±-L River Ure: Geomorphological Audit Sear, D., German, S. and Hill, C.T. Fieldwork: S. German, S Priest, K. Delaney, K. Richards Report N°. UC446/1 Report to: GeoData Institute - - University of Southampton ENVIRONMENT AGENCY Southampton North East Region S0171BJ Tel: 023 80592719 April 2000 Fax: 023 80592849 Email: [email protected] Geomorphological Audit River Ure Worton to Ripon Table of Contents List of Figures..............................................................................................................................................ii List of Tables................................................................................................................................................ii 1.0 River Ure Geomorphological A udit.............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Rationale for the study................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives........................................................................................................................................2 1.3 Strategy and development.............................................................................................................2 2.0 Catchment description.....................................................................................................................3 2.1 Study Area.......................................................................................................................................3 2.2 Catchment Characteristic Summary.............................................................................................3 2.2 Topography and drainage network...............................................................................................4 2.3 Geology...........................................................................................................................................4 2.4 Landuse...........................................................................................................................................5 2.5 Conservation................................................................................................................................... 6 3.0 Methodology and data capture.......................................................................................................7 3.1 Historical approach.........................................................................................................................7 3.1.1 Catchment-scale.................................................................................................................... 7 3.1.2 Channel scale.........................................................................................................................7 3.2 Contemporary geomorphological assessment............................................................................ 8 3.2.1 Bank survey...........................................................................................................................8 3.2.2 Locations and dimensions of channel bars........................................................................9 3.2.3 Sediment from tributaries..................................................................................................10 3.2.4 Flow types and biotopes....................................................................................................11 4.0 Historical geomorphology.............................................................................................................12 4.1 Historical catchment geomorphology........................................................................................ 12 4.1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 12 4.1.2 Results................................................................................................................................. 12 4.2 Historical channel change............................................................................................................14 4.2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14 4.2.2 Human-induced change.....................................................................................................16 5.0 Contemporary geomorphology.................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Data capture and manipulation...................................................................................................19 5.2 Erosion & bank stability.................................................................................................................20 5.3 Sediment storage and bed and bank materials............................................................................ 24 5.4 Flow Types and channel bedforms............................................................................................ 26 5.5 Geomorphological Interpretation..................................................................................................28 West Tanfield - The Parks: Specific study reach.........................................................................29 6.0 Management Implications.............................................................................................................31 6.1 Erosion...........................................................................................................................................31 6.2 Sedimentation.......................................... .............................................................. .. 31 _ 6.3_ Physical habitats........................-...t.- .........7..........................................................31 6.4 Use of this report......................................................................................................................... 32 References................................................................................................................................................. 33 Appendices................................................................................................................................................ 35 List of Figures Figure 4.1. Contrast between the drainage pattern of the steep upper catchment tributaries and the mid-catchment drainage planform................................................................................................... 13 Figure 5.1 Percentage of bank Erosion types....................................................................................... 21 Figure 5.2 Erosion severity rating along study reach..........................................................................22 Figure 5.3 River Ure Flow type (Physical Biotope) inventory: Low Winter Flows.......................27 Figure 5.4 Sediment budget for West Tanfield - North Bridge Reach............................................ 30 List of Tables Table 2.1 Summary of catchment characteristics...................................................................................4 Table 3.1 Summary of source d ata...........................................................................................................7 Table 3.2 Bar material............................................................................................................................... 9 Table 3.3 Bar types.................................................................................................................................. 10 Table 3.4 Flow types................................................................................................................................ 11 Table 4.1 Characteristics of the channel change reaches..................................................................... 15 Table 4.2 Location of records of channel capital works on River Ure (data derived from EA database).............................................................................................................................................. 17 Table 4.3 Changing sinuosity in the Parks, Nunwick sub-reach....................................................... 17 Table 5.2 Sediment Storage defined reaches........................................................................................ 25 Table 5.3 Flow Type Defined Reaches..................................................................................................28 Table 5.4 Geomorphologically defined reaches of the River Ure: Worton Bridge — North Bridge, Ripon................................................................................................................................................... 29 UC446 Fluvial Audit River Ure Worton to Ripon 1.0 River Ure Geomorphological Audit The Geomorphological Audit of the River Ure from Worton to Ripon has been undertaken as a response to a number of perceived issues for the sustainable management of the channel and catchment. The geomorphological controls and implications on these multidisciplinary issues required further examination. This Geomorphological Audit will identify the sediment supply, storage and transport within channel reaches and to identify how these relate to past and present management processes at