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.)