CLIMATE RESILIENT MEVAGISSEY

Climate Resilient Mevagissey seeks to take a whole catchment approach to natural flood management. This village in Cornwall has been subject to serious flooding events due to a combination of a flashy stream and high sea levels. By working with all the landowners in the upper catchment WRT intends to reduce the impacts of surface water run off on peak stream flows. Each farm has a tailor-made set of interventions proposed, including soil aeration,  buffer strips, leaky dams, Cornish hedgebanks and river channel restoration.  

Due to the long-term data collection from a weather station and flow gauge in the catchment, alongside a suite of additional monitoring during the course of the project, we hope to quantify some of the benefits achieved through these interventions. These include habitat provision, pollution reduction and water retention increasing resilience to drought as well as flood. Look out for some of these interventions when you visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which is at the top of the catchment.  

Willow bundles across a steep track at Heligan gardens help to slow the flow and trap sediment from surface water run off.