Foulsham Restration

Start Sep-2022  End Feb-23

Norfolk Rivers Trust, the Water Management Alliance (IDB), and a private landowner completed a six-week project in the Foulsham tributary in January 2023. This EA-funded project aimed to deliver natural flood management solutions within the Wensum Catchment.

The project reconnected the tributary to its floodplain by diverting an existing IDB straight drain through a redundant reservoir which was desilted and re-profiled to trap sediment, store water and provide a haven for wildlife. A meandering stream with scrapes and pools flows across the meadows and rejoins the ditch downstream.

The project has greatly improved wetland habitat and will create a mosaic of wildflower meadow, grazing wetland, open woodland and a meandering stream with pools. This is a great example of partnership working to deliver improvements to the river catchment to improve riparian and aquatic habitats, whilst storing water in the floodplain.