Development and Engineering Issues

Even when management work or development in or near a river or burn has been carefully thought out and executed, there may be a knock on effect on stretches outwith the immediate area of the work and sometimes at a considerable distance. Erosion may be accelerated in some areas and displaced material may affect water quality, damage spawning grounds, infill pools and result in siltation elsewhere. Such effects can alter the natural function of the river system and disturb and threaten wildlife.

In addition to the potential for detrimental impact on the biodiversity and morphology of the area there is also a potential for causing flooding through lack of consideration of the overall effect on a watercourse. For example, building flood banks may protect those in the immediate vicinity from flooding but it may also shift the problem downstream to affect others. In addition, although flood banks will hold back flood waters to a certain extent, once overtopped, the banks can trap water behind, leaving land flooded and useless for weeks rather than hours. Working with, rather than against, rivers can reduce the need for, and the scale of, intervention and can deliver cost-effective and long-lasting solutions to land and river management problems such as bank erosion.

The brown Action Cards in Part 2 of the CMP (numbers 18-20) address issues relating toDevelopment and Engineering.