TENDER FOR HYDRODYNAMIC MONITORING FOR THE BLACKWATER ESTUARY NATURAL FLOOD MANAGEMENT PROJECT

The RSPB has secured funding to deliver sand and gravel beach recharge in the Blackwater Estuary.

The Blackwater Estuary NFM project is funded through the Environment Agency's £25m Natural Flood Management Programme which aims to protect communities from flooding whilst providing benefit to nature and society.

Working with partners, Essex Wildlife Trust and Harwich Haven Authority, the RSPB will create and replenish approximately 6.7 Ha of shingle beach in the Blackwater Estuary to protect coastal flood defences and intertidal saltmarsh, whilst creating habitat for beach nesting birds, the nesting sites of which are increasingly under threat due to climate change induced sea level rise.

One of the requirements of the funding is to undertake monitoring to demonstrate the benefit of Natural Flood Management in reducing flood risk and filling knowledge gaps on the effectiveness of NFM.

The RSPB and partners are undertaking a suite of monitoring to demonstrate the flood risk and ecological benefits of beach recharge.

This will include the use of miniature buoys to measure and understand changes in hydrodynamic regime following a recharge campaign