River being 're-wiggled' to help reduce flooding

A wildlife trust has begun to "re-wiggle" the course of a river to help reduce flooding events.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is re-meandering the River Were at Smallbrook Meadows Nature Reserve to allow water to flow over onto the fields rather than down stream.

Originally, the river had been artificially straightened to make it flow faster.

Connor Stapleton-Goddard at the Trust said: "We want the rain to spill over the land where we want it to rather than funnelling all that water down stream where it's flooding towns or cities."

Rebecca Clay from the trust added: "If you look one side of the bridge, the river looks straight, and if you look on the other side you can see that's where we started to re-meander the river.

"It helps with soil erosion, biodiversity and habitats for creatures, things that are really important to us in the Trust."

Work to re-wiggle the river will include digging new ditches and reducing the banks in certain places.

Mr Stapleton said: "What we're seeing in the light of climate change is an increased variability in rainfall patterns, and with that you get increased rainfall events.

"The drainage systems just aren't able to cope with it."

He added that they are looking at long-term funding for the project.

"We're not expecting land owners or farmers to give up their land for nothing."

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