In 2016, conservationists put the bends back into a Lake District river straightened 200 years earlier

Atlantic salmon returned to historic spawning grounds in Cumbria within months after conservationists restored the natural bends of a river that farmers had straightened about 200 years earlier.

The 2016 project rebuilt a 1.1-kilometre stretch of Swindale Beck near Haweswater in the Lake District. Diggers replaced the raised, artificial channel with a winding course along the valley floor, using old maps and digital elevation data to trace the river’s original path.

Farmers had straightened the beck to drain surrounding land and move water away from the hills more quickly. The change created more farmland, but fast-flowing water washed away gravel and sediment. It also removed the slower sections and pools that fish need to rest and reproduce, making the area unsuitable for migratory species such as Atlantic salmon and brown trout.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and landowner United Utilities jointly managed the £212,500 project with the Environment Agency and Natural England. Workers redirected the water into the new channel, filled sections of the old ditch and replanted them with native plants from nearby hay meadows designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Heavy rain struck soon after the new channel opened. Rather than damaging the banks, the storm helped redistribute gravel naturally and formed a mix of pools and shallow, faster-flowing sections. Within weeks, salmon traveling from the Solway Firth through the River Eden system reached the restored bends. “It’s fantastic that salmon are now spawning in the restored river channel,” said John Gorst, a catchment officer at United Utilities. He said the old channel’s high flows had removed the small gravel salmon need for spawning.

The restoration also sought to improve drinking water quality, reduce downstream flood risks and rebuild habitats for aquatic insects and river birds. The project received the UK River Prize in 2022.

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It’s fantastic that salmon are now spawning in the restored river channel. The old, straightened channel was far from ideal, as it resulted in high water flows, which removed the small gravels which salmon require for spawning.