Case Study - Rivers - Vitacress Bourne Rivulet

Project : Vitacress Bourne Rivulet

Project Location: St Mary Bourne, Hampshire

River System: Bourne Rivulet, River Test

Client: 


Date of Installation: 2007

 

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

• 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.