Previous Winners

The Staffordshire Trent Valley covers the mainstem of the River Trent from its source at Biddulph Moor, through Stoke-on-Trent all the way to the confluence with the River Dove just downstream of Burton-upon-Trent. It includes all the tributaries and catchments including the Sow, Penk, Blithe, Tean, Manifold and the parts of the Tame, Mease SAC, Anker and Dove systems within Staffordshire.

The Rottal Burn is a tributary of the River South Esk in Glen Clova, Eastern Scotland, with headwaters in Cairngorms National Park. The project described here is an unconfined re-meandering of the lower part of the burn from where it flows under the B955 road bridge around 1km southwest of Rottal Lodge to the confluence with the River South Esk.

Ribble Life Together (RLT) brought together a range of stakeholders, interest groups and the communities through the Ribble Life Partnership. Using a prioritised ecosystem service approach, the project aimed to improve the natural river heritage of the Ribble Catchment for people and wildlife in an inclusive and integrated way. RLT brought many organisations together who all have a common goal of improving water quality, reducing the risk of flooding and droughts and increasing river connectivity and biodiversity.

RSPB, United Utilities, the Environment Agency and Natural England are working in partnership on a range of projects in the Swindale Valley near Haweswater in the Lake District. Situated in a remote part of the Eastern Lake District, Swindale forms a critical part of the United Utilities owned Haweswater drinking water catchment. Historic land management had focused on maximising agricultural output, often to the detriment of the natural environment. Over 160 years ago the beck had been straightened, deepened and embanked. Peatland drained, species rich hay meadows had been fertilised and overgrazed, and native woodland degraded. Since the 1950s water from the becks has been taken via the Swindale aqueduct to supplement Haweswater reservoir. Although an impressive feat of engineering, this focused on efficient and maximum abstraction at the expense of natural river flows.

The immediate catchment of the River Keekle (upper) from Walkmill Bridge to Keekle Bridge was a former opencast coal site. Whilst mining operations were taking place (1987 to 1995) the river was diverted, and in 1996 it was restored back along its original course. The restoration of the river however needed careful consideration as ~ 8 million tonnes of mine spoil was now buried underneath where it used to flow. For this reason, a 3 metre clay cap, an HDPE plastic liner and stone boulder weirs were placed along the course of the river before the river could flow back in its natural course.

Reach-scale award - Allt Lorgy, Highlands, Scotland

The Allt Lorgy is a typical upland spate burn that, in the late 1980s, was significantly managed for agricultural purposes (e.g. artificial embankments, rock bank revetments and in-channel boulder grade control).

The project is based on restoring the morphology and associated habitats of a 1km section of river and its adjoining floodplain. It has re-established the fundamental physical processes that drive the evolution of the river’s form and the associated benefits for instream, riparian and floodplain ecology. Rather than designing a specific channel configuration, the approach aimed to kick start natural processes such that the river re-establishes a natural equilibrium state with increased physical diversity and improved channel floodplain connection.

Catchment-scale award - Rivers Test & Itchen, Hampshire, England

The New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme (NF HLS) was set up in 2010 as a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Verderers of the New Forest, Forestry England and the New Forest National Park Authority to cover the Open Forest Crown lands. The HLS agreement is worth £19 million over ten years from 2010-2020 with a minimum of £750,000 available for wetland restoration per year. So far the New Forest HLS has delivered 59 projects, totalling 29km of restoration to the New Forest watercourses that had previously been deepened or realigned. The restoration of the mires and streams has delivered reduced knickpoint erosion, reduced incision and lateral erosion, increased floodplain connection, increased resilience during times of drought, and reduced flood peaks.

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The Hills to Levels project involved one of the largest catchments (2871km2) implementing Natural Flood Management (NFM) in the UK, having experienced severe flooding, with changing climate bringing intense rainfall.

Many streams in the area are failing WFD objectives for sediment, phosphate and fish; as well as being heavily modified. Measures have been installed to slow flow, filter sediments and store runoff, including floodplain reconnection, edge of field measures and leaky woody dams. 453 NFM structures have been put in place, including 232 woody structures.

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The River Avon Restoration Programme (RARP) was set up to restore the River Avon Special Area of Conservation (SAC) to a naturally functioning river system to meet the government’s obligations under the Water Framework and Habitats Directives.

The implementation of RARP is an ambitious project as it aims to restore the River Avon to a naturally functioning river that supports characteristic chalk stream habitats and wildlife. The objective is to strategically deliver natural-process based schemes that restore reaches of river that have been most damaged by past physical modifications.

"This is great recognition for all the hard work we've done over the last five years. Not just for us, but especially for all the people and organisations we work with in this catchment." - Martijn Antheunisse

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The Cumbria River Restoration Strategy (CRRS) is a partnership project between Natural England, the Environment Agency and three Rivers Trusts (Eden, West Cumbria and South Cumbria). The partnership implements river restoration across three river catchments.

This project is an excellent example of what can be achieved through working in partnership. Overall the work has restored around 14 km of river across the three Cumbrian catchments to a more natural form, illustrating the large scale at which this project was undertaken. 

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Tweed Forum works in partnership to promote integrated catchment management that delivers multiple benefits.  Our focus is on working with land managers to get the right measures in the right place, at the right scale, in order to address key issues such as habitat loss, drainage, diffuse pollution, channelisation and invasive species control.

In the last 5 years they have restored and enhanced over 60km of river through fencing off and planting, re-meandered over 2km of straightened channel and much more.

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The Wensum River Restoration Strategy was the winner of the 2014 England River Prize. A holistic approach was taken to enhance in-channel and floodplain habitats. Techniques included the use of wooded material, flow deflectors and gravel re-distribution. 

They were awarded a cheque which will be used to continue restoring the Wensum, improving the links with local universities through competitions and interpretation boards as well as ensuring that monitoring is continued into the future.

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