1. River Eden Case Study

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

• Flows through Cumbria
• Located in North west England, between the mountains of the Lake District and Pennines
• Largely rural, does flow through city of Carlisle

Question 2

Carlisle

Answer 2

Carlisle is particularly vulnerable to flooding as it is at the confluence of the Eden, Petteril and Calder rivers and is fairly low lying

Question 3

Rainfall

Answer 3

Rainfall is higher than the national average in the Eden basin, because of the relief rain of the area - the mountainous terrain encourages orographic rainfall. High rainfall means that lots of water enters the river channel.

Question 4

Geology

Answer 4

• Rock to the west of the basin is igneous rock which is impermeable
• Here infiltration is slow and surface runoff is high leading to reduced lag time
• Most of the basin is made from lime stone and sandstone - is permeable so infiltration is quick, surface runoff is minimal and increased lag time.
• Storm Desmond December 2015 - by this time the soil saturation would have been quite high so surface runoff would increase

Question 5

Farming

Answer 5

• More intense farming has caused soils to become compacted - by heavy machinery or trampling of livestock
• Compaction of soils reduces infiltration so surface runoff is higher. This means water levels in rivers rise quickly during heavy rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding.
• Grazing in upland areas, has also reduced the amount of vegetation that can intercept rainfall, resulting in more water reaching rivers