Ref: CSFF020007
Lead: Ian Creighton
Contact:
ian@westcumbriatriverstrust.org
philippa@westcumbriariverstrust.org
Group members: 4
Length of agreement: 3
Area of group (hectares): 2499
-Creating, expanding or linking priority habitats – native woodland – and riparian habitat associated with priority rivers and lakes; including the creation of priority habitat that contributes to
improvements in water quality, air quality and flood risk reduction.
Restore or maintain SSSIs (part of the River Derwent SAC, Lake District High Fells SAC, Buttermere SSSI)
Options to reduce flood risk to the communities of Lorton and Low Lorton (& Cockermouth further downstream) including reducing the amount and rate of surface water runoff, reduce soil erosion and slow movement of water on floodplains.
The River Cocker catchment is a priority for sediment and phosphate reduction, and Buttermere and Crummock are priority lake habitats. The group will seek to deliver all of the priorities above.
Many of the interventions that could be undertaken would seek to deliver multiple priorities, and the multiple benefit interventions will form greatest focus for the group. For example native woodland and riparian woodland creation for biodiversity, water quality and flood risk reduction; and good soil management for carbon storage, water quality and flood risk reduction.
Opportunities will also be sought to manage watercourses and floodplains differently, by improving connectivity between watercourses and the floodplain to improve biodiversity, water quality and flood risk, and encouraging the ‘roughening-up’ of floodplains to slow the flow through measures such as riparian tree planting, hedgerow creation and complex vegetation structures.
