Essex wetland project will reduce flooding and restore nature - Environment Agency

A new natural flood management scheme near Colchester, Essex is now completed, ready for winter.

• A natural flood management scheme is complete near Colchester, Essex
• 5-hectare wetland scheme will improve flood storage whilst enhancing biodiversity
• Collaborative project completes after three years is ready for winter weather

The Fiddlers Hill wetland project in Fordham, Essex has recently been completed. This natural flood management scheme increases the meadow’s capacity to hold water during heavy rainfall whilst creating habitats and enhancing biodiversity.

Large, shallow ponds known as scrapes have been dug across 5 hectares of floodplain grazing meadow on the River Colne, upstream of Colchester. Work included excavating ponds, expanding fen areas, creating shallow channels, and lowering riverbanks to encourage seasonal flooding.

What was once farmland has been transformed into diverse wetland habitats with increased capacity to hold water. The ponds will help reduce the risk of flooding locally, including to the road on nearby Fiddlers Hill. If this approach can be replicated at multiple sites throughout the catchment however, cumulative flood risk benefits may be delivered to communities downstream including Colchester.

This is a three-year collaboration between Essex & Suffolk Rivers Trust, the Woodland Trust, the Environment Agency, Essex Wildlife Trust and Essex County Council. The scheme demonstrates how nature-based solutions can better protect communities from flooding whilst enhancing the environment.