Creating a pioneering model of urban river stewardship in Sheffield
Helen Batt, Environment Agency 30 June 2017
After the floods in 2007 in Sheffield the Environment Agency undertook a comprehensive programme of works to clear the River Don of tree growth, vegetation and debris. Both eyewitness accounts and subsequent modelling demonstrated the capacity of the channel was significantly compromised by years of under managed tree growth and invasive species growth during the summer months. Work started with significant tree clearance and shoal removal at a site upstream of the city centre. The scale of the work caused concern amongst local partners and the Agency paused the work and convened a workshop with partners to consider the remainder of the programme and opportunities to improve not only the current programme of works, but also to look at how the improvements to the channel could be sustained.
There was an existing partnership, Sheffield Waterways Strategy Group, which had been set up by Sheffield City Council in 2004 and supported by the Environment Agency. One of the aims of the group had been to develop a mechanism for ‘river stewardship’ – financially sustainable river maintenance.
The fledgling River Stewardship Company had been set up by many of the partners involved in the group in 2006 with the aim of persuading riparian landowners in Sheffield to pay the Company to deliver a river maintenance service, as well as generating social benefits for local volunteers and apprentices. Both the Environment Agency and the River Stewardship Company (RSC) could see that there was an opportunity to not only deliver the channel improvement works but also engage local riparian landowners in a sustainable solution to deliver the long term maintenance the river so badly needed. Click here to read more
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