Westcountry Rivers Trust: river catchment (water cycle) resources

Introduction

Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) https://wrt.org.uk/ hosts a wide range of teaching resources for both primary and secondary (a selection of GCSE resources can be found on the GCSE page). They also have a number of interesting Project Reports which are appropriate for A level and university study.

Here is a selection of resources:

• SPONGE2020 – an excellent informative brochure outlining natural management options and case studies, addressing urban flood risk in Taunton (http://somerset-sponge.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Sponge-2020-Taunton.pdf). Available as a download pdf below.

• Urban Green-Blue Grids (https://www.urbangreenbluegrids.com/) is an excellent European website focusing on urban resilience in the face of climate change. Through a selection of case studies, sustainable solutions are presented to issues such as urban flooding and loss of biodiversity. Terrific for A level urban and climate change research.

• Soils and Natural Flood Management – excellent, well-illustrated and informative brochure focusing on the role of soil in natural flood management in catchments, highly relevant in studying aspects of the water cycle (https://wrt.org.uk/project/soils-and-natural-flood-management/). Available as a download pdf below.

• Upstream Thinking – South West Water’s innovative catchment management programme focusing on protecting surface and groundwater resources from detrimental landscape impacts and on developing the Natural Capital stock of their catchments. Lots of case studies available in this brochure (https://wrt.org.uk/project/upstream-thinking/) also available as a download pdf below.

• River Restoration – why we’re adding woody material – An excellent webpage focusing on the role of woody material in natural catchment management (https://wrt.org.uk/project/woody-material/).

• Nature of Millbrook – terrific study of the Millbrook Flood, Cornwall (2012), its causes, effects and management (https://wrt.org.uk/project/the-nature-of-millbrook/)

• Tamar (Catchment-based Approach) – a great case study focusing on the ‘Catchment-based Approach (CaBA) which aims to bring together multiple interests in river basin management planning (https://wrt.org.uk/project/tamar-caba/).