The Project

Funding Partner

RAIN: Resilience and innovation northants

The RAIN project (Resilience and Innovation Northants) will be working with communities in two river catchments: Harpers Brook in North Northamptonshire, and Wootton Brook in West Northamptonshire. We will be working with these communities to trial flood resilience measures at three different scales: across the catchment, within the community, and at individual property level.
Why Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook Catchments?
These catchments were chosen as there have been approximately 350 flood incidents reported since detailed records commenced in 2012 and where traditional hard engineered flood schemes are not considered viable. The Harpers Brook area includes the communities of Brigstock, Lowick, Sudborough, Stanion and South Corby, and the Wootton Brook area includes Collingtree, Wootton, West and East Hunsbury, Hunsbury Meadows and Hackleton. Within each of these catchments, there are approximately 500 properties currently at risk of flooding, with many more likely to become at risk with the impacts of climate change.
What will we be delivering?
The overall aim of the project is to engage with landowners and Farmers, communities and individuals throughout these two catchments, to test new approaches to improving flood resilience. As a funded innovation project, we will be evaluating how effectively these measures work in combination with each other.

Completed works

Bridgtock Site 1

This site is the nearest to the village of Brigstock out of the 3, this site was selected due to the ability to store large volumes of water to help mitigate flooding in the village. This was done by creating a wetland area which consists of four large ponds that are used as storage once the brook has risen to maximum capacity and the overflowing water is unable to bypass the wetland due to constructed bunds which act as walls to hold the water in the wetland and allowing a slower flow of water back into the brook at the point of entry into the wetland.

This site has huge potential for conservation purposes by creating a wetland habitat to attract species from amphibians, migrating birds and native mammals, as well given the ability to re-establish flora species in the area.

Brigstock Site 2

Site 2 is the largest on land scale out of all of the Brigstock sites, historically the site had been subjected to heavy surface water run off from the forest that is situated at the highest point of the field, which creates a gully through the landowners arable land. The effects of this run off caused an excess of water to flow into the village.

The project installed four storage ponds with leaky dams on the edge of the forest to hold back large quantities of water from this area, the gully was filled in from the soil removed from the ponds. Due to the steep landscape a further larger pond with bund was needed to be installed at the lowest point of the field to hold back any further surface water run off reaching the village.

Brigstock Site 3

Storage Pond with Bunds.

The smallest of the site projects around Brigstock village. This site is located at one of the steeper side of the village surroundings, within this site a water flow ditch was already established but unable to hold the volume of water flowing through.

The land is used for grazing and required access all year round, on the site a pond was installed with a bund barrier with a smaller exit for the flow of water so it would be funnelled at a slower rate to protect the village by reducing the speed of water flow and allowing the brook to maintain a safe water capacity levels.

Yardley Hastings

RAIN and NRT have worked closely with a landowner in this area and have managed to create a large surface water storage site though creating a wetland with a large bund and drainage pipe to slow the flow of water into wooton brook.

The landowner has a passion for conservation and by installing this wetland area he hopes to add to the land which already home to vast amounts of species with its diverse habitats from woodlands, open fields, wild flower crops, ponds and wetlands.

FUTURE WORK

NRT and Rain are continuing work within the two catchments to improve flooding for nature and communities.