Essex Rivers Hub

Description of Section

An urbanised section of river characterised by concrete reinforced banks. Vegetation is only able to grown between cracks in the concrete, which limits the potential for vegetation along the banks. There are lots of pipes and runoff point so urban drainage will be having a significant impact on the water quality.

The area (land use)

The dominant land use for this stretch of river is suburban/urban.

No livestock were recorded.

Channel characteristics

The river channel consists of mainly unknown, and riffles are present.

At the time of recording the flow of water was medium and the channel was <1m / 1-2m wide and <0.5m in depth.

For most of this stretch the channel profile is steep sided upstream but become shallow..

Bankside trees were rare, marginal plants and in-channel plants are rare. Woody debris was noted to be rare.

Engineering

The channel has been straightened and man-made enhancements are present along this stretch of river.

Field drains were recorded as present and barriers / culverts are present.

Condition

Areas of trampling / poaching were absent and areas of erosion were absent at the time of the survey.

Additional Information:

Small amounts of in-channel algae was seen during the survey and suspected sewage fungus in some of the runoff from pipes (likely related to poor plumbing in the area and other runoff from roads, etc). Where there is vegetation it largely consists of grass, willow herb and Elder. Himalayan Balsam was seen in small amounts.

Wildlife

Common urban species such as Crows, Wood Pigeons, Mallards, Robins and Grey Wagtails were seen during the surveys