Project Name
Culm grasslands Hydrology modelling
Lead Organisation
Devon Wildlife Trust
Contact details
Name
Susan Warren / Mark Elliott
Email
Phone number
swarren@devonwildlifetrust.org
01392 260856 / 01409 221823
Outline Project Description Please describe the activity that
you plan to undertake.
This project is designed to quantify the role that wet “Culm”
grasslands might play in reducing flood risks to communities in
floodplains.
Devon Wildlife Trust’s Working Wetlands project has been working
with the University of Exeter over the past 3 years to quantify the
water storage capabilities of Culm grassland, with quite dramatic
results.
They indicate that Culm soils store around 5 times the volume of
water per m² than Intensively Managed Grassland soils.
They also show that only 1% of rainfall is running off a Culm
grassland site compared with a similar Improved area where about
11% of the rainfall is running off into the watercourses after a
rainfall event. These findings are very significant.
The next stage is to build these results into a hydrological model to
demonstrate clearly the role that restoring Culm grasslands could
play for reducing flood risks to small communities at risk of flooding
from upper catchment fluvial flooding. The most cost effective way
of achieving this would likely be to adapt an existing EA model
rather than generate a completely new model.
Geography – Where will activity
take place?
A number of possible sub-catchments have been identified, but it is
likely that only one will be modelled. The identification of the
catchment would need to be carried out in close consultation with
EA FCRM.
Timing – Over what time period
This would be undertaken during 2015/16. It is a desk exercise that
would likely take a few months.
will activity take place?
Partners – Who are the
potential partners?
Please indicate if partners have
been involved in the development
of the project to date, or if they
have yet to be approached.
The University of Exeter have carried out the research to date with
funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE), and the Environment Agency and DWT.
Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Risk Managers, Soils
Specialists and Hydrologists, and the Fisheries, Recreation and
Biodiversity (FRB) team have all been involved in the delivery of the
first phase of the research and discussions about these next steps.
Initial discussions have been had with Ola Homstrom at WSP UK
who have helped provide a likely cost for this piece of modelling
work.
Fit with Natural Devon’s aims
Fit with Natural Devon’s
priority themes - Please select
the primary theme(s) that your
project supports, as well as any
themes where the project makes
a secondary contribution. If your
project does not have a primary
theme, please select the
appropriate secondary themes.
More information can be found
at
http://www.naturaldevon.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/Final-DLNPprospectus-jan20141.pdf
To protect and improve Devon’s Primary
natural environment
secondary
To grow Devon’s green
economy
secondary
To reconnect Devon’s people
with nature
Commentary:
Devon Wildlife Trust has been active in the Culm for 25 years now.
The focus has been on restoring and reconnecting the fragmented
Culm grassland resource and restoring a Living Landscape that
functions in a more resilient way to change.
As part of securing support for the continuation of this work, this
project aims to demonstrate the link between a healthy wetland
environment and thriving communities and businesses situated in
floodplains downstream. In order to raise awareness of these
ecosystem services, they need to be quantified, and the link clearly
established.
In future there may be opportunities for upstream farm businesses
to receive financial payments for providing these services to people
downstream, and for these beneficiaries to better appreciate the
role that a health functioning environment plays in their own
wellbeing.
no alignment
Naturally Healthy
secondary
Green Connections
no alignment
Outdoor Learning
Primary
Farming with Nature
no alignment
Wood for Good
Primary
Resilient Wetlands
no alignment
Sustainable Seas
Commentary:
The vision of the Resilient Wetlands theme is that Devon’s wetlands
and watercourses provide resilience to flooding and drought,
healthy fisheries and wildlife habitats, fantastic recreational
opportunities and a clean water supply.
This project could not be better matched to this vision, and would
help quantify the link between wetlands and resilience to flooding.
Fit with HOTSW LEP Strategic
Economic Plan Priorities.
Appendix 1 provides a summary
of the Priorities for Growth. More
information can be found:
http://www.heartofswlep.co.uk/strategiceconomic-plan
Please describe how your project contributes to the Heart of the
SW LEP’s Priorities for Growth (see Appendix A). Please list the
priorities where your project could make a direct contribution and
explain how it will contribute.
Creating the Conditions for Growth - Improving our infrastructure
and services to underpin growth
 Sustainable solutions for flood management
Financials
Outcomes - Please describe
what you expect the project to
achieve in terms of
Environmental, Social and
Economic Outcomes
This could prove a very important piece of evidence to support this
LEP priority for growth. The project objective is to prove that Culm
grassland re-creation could be one of the sustainable approaches
that could be adopted for flood and drought management. It is
important to understand the proportion of a sub-catchment that
might need to be in wetland management to demonstrate a
measurable flood risk benefit.
What is the estimated total
£25,000
project cost?
What proportion of total project The majority of this would be
cost are capital costs?
consultant costs, with some
dissemination and staff time.
Have you secured any funding
No
for the project yet? If so, list
amounts and sources.
In your view, what are the
EA FCRM
potential sources of funding for
this project?
Environmental Outcomes:
Culm grasslands (Rhôs pastures) are a Priority BAP habitat that are
vital for a range of species including the marsh fritillary butterfly,
breeding snipe, curlew and grasshopper warblers, and many of
these species need landscape scale restoration of these habitats.
In order to incentivise landowners and farmers to restore the vital
habitats, there needs to be a mechanism by which the providers of
ecosystem services are paid by those benefitting from that service.
Social Outcomes:
The Ecosystem Services provided by wetlands to society are wide
and varied, but the most significant one is the storage of water, and
the flood and drought alleviation benefits that come from that.
Economic Outcomes:
The work is intended to promote the financial and societal benefits
of wet “Culm” grasslands in the headwaters of the Tamar, Torridge,
Taw and Exe, so that other drivers can be used to fund their recreation.
The aim is to quantify the proportion of a catchment that would
need to be restored in order to provide a particular reduction in
flood peaks, so that information can be inputted into EA Costbenefit analysis
Quantifiable outputs - Please
provide any information you have
about quantifiable benefits?
Please describe how these have
been estimated.
Consultation – What
consultation has already occurred
is more required?
It is felt that in the long term the restoration of headwater
wetlands are sustainable and cost effective way of reducing flood
damage to communities in floodplains; particularly those below the
necessary threshold for funding for flood defence schemes.
A number of different teams within the EA have been involved in
the work to date. This piece of work was identified at a joint
meeting hosted by the EA in early 2015, between DWT, the
Statutory Approvals – What
University of Exeter and Environment Agency staff from across
different functions including FCRM, FRB and Soils and Hydrology
specialist.
Modelling specialists at WSP UK have also been consulted.
No approvals will be required for this work
statutory approvals will be
required for the project? Are
these in place?
Risks – What are the main risks
associated with this project?
The main risk is that the model results do not accurately reflect the
situation on the ground.
People
Business
Place
Appendix 1: Heart of the SW LEP Priorities for Growth
Creating the Conditions for Growth Improving our infrastructure and services to
underpin growth
Maximising Productivity and Employment
Opportunities - stimulating jobs and
growth across the whole economy
Capitalising on our Distinctive Assets Utilising our distinctive assets to create
opportunities for business growth and better
jobs
The infrastructure and facilities needed to
support higher value growth:
 Specialist marine sites
 Science/Innovation infrastructure
 Maximising our environmental
assets
Infrastructure for growth:
 Transport and accessibility
 Digital infrastructure
 Sustainable solutions for flood
management
 Energy Infrastructure
The infrastructure and facilities to create
more and better employment:
 Enterprise infrastructure
 Strategic employment sites
 Unlocking housing growth
Creating a favourable business environment
 A simpler, more accessible, business
support system, tailored to our
needs
o Improving access to finance
o Stimulating enterprise and
growth
Creating a responsive environment, where
businesses and individuals can reach their
potential:
 Skills infrastructure and facilities
 Accessibility to
education/employment (transport,
careers advice and digital inclusion)
 Employer engagement and
ownership
Achieving more sustainable and broadly
based business growth:
 Reaching new markets (on-line,
supply chains, public sector)
 Globalisation (exports and inward
investment)
Supporting higher value growth:
 Innovation through Smart
Specialisation
 Building our capacity for innovation
Increasing employment, progression and
workforce skills.
 Moving people into employment
 Supporting people to progress to
better jobs
 Improving workforce skills
Creating a world class workforce to support
higher value growth:
 Enterprise and business skills
 Technical and higher level skills
development and retention
 Maximising the skills and
employment opportunities aligned
to our transformational
opportunities.