The Eddleston Water Project, funded by the Scottish Government, is long-term study of the effectiveness of natural flood management techniques to reduce flood risk to downstream communities and improve wetland habitats for wildlife
The Eddleston Water Project is investigating the effectiveness of natural flood management (NFM) techniques and habitat restoration measures at a catchment scale. NFM is one part of a whole catchment approach to improving flood resilience. NFM works alongside other measures such as flood walls, flood forecasting and warning schemes, planning control and behavioural responses to provide a plan-led approach to reducing flood risk and tackling climate change. The Eddleston Water Project looks to provide the evidence base to assess the value, costs and benefits of restoring some of the natural characteristics of a typical Scottish river system through changes to land management practices across the whole catchment.
The Eddleston Water is a tributary of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, with a catchment of 69 km² draining south to join the main river at Peebles. Within the catchment there is a mix of forestry, rough grazing and improved grassland. It has distinct sources and pathways in terms of flood generation and water movement down the valley, making it ideal for study.
Historically, the course of the Eddleston Water was extensively altered. Long sections were straightened in the early 19th century to enable the building of a toll road from Peebles to Edinburgh. This, along with the later building of a railway line and embankment, and land drainage to improve agricultural production, altered how the valley drains as well as disconnecting the river from its floodplain. As a result, flood waters travel quickly and directly from the hill slopes and along the river channels towards downstream communities. This has increased flood risk, and caused habitat loss and damage to the river and other wetlands across the catchment.
The project uses NFM measures, such as river re-meandering, tree planting, installation of large wood structures and the creation of new wetlands, with the aim of slowing the speed and impact of floodwaters; as well as creating new wildlife habitat, such as improved spawning for Atlantic salmon. Our project partnership has been closely monitoring the results of incorporating this range of NFM measures throughout the catchment and you can read more about this over on our progress to date page.
The project is a partnership initiative led by Tweed Forum, with the Scottish Government, SEPA and University of Dundee. Other key partners include British Geological Survey, NatureScot, Scottish Borders Council, Heriot Watt and Edinburgh Napier universities, the Forestry Commission, National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, the Tweed Foundation, Scottish Forestry, Forest Carbon and the Woodland Trust. Tweed Forum works closely with landowners and the local community so that everyone can contribute ideas and follow the project’s progress.
The short film below gives a great introduction to the project’s history and achievements; if you’d like to find out more please visit our project videos page where we have a range of material showcasing the award-winning, UNESCO-recognised Eddleston Water Project.
For further information, please contact:
Luke Comins (Project Manager, Tweed Forum) luke@tweedforum.org
Prof. Chris Spray (Dundee University) c.j.spray@dundee.ac.uk
