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Case Study: Vitacress Bourne Rivulet
Project : Habitat Creation
Project Location: St Mary Bourne, Hampshire
River System: Bourne Rivulet, River Test
Client:  
Date of Installation: 2007

 
 

Project details:
 

   
Original Salad Wash outfall before start of works Five months later - the virgin stream supports a healthy population of large native trout

 

Project Brief


To:
 

  • Design and build a miniature chalkstream demonstration site using cutting-edge restoration techniques.
     
  • Incorporate phyto-remediation berms and associated wetlands into the design.
     
  • Incorporate three public dipping sites.
     
  • Include all necessary in-stream features to encourage colonisation  by a sustainable resident wild trout population.

Solution


To:
 

  • A new virgin stream was created from the newly excavated channel using specialist in-house techniques.
     
  • A variety of vegetated bank types were created to form a sinuous channel of varying widths and flow types.
     
  • Coarse flints and site-won gravels were re-introduced to the new stream bed to create a variety of geomorphological features. The new channel was then planted with Ranunculus and imported marginal plant species from British Flora to complete the project.


 The project brief was to create a 200m length of virgin trout stream by de-culverting an area of waste land adjacent to the Vitacress cress farm. The company set out to demonstrate that, contrary to criticism from local angling interests, the outfalls to its cress-growing and packaging plant were capable of supporting a healthy chalk stream ecosystem favourable to wild trout and invertebrates. Cain Bio designed the channel with a typical assemblage of chalkstream features in mind including conditions favourable to Ranunculus community, macro-invertebrates, Bullhead and trout.

 Within five months of the project start, local anglers caught a number of native trout, some of them approcahing 3 lbs in weight, directly downstream of the contentious salad wash outfall. Juvenile bullheads were also captured during a random dip sampling session, as were substantial numbers of fresh water shrimp (Gammarus spp) mature Baetis nymphs and various caddis larvae including the free-range Hydropsyche.

The site is being formally monitored by Southampton university.