The de-culverted Quaggy (London, UK): A multi-functional blue-green city space The Quaggy river is 5.6 km in length and crosses London’s Sutcliffe Park, a large area of open parkland. For years, the Quaggy was culverted at Sutcliffe Park, and local residents only became aware that a river was there when their homes flooded more frequently as development in the floodplain increased. From 2003-2007, a project to de-culvert the Quaggy was implemented in a multi-disciplinary scheme combining flood risk management with river restoration to benefit the local community. The project was part of the London Rivers Action Plan (2009) and entailed the establishment of a new 'low-flow' meandering channel through the park, following the Quaggy’s original alignment. The previous culvert was retained, enabling it to take excess water in times of extreme flood events. Flow is now regulated between the two water courses by a sluice. To provide further flood water storage, the park itself was lowered and re-shaped to create a floodplain capable of storing a maximum of 85,000 cubic metres of flood water. A network of boardwalks, pathways and viewing points were designed to encourage access to the river and ponds, all of which were an integral part of the scheme. Furthermore, the project employed a community liaison officer, interacting with schools, colleges and local charities, who also became actively involved in the delivery of the project. The project has been successful in achieving a flood risk reduction for the surrounding area, and in reconnecting people to nature (since opening the park visits have increased by 73%). The implementation of the project as part of a wider catchment scheme has enabled other habitat mitigation measures in more constrained environments downstream to be implemented. River Quaggy before and after restoration. Photo: @xxx |
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