Large wood (re)introduction can deliver multiple benefits in river restoration, but there is a dearth of the detailed and longer-term post-project monitoring and evaluation required for improving best practice. We present findings from an academic partnership approach to post-project evaluation, based on successive MSc research projects on restored large wood in the Loddon catchment, UK. Field and modelling data reveal: (i) key differences in large wood features between restored and natural reaches; (ii) increased hydraulic retention and changes to mesohabitats associated with large wood; (iii) differences in macroinvertebrate community composition around large wood but a lack of site-level effects; (iv) interactions between macrophytes and large wood that may be specific to restored reaches; (v) a need for further field and modelling studies to inform the accurate representation of large wood in hydraulic models. Some key challenges in partnership working are identified to aid planning and effectiveness of future collaborations.

Floods can cause severe and rapid changes in rivers. They can erode river banks and deposit vast quantities of sediment. This can impact on land-use, infrastructure (such as bridges and culverts), and properties where flood risk is increased. Understanding these natural processes, and where they are more likely to occur, can inform risk assessment, and identify opportunities to work with nature. Approaches to identify geomorphological actitivity in rivers have been reviewed to determine which could have potential to create a nationwide assessment of river channel change in England and Wales. Two existing approaches and two novel approaches have been tested and validated against fluvial audits to determine how well they identify geomorphological activity. One of the new approaches developed though the research was used to create a national scenario library of erosion maps representing different sediment sizes, channel roughness, and rainfall probabilities. Such information could be used to plan for future change, prioritise channel maintenance activity to locations with greatest risk or opportunity, and deliver sustainable flood risk and environment management.