Stage Zero

Stage Zero is a term loosely applied to putting the river back into a state before man intervened, allowing the river to move within the valley as part of natural processes.

Stage Zero: Chipping Norton Brook

The Environment Agency, the ECP (through Smarter Water Catchment funding) and Cotswold National Landscape have jointly funded the creation of three new wetlands in the Evenlode Valley, along the Chipping Norton Brook near Chipping Norton. The project, which was devised and delivered by the ECP, has created a total of four and a half hectares of wetland habitats adjacent to the original line of the Cornwell Brook.   

The brook has historically been straightened and dredged, most probably to improve land drainage, but the result is that it leaves the river separated from its floodplain.  

Rivers connected to floodplains benefit from slowing moving water and therefore less flood risk to the valley and local communities downstream. They can also naturally filter sediments and nutrients, provide refuge for fish from high flows and create species rich wetland habitats.

Stage Zero: Dorn restoration

This rewetting of the river valley will help in flood alleviation and in times of drought, thus making the river more resilient to climate change and improving the habitat for wildlife. It has been a collaborative project on the Blenheim Estate which has brought together the ECP partners including Atkins, The Environment Agency, Blenheim Estate, The Forestry Commission and Natural England.

Over the centuries, through man’s actions, the river has become disconnected from the floodplain. This project involves using a series of natural timber barriers and swales to push the River Dorn back out into the floodplain, in much the same way beaver dams would have done in the past.

Weir removal

The small weir on the mill leat on the Bruern Estate was creating a barrier to fish movement. Using funding from the European ‘Open Rivers Programme’ the ECP had the weir removed and the channel modified using timber.