The River Eye meanders through Leicestershire’s rolling farmland, and perhaps unknown to some, a large stretch (7.5km) of the Eye is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The River Eye is an excellent example of a semi-natural lowland river, which is a rare habitat in the UK and supports diverse flora and fauna. While this is good news for the region, the Eye is under pressure. It is currently failing to meet ‘good biological’ status mainly due to agricultural pollution and sewage discharge. As the river weaves through agricultural land, run-off overloads the river with sediment and nutrients, phosphate, in particular, driving poor ecological status and having detrimental impacts on aquatic plant communities and other inhabitants. This project used a two-pronged approach of physical interventions to enhance the resilience of the Eye SSSI, alongside a preventative approach to reduce soil erosion and nutrient inputs from agriculture through education and advice.
The vast agricultural landscape around the Eye has been heavily modified to encourage drainage, to support livestock farming and productive arable land. As a result sediment and nutrients enter the river in large quantities, overwhelming the Eye and its wildlife. Soils in the catchment are predominantly heavier clays which can be difficult to work for farmers, as clay soils tend to be slower to drain and compact more easily that lighter soils. The river also floods quickly after intense rainfall events.
In this rural catchment, re-igniting conversations about catchment-sensitive farming, and scoping solutions to minimise soil erosion and nutrient retention on farmland were the starting point of this work. The aim of which was to tackle sediment and nutrient loading into the Eye at one of its sources by using a preventative approach. A collaborative farmer engagement event series, gave farmers the opportunity to exchange and learn about best practice, and the relationship between productive farming, soil health and water management for healthy rivers.
In addition to promoting environmentally-friendly farming, the River Eye SSSI needed direct river restoration to aid its recovery from high sediment and nutrient volumes. Building on previous restoration work by Trent Rivers Trust further upstream, this project focussed on the more downstream reaches of the SSSI to improve flows, encourage re-establishment of natural river processes, prevent or reduce livestock access to the river, re-connect the river with its floodplain and create new habitat.
The legacy of the group is important to us, to ensure that the good work continues after the project end date. To help this, designs provided in the farm reports and as stand alone advice provide a starting point for future sediment reduction features. The farmers also reported that the found the events informative and enjoyable, so we hope to look into future funding to carry on events in this area.
With thanks to our funders
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