Richard Jeffries and Roy Richardson

Improving Scottish RiversProposals for delivery

Urban improvements

From this…

…to this.

Rural improvements

From this…

…to this.

Varied habitats – pools, riffles, etc

Good for Ecology

Good for land management

Natural width low-flow channels keep the river bed clear of fine sediment. Less maintenance needed.

Flood water storage within river corridor

River corridorAgricultural field

Varied habitats – trees / scrub

Working within the landscape

Catchment plan

Healthy rivers

Ecologically unhealthy

Arable – avoid

Pasture – investigate potential

Ecology Land use Urban

Healthy sections

Unhealthy sections

Area at risk of flooding

River corridor

Urban area

Focus areasUrban areas - flood risk?Land useRiver corridor

Working within the landscape

High value land: no restoration here

Channel moving around – issues with drain maintenance

Regeneration opportunity

Space for a functioning river

Local factors & opportunities

Possibility of small-scale works

Possibility of small-scale works

2 metre statutory buffer

Ecology Land use Urban

Restore to reduce flood risk

Less maintenanceBetter habitats

Stepping stone restoration

Stepping stone restoration

River plan

No change

No change

Land not used for agriculture Old channel still present

Rural restoration opportunity

£22,000 from SEPA Total value £48,000

low cost active restoration

Logie burn

Urban restoration partnership

Funder amount

Water Environment Fund £100,000

Total UK £60,000

Aberdeen Greenspaces Trust Ltd £62,500

Aberdeen Forward £50,000

North East Local Biodiversity Action plan

£2000

Aberdeen City Council £15500

Aberdeen City Council – in kind contribution

£30000

Total £320000

Small scale stepping stone example

Catchment plan

River plan

River plan

River plan

Q & A

Discussion questions

• Is improvements based on constraints the right approach?

• Improvements: where might benefits outweigh costs?

• Constraints: where might costs outweigh benefits?