Smithills
Floodplains
Smithills, England, United Kingdom Planting 140,000 trees for the Northern Forest initiative. Dean Brook in Smithills, Bolton, in the northwest of England rises 456 meters onto the peatlands of Winter Hill. At its rural source waters, Dean Brook flows off the West Pennine Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest, then through woodlands and agricultural channels before flowing through the urban areas of Smithills. Dean Brook poses a flood risk to Smithills, spilling 12,282 cubic meters of water in a 100-year event, affecting a total of 53 properties and more downstream. In 2015, the Woodland Trust acquired 6 square kilometer flowing down to Smithills; and together with the Environment Agency, Mersey Forest, and the University of Liverpool set to restoring the site through natural flood management. The team began by planting 30,000 new trees; then installed thirteen engineered logjams to function as leaky dams, which intercept flood flows but allow lower flows to pass through; and reconnected parts of Dean Brook with its floodplain by uncovering 150 meters of buried watercourse. The project is planting 140,000 trees on the Woodland Trust’s estate as a pilot site through the Northern Forest initiative with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Together, these efforts will slow, store, disconnect and hold-up overland flows, in effect holding floodwaters in the landscape.
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