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Case Study Key

Cost bandings

Information on costings of case studies that implement mitigation measures has been split into two levels:

  • Cost of technique: the cost of the element of the scheme that fulfils the mitigation measure
  • Overall scheme cost: the total cost of the scheme, including all non-WFD related costs
  • Benefits: an ecosystem services estimate of the benefits associated with implementing the mitigation measure

Cost bandings are as follows:

  • £ = £1k-£10k
  • ££ = £10k-£50k
  • £££ = £50k-£100k
  • ££££ = £100k-£500k
  • £££££ = £500k+

This website is written for a UK target audience. All costs are given in GBP (not Euros).

Ecosystem services compass diagrams

Ecosystem services can be defined as the multiple benefits the environment provides such as: biodiversity, natural water management and recreation.

We assessed the ecosystem services provided by each case study, scoring each of the benefits on a scale of 0-5 (with 0 giving the least benefits and 5 delivering the most).

Each diagram shows the ecosystem service benefits associated with each case study. The diagrams allow a simple visual comparison of the benefits, and gives an indication of the wider environmental performance of each technique.

This assessment is high-level and does not represent the results of a quantitative assessment.

Each case study provides different ecosystem service benefits. When we assessed the mutiple-benefits of each study we identified which of the following were relevant to the case study and scored them accordingly: 

  • Biomass = increases the potential to establish habitats for ecology (in-channel, marginal, banks and riparian flora, as well as in-channel fauna such as fish)
  • Surface water storage = increases the capacity for surface water storage at the site
  • Climate regulation = helps to regulate the local climate via natural processes
  • Carbon storage =  provides some offset of carbon emissions by storing organic carbon in vegetation at the site
  • Water flow and flood regulation = will improve or ensure maintenance of the current flow and flood risk
  • Erosion regulation = will reduce or maintain the existing erosion levels of the local river bed, banks or coastline 
  • Recreation & tourism = will improve recreation and tourism in the local area by providing an environment which people are more likely to engage with
  • Aesthetics = will improve the visual appeal of the site to people
  • Science & education = represents an advance in the current understanding of mitigation measures and their implementation or educating people (including catchment managers) in the functionality of the water environment
  • Cultural heritage = the capacity to preserve or improve the cultural heritage value of assets at the site
  • Maintenance of biodiversity = ensures that biodiversity is maintained though not necessarily by increasing biomass (through control of invasive species, improvement of conditions for establishment for a range of species, etc.)

Links

A summary version of this guide and associated case studies can be downloaded here, right click on the link below, select 'Save As', and select a location to save the document to your computer: