National Trust and United Utilities join forces to ‘Slow the Flow’ of water on Stubbins Estate in Lancashire
The National Trust and United Utilities have joined forces on a project which aims to improve water quality in the River Irwell and its tributaries by using natural flood management techniques to ‘slow the flow’ of water running off the hills.
Works have started to install a range of ‘leaky dams’ across the Stubbins Estate in the Upper Irwell catchment, which lies directly below Holcombe Moor, part of the West Pennine Moors.
Natural flood management measures are becoming increasingly widespread, particularly in northern England, driven by intensified flooding from climate change and a strategic shift towards nature-based solutions.
Over the next two years, the project will see four different types of dams installed across moorland, farmland and woodland. They are all designed to either hold back or slow the flow of rainwater and will play an important role in reducing the flow that runs off the land into the sewer network and the River Irwell during high rainfall events.
Making rainwater soak into the ground or temporarily pool upstream can drastically reduce flash flooding in more populated areas and ease pressure on the sewer network during periods of heavy rainfall.
Other wider benefits include increased carbon capture and biodiversity, improved upland habitats and increased resilience to wildfire.
The project is supported by the Environment Agency and Natural England and builds on previous peatland restoration and natural flood management carried out on Holcombe Moor.
Nik Taylor, Area Ranger at the National Trust, said: “The leaky dams form part of our wider work to mitigate climate change, reduce flooding, support farming and improve biodiversity and habitats across our moorland, farmland and woodland areas.
“Working in partnership with United Utilities, we're sharing time and knowledge to make a difference for nature, downstream communities, businesses, tenant farmers and commoners.”
The project is funded by United Utilities as part of its £280m Rainwater Management Programme which is using nature and smart engineering across towns, cities and rural uplands to create climate-ready environments and reduce pressure on the sewer network.
Marianne Ridley, Insights Manager for Rainwater Management at United Utilities, said: “These leaky dams will hold rainwater in the uplands for longer, allowing woodland and moorland to function more naturally like a sponge. Vitally, for us, slowing the flow of water reduces flood risk to the communities below and improves the resilience of United Utilities’ operational network.
“By holding water in the land for longer, they also bring a range of other benefits including the creation of a variety of habitats where plants and wildlife can thrive, improvements to water quality by trapping sediment and reducing erosion and helping streams and rivers behave more naturally.
“This project is a great example of the many benefits of working together and taking a whole-catchment approach. It has given us a valuable opportunity to share expertise, test new solutions and learn what works best. We are excited to see how this will shape and drive future projects in upland catchments.”
Monitoring will be carried out pre and post intervention to provide a useful comparison against baseline data and demonstrate the efficiency of the works. Different data capture techniques will look to identify the relationship between uplands, natural flood management, and drainage catchments, as well as highlighting the wider benefits.
Teams from the National trust and United Utilities will work alongside The University of Liverpool and The University of Manchester to closely monitor environmental changes and assess the long-term impacts of the work, providing vital information to inform other similar projects across the British uplands.