Shropshire Wildlife Trust are leading on the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme’s Perry and Peatlands Demonstrator Project in north Shropshire. The project is exploring opportunities for Natural Flood Management related to local peatland environments within the River Perry catchment. Sustainable land management across peat soils, or fully restored peatland areas, provides catchment-wide environmental services and benefits, including water quality improvements, slowing the flow of water and flood attenuation, an increase in biodiversity, and carbon capture.
Healthy peatlands by their nature rely on a very high-water table which is difficult to monitor using traditional manual methods due to access and resources. The RSPAWIR funded an array of groundwater level sensors and data platform access provided by Kisters and worked with Vodafone to pilot the use of its Satellite NB-IOT solution for the first time in the field. The sensors and connectivity combine to enable real-time monitoring and reporting on the health and quality of this valuable land asset.
The project was expanded to a wider area during the final stages of the RSPAWIR with Shropshire Council taking the lead. Ten additional locations were brought into the project as a result.