Hydrology is the study of water in the environment, considering the impact of land management on water courses both up and down stream. It is also inextricably linked with how it impacts biodiversity, soil health and indeed human health. Making small changes at Sapperton may have big benefits for the flora & fauna in the fields and crucially help slow the flow downstream after heavy rainfall.
Straddling the upper Frome and the upper Thames catchments, land management at Sapperton directly effects these watercourses. The team, with guidance from Stroud District Council’s hydrology team, are investigating how to integrate natural flood management (NFM) processes to ‘slow the flow’ routes down and keep fields wetter for longer, mitigating the flood risk downstream. Minor landscaping interventions of low earth mounds known as ‘bunds’ can slow the flow and improve soil structure.
To learn more, please visit
https://www.stroud.gov.uk/environment/flooding-and-drainage/stroud-valleys-natural-flood-management-project
