Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Story
During Storm Desmond in 2015, significant rainfall in the small catchment where Birds Park Reservoir lies, caused flooding to over 600 properties in eastern Kendal. This small catchment, which starts above Birds Park Reservoir on the slopes of Benson Knott, feeds water into the three arms of Stock Beck. Stock Beck then flows through culverts in Sandylands, occasionally appearing as open concrete channels. The culverts are too small to cope with the high volumes of water during extreme storm events, which leads to the flooding of properties. Slowing the flow of water in the Stock Beck catchment is an important option, as holding back water for short periods of time during storm events reduces the height of flood peaks.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust is working in partnership with the Environment Agency, which has funded the project, to deliver a programme of natural flood management research in the Stock Beck Catchment.
Image Credit: Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
Useful Learnings from Cumbria Wildlife Trust
We worked in partnership with the Environment Agency and United Utilities and recruited volunteers from local Kendal Conservation Volunteers to carry out some of the work.
A specialist contractor was hired to construct hydro walls and Lancaster University recorded data on the effectiveness of the project. The partnership between organisations was crucial in making this project happen.