Blanket bog – testing new drain blocking methods

We were starting to set up a really interesting new experiment this week, a part of which aims to trial a range of novel drain blocking techniques for use on blanket bog. The main idea behind the trial is to try and develop techniques that are quicker to use than conventional peat dams, whilst at the same time being effective at blocking drains which have oxidised cross sections (through the long term effects on the drains being installed) – we need these to deploy across several 1000ha of land for a client, as part of windfarm restoration work. This stage involves setting up a sequence of experimental blocks that will be monitored for several months prior to a range of treatment work being undertaken on them, for comparison against matched control blocks where no treatment will be undertaken. Treatments will include use of extended dams (wing walls) and tracking the land as well as damming it. We will also be monitoring water quality in the runoff, including water colour (hazen) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The results from this project will have a number of interesting indirect applications also, including a high level of relevance to Natural Flood Management (NFM).