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Source to Sea Nature-Based Solutions

An ambitious catchment-wide programme. Working with natural processes to support nature recovery and slow and store water. And providing a healthy, natural environment for people to enjoy.

Background:

Source to Sea is our response to the climate and nature emergencies. It’s will make South Yorkshire more resilient to issues such as flooding and drought.

Natural flood management techniques are the focus of this programme. That means reducing flood risk by restoring and mimicking the natural functions of catchments, floodplains and rivers. We aim to slow and hold water by protecting and restoring landscape features like wet woodlands. Find out more about different natural flood management features.

Natural flood management is only one of the environmental benefits that Source to Sea delivers. Others include improvements in water quality, biodiversity, resilience to drought, and carbon absorption. It also enhances environments for communities to enjoy. For that reason, we often use the term nature-based solutions.

Location:

River Don catchment

Timeframe:

Began in 2021 and ongoing

Partners:

Source to Sea is a collaboration between many partners and stakeholders with a wide range of expertise, including:

An image of logos for the range of partner organisations involved in Source to Sea

Cost:

So far we’ve secured almost £2 million for several projects. We will need an estimated further £40 million to achieve our aspirations for the whole of Source to Sea.

Summary of programme:

Covering most of South Yorkshire, the Don catchment contains a varied landscape. It encompasses upland hills in the Peak District and the headwaters of the Rother in Derbyshire and the Dearne near Barnsley. And it takes in the lowlands around Doncaster, where the Lower River Don reaches the tidal Ouse at the head of the Humber estuary.

Taking these varied geographies and political boundaries into account, the Source to Sea programme is split into three workstreams: Upper Don, Middle Don and Lower Don.


Credit: Connected By Water

1. Peatland restoration
Blocking drainage gullies and increasing peat-building plants helps to store water, reduce erosion and lock in carbon. Normally in the upper catchment unless there is lowland peat.

2. Leaky barriers
Logs placed across streams/channels to slow the flow during storms. Can be used throughout the catchment.

3. Woodland creation & restoration
Trees take up and evaporate water and increase absorption into the ground through their root systems. Can be used throughout the catchment.

4. Cross slope hedgerows
Planted in the path of water to absorb water and slow its flow. Can be used throughout the catchment.

5. Attenuation ponds
Ponds used to store extra water before slowly releasing. Can be used throughout the catchment.

6. Bunds and scrapes
Raised ground and hollows to temporarily hold water flows back. Like attenuation ponds but don’t hold water all of the time. Can be used throughout the catchment.

7. River restoration
Restoring the path of the river after previous human intervention. Often includes rewiggling the river. Can be used throughout the catchment.

8. Soil & land management
Aerating soil, planting winter cover crops and increasing buffer strips at field boundaries can help ground hold more water. Can be used throughout the catchment.

9. Wet woodland
A type of woodland creation/restoration. The woodland holds water most of the time and extra water during storms. Can be used throughout the catchment.

10. Offline storage
Channelling the flow of water to be held in areas not connected to the river. Can be used throughout the catchment.

11. Buffer strips
Trees/vegetation alongside watercourses that help slow the flow into them. Can be used throughout the catchment.

12. Floodplain reconnection
Allowing water to be stored temporarily, outside of the river and where it would naturally go in times of high flow. Used in middle catchment and lower catchment.

Upper Don: Peak District National Park and Sheffield

This programme covers the upper catchment of the River Don. The area contains moorland within the Peak District National Park, transitioning through farmland to urban areas towards Sheffield. The headwaters of the Don flow through a range of environments, such as peatland, steep sided wooded valleys and grazed farmland. This varied land use provides many opportunities to reduce flood risk and improve biodiversity.

From the Little Don to the River Loxley and Sheaf catchments, our Source to Sea projects demonstrate a range of nature-based solutions across Sheffield’s uplands. We worked with Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust and the Steel Valley Project on these projects. They show how we can work with natural processes on both publicly owned and privately farmed land. On each, we are reducing flood risk while enhancing environmental, economic and social benefits.

A watercourse with steep sides and logs to hold back the flow of water.
Leaky dams in Stocksbridge, Sheffield – Credit: Steel Valley Project

A pond containing water in a wooded area in Sheffield.
Attenuation pond at Lady Canning’s Plantation – Credit: Environment Agency

Projects

Three initial projects in the Sheffield area were “demonstrators.” We used them to showcase natural flood management techniques and delivery through collaborative partnerships.

Limb Brook, south-west Sheffield

  • Partnership between the Environment Agency, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. With vital input from Wildlife Trust and Friends of Ecclesall Woods volunteers and Sheffield Hallam University.
  • Installed over 50 leaky dams and 18 attenuation ponds, from Lady Canning’s Plantation to Whirlow Playing Fields and Ecclesall Woods.
  • Together these features slow the flow of water downstream and improve habitats for wildlife.
  • Our main aim is to hold water back and help to prevent a sudden high flow into the River Sheaf following heavy rainfall.
  • Fixed point photography posts throughout the Limb Valley involve the public, asking them to send us photos in different weather conditions. They help us build evidence about how well the project is working.
  • Completed in 2023, costing £243,000.

Find out more.

Upper Loxley, north-west Sheffield

  • Partnership between the Environment Agency, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. 
  • Installed nature-based solutions on three farms in the uplands above Loxley near Sheffield.
  • Benefitted from the Wildlife Trust’s long-standing relationship with local farmers. 
  • As with all nature-based solutions, the measures delivered have multiple benefits. Restoring an area of mire, for example, helps to store water. Doing so reduces flood risk and also absorbs more carbon, enhances habitat and increases drought resilience. 
  • Livestock-proof fencing and extra drinking points encourage cattle out of the watercourses. These interventions improve water quality, reduce erosion and prevent animals getting stuck.  
  • Completed in 2024, costing £151,000.

Stocksbridge and Bradfield, north-west Sheffield

  • Delivered by local environmental charity Steel Valley Project, in collaboration with Sheffield City Council and the Environment Agency. 
  • Steel Valley Project and volunteers are installing over 70 leaky dams on watercourses across 12 sites, and 10 attenuation ponds to store rainfall. They are also planting 5,000 trees to slow the flow of water across the ground. 
  • Due for completion later in 2024, costing £200,000. 

Find out more.

Middle Don: North East Derbyshire, Rotherham and Barnsley

Our nature-based solutions around Chesterfield, Rotherham and Barnsley aim to reduce flood risk while enhancing water quality, biodiversity and carbon absorption.

We have ambitious plans to expand established work and develop new opportunities, such as:

  • Wetland and naturalised water storage areas
  • Reconnecting and re-naturalising floodplains and river channels
  • Improving land management to provide multiple environmental benefits
  • Restoring woodland and increasing tree cover

A full pond storing water.
Attenuation pond in Grassmoor County Park, Chesterfield – Credit: Environment Agency

Projects

Grassmoor Natural Flood Management, Chesterfield

  • Delivered by Don Catchment Rivers Trust with support from the Friends of Grassmoor Country Park, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Derbyshire County Council and the Environment Agency.
  • Part of the Hidden Heritage Secret Streams project. Aiming to reconnect people in the area with rivers and watercourses severely degraded by the impacts of historical industries. With a strong focus on citizen science and volunteer-lead activities.
  • Creating wetland scrapes and attenuation ponds at Grassmoor Country Park. Doing so slows the flow to Spital Brook and subsequently the River Rother at Chesterfield, and improves in-stream habitats.
  • Providing 1,250m3 of flood storage capacity and 1.5 hectares of marshy grassland.
  • Completed in 2022, costing £275,000.

Find out more.

Dearne Valley Soil Aeration Programme

  • Don Catchment Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency are working with farmers and landowners in the Dearne Valley Farm Cluster. 
  • Improving flood risk and soil quality by aerating (adding air to) over 200 hectares of grassland.
  • In July 2023, the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee allocated funding for the cluster to buy an aerator.
  • Delivering environmental and agricultural benefits, such as reduced compaction and increased microbial activity.
  • Helping to store more water within the landscape, reducing overland flow and flow peaks in the River Dearne in times of greater rainfall.

Shire Brook, River Rother, south-east Sheffield

  • Led by Sheffield City Council in partnership with South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, Woodhouse Community and District Forum and the Environment Agency.
  • Funded with a grant from the Species Survival Fund (Defra and the National Lottery Heritage Fund).
  • A landscape-scale project covering 450 acres, including the 100-acre Shire Brook Valley Nature Reserve.
  • Improving habitat for wildlife in the nature reserve and interconnecting green and blue spaces.
  • Incorporating features to hold more water and slow the flow of water, helping reduce flood risk.
  • Engaging people and attracting new audiences to learn about wildlife and benefit their health and wellbeing. With educational sessions, family activities and Forest Schools for those with dementia.

Find out more.

Lower Don: Doncaster

The catchment of the Lower River Don is mostly low-lying land. It has a complex, interconnected system of engineered defences, including embankments, walls, and storage reservoirs. These defences provide protection against flooding but there is still risk that we cannot eliminate. For some communities, this risk will increase with climate change. The Lower Don Source to Sea programme will reassess the current approach to flood risk management across Doncaster.

An aerial view of the lower Don catchment showing the river Don, railway lines and fields.
Bentley Flood Corridor, River Don – Credit: Environment Agency

The project has two strands of work:

1. Nature-based solutions focussing on developing climate resilience and natural flood management techniques. Including sustainable land management, wetland creation, optimising existing floodplain storage, and tree planting.

2. A strategic asset review. Evaluating the condition of the structures involved in flood defence and water management, such as embankments, walls and pumping stations. This review will identify what works are necessary.

Projects

Bentley Natural Flood Management

  • Funded by £600,000 from Defra’s natural flood management programme to reduce flood risk in Bentley. 
  • Led by City of Doncaster Council.
  • The project includes two interlinked areas in the river catchment within the Bentley Mill Stream corridor. One will create wetland and wet woodland habitat. The second will improve flood plain connectivity, create wetland scrapes and improve public access in Bentley.
  • Long-term monitoring of the downstream section will include water quality testing, fixed point photography and habitat surveys. The outcomes will quantify the project’s benefits on Bentley Mill Stream.

Conisbrough Natural Flood Management

  • Led by City of Doncaster Council and funded through a number of partners, including the Environment Agency and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
  • A modelling and feasibility study has identified interventions across the Kearsley Brook catchment. They include attenuation features, leaky barriers, buffer strips, hedgerows, and river restoration. 
  • Currently producing the detailed design in collaboration with our consultant. With the aim of starting construction in spring 2025 and completion in spring 2026. 
  • Engaged with local landowners and internal stakeholders to discuss the proposed interventions and reduce flood risk to 16 properties within Conisbrough.

Natural Flood Management Opportunity Mapping

  • Led by City of Doncaster Council with a number of partners, including the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. With the aim of extending participation to others. 
  • Funded through internal capital revenue. 
  • Borough-wide mapping exercise to identify areas most suitable for specific natural flood management interventions. The findings of this study will support the council in developing a suite of schemes across Doncaster. 
  • Currently in the early stages of data sharing with our consultant.

Further Information

View projects located in: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield
View similar projects tagged with: Natural Flood Management
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