The Blackminster Brook project is a dual aimed catchment wide scheme aimed at restoring and enhancing a range of habitats within the Badsey/Broadway brook, whilst removing in-channel barriers. Habitat restoration aims to improve biodiversity, water quality and flooding capacity, whilst barrier removal will unlock greater sections of the brook for fish passage and sediment transport.
The challenge
The Broadway/Badsey brook and its associated catchment has been afforded ‘poor’ ecological status under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). This is due to agriculture and rural land management, and the pollution from the water industry. In addition to this, the brook has roughly 30 barriers to fish passage, starting less than 2km from its confluence with the Avon at Offenham, near Evesham, all the way up to its headwaters near Broadway.
Aims & Targets
- We are looking to remove or provide easements for multiple barriers to fish passage on the Badsey/Broadway brook. Many of the barriers are completely impassible, even during high flows. Tackling these will allow increased range in fish presence, boosting populations, whilst also enabling functional sediment transfer throughout the brook. This means silt and fine sediment can be flushed through the system, exposing natural gravels, improving in-channel habitat for fish, macroinvertebrates and macrophytes.
- Backwater creation and floodplain re-connection. The Badsey/Broadway brook flows into the River Avon, which is well known for its strong course fish populations and angling. With this connectivity, backwater pools will be created which will provide valuable habitat for all stages of the course fish lifecycle, helping with sustainable longevity for aquatic life. We will also aim to re-connect valuable floodplains to help store floodwater in high flows and again improve biodiversity within those areas. This could be done by raising bed levels or pulling back the bank itself to allow water to spill out in high flows.
- To restore and enhance the riparian corridor within the Badsey/Broadway brook catchment. This builds ecological resilience against run-off and land management, increasing water quality and biodiversity. This would be done by planting or fencing riparian areas . The vegetated buffer zones will help prevent sediment and run-off from reaching the brook, whilst fencing off areas from livestock allows prevents bankside poaching.
