Mautby Water Level Management Improvements Project

Mautby pumping station manages water levels within 1,117 hectares of low-lying land which forms part of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads National Park.

The Broads are the United Kingdom’s largest protected wetland, renowned for its biodiversity and home to more than a quarter of the UK’s rarest flora and fauna.

Excess water from the low-lying land is pumped over the Environment Agency earth flood embankment into the River Bure.

The river is perched above the surrounding floodplain and pumping is the only means to manage water levels within the catchment.

Benefits

The Mautby pumping station delivers multiple benefits:

• Flood Protection: Protects 295 residential properties, 74 non-residential, 589 hectares of arable land, 377 hectares of grazing marsh, local transport networks including the A149, utility infrastructure, and public rights of way.
• Environmental Protection: The station manages water levels within sensitive conservation grazing and agricultural land. This provides important habitat for populations of qualifying species associated with designated nature conservation sites within the Broads. These are termed ‘functional habitats’ and are critical to maintaining Favourable Conservation Status by maximising the ecological potential and enabling the habitats and species, associated with the designated sites, to thrive.
• Climate Resilience: Rising sea levels and a changing climate make the Broads increasingly vulnerable. A 50% increase in capacity helps safeguards against these predictions.
• Fish Friendly: The pumping arrangement has been designed to minimise external stresses on any fish/eels passing through the station and provide Best Achievable Eel Protection.