Corporate Member - Five Rivers Environmental Contracting

FiveRivers  is a leading industry specialist in the consultation, design and delivery of ecological and environmental solutions. With over 25 years’ working with nature, our expertise encompasses terrestrial and aquatic habitats with a specific passion for rivers and wetlands. Our services deliver environmental protection, enhancement and restoration through ecological mitigation, habitat improvement and environmental monitoring. A specialist of choice, FiveRivers delivers innovative, sensitive, and leading solutions across all sectors.

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FiveRivers Environmental Contracting partnered this project, listed on the RiverWiki:

• River Wye Habitat Restoration Project

• River Restoration on the Misbourne

The River Misbourne was confined to a heavily shaded former mill leat, disconnected from its floodplain and lacking flow diversity. The aim of this River Restoration project was the reconnection of the River Misbourne to its former paleo channel in the centre of the floodplain and restoration of the existing river channel for a total length of 1.14 km. The chalk stream is currently failing to meet Good Ecological Status (GES) under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Affinity Water (AW) commissioned this project, as part of a drive to reinstate chalk stream characteristics within the River Misbourne system, with a particular focus on fish, invertebrate and flow regimes.

• River Restoration on River Nar at Castle Acre

The River Nar is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and has suffered historically from over abstraction, diffuse pollution and channel dredging as a result its conservation condition was assessed as ‘unfavourable’. FiveRivers where contracted to restore four of the reaches in late 2016 and early 2017. The sites had pre and post works biological monitoring undertaken. The reaches were restored using site won materials for bed raising using gravel sourced creating from wetland scrapes, creating low level berms. The fifth reach completed in 2019, entailed creating a 300m long new channel reconnecting the river with the flood plain.

• Chimney Meadows Wetland Restoration

FiveRivers worked closely with Atkins and JCTR Ltd. to deliver this ambitious habitat restoration scheme for Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). The project was separated into different sections; the largest of which being the excavation and construction of a naturalised fish bypass channel that created connectivity for fish species to move between the main channel of the Thames and the Duxford Loop. Works also included construction of a fish easement at Duxford Ford, re-naturalisation of the Duxford Old River floodplain, and wet-woodland restoration. Furthermore, the removal of non-native invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam was a continuous process that proceeded over the course of the project.

• Durleigh Wetlands

FiveRivers were contracted by Wessex Water to design & build, two multi-benefit wetlands to improve the quality of water entering the drinking water reservoir, whilst significantly enhancing wildlife and biodiversity. The scheme involved excavating two wetlands on the same site. A naturalised wetland was designed to capture course sediment and silt by connecting the Durleigh Brook back to its floodplain. The other, an engineered wetland, was designed to improve the quality of supply from the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal, and also recycled water from the water works with respect to sediment, nutrients and pesticides. The design of the two wetlands will in the long term reduce sediment ingress into the reservoir and the resulting costs relating to the treatment of the raw water for supply.

This contact is listed on our Practitioners List, designed to help you find the right consultants or contractors for your project or research

• Jason Lovering
• Jacob Dew