A COMMUNITY supported project to reduce flood risk and improve wildlife habitats is set to start on the River Kent at Staveley.

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are leading the scheme for the removal of a section of man-made river embankment.

At this village centre site, the river will once again be connected to its floodplain which, at times of higher flows, will allow it to spread into adjacent pasture.

This natural, spreading movement of the river will help to reduce flooding pressure in Staveley and contribute to a reduction in flood water being delivered downstream to Kendal.

This ‘River Restoration Strategy’ scheme, funded through the Environment Agency and Natural England has the support of landowner, John Nicoll, who have been investigating opportunities with South Cumbria Rivers Trust to help relieve flooding in Staveley.

Over the last 100 years, many stretches of the River Kent and its tributaries have been straightened, reinforced and embanked mainly to reduce flooding on agricultural land to increase food production.

Now conservationists are calling for rivers to be reconnected, where appropriate, with their natural floodplains to provide a greater buffer to downstream flooding and to make the river more natural.

The removal of embankments also allows the fields in the floodplain to drain more easily once the flood waters have receded.

South Cumbria Rivers Trust’s Technical Officer, Dr Mike Sturt said: “Following the recent flooding in Staveley and Kendal, this project demonstrates the importance of working with, rather than against, nature.”

The project will involve the removal of approximately 1km of informal embankment, created from decades of accumulated dredging material.

This will reduce the height of the river bank by around 60cm in an area opposite to the confluence of the River Kent and River Gowan, allowing greater capacity for flood waters to spread out.

As part of the project, the field boundaries which were damaged during the last floods will be repaired and made more flood resistant.

The restoration technique will also help to recreate a wide range of habitats which are not found in modified or straightened rivers, including improved gravel beds where fish can lay their eggs, shallower margins where aquatic plants can survive and deeper pools where larger fish can take refuge.

Increases in the availability of these habitats will help to improve the populations of several threatened and endangered species such as the white-clawed crayfish, the Atlantic salmon, brown and sea trout, otters and kingfishers.