View article

Farm ponds, reservoirs and in‐stream weirs exist in most lowland UK river catchments and often dominate natural features such as lakes, wetlands, floodplains and debris dams. Artificial structures have served multiple purposes, including provision of power for historic flour milling and iron ore crushing and provision of water for medieval fishponds, canals, crop irrigation and potable supply. Although unintentional, they can significantly affect longitudinal connectivity, including sediment delivery pathways, through river catchments.

We report results from three spatially nested case studies that were undertaken in the Rother catchment, ranging in scale from small farm ponds of a few square metres in area, to larger in‐stream weirs and reservoirs (locally called ponds). Reservoirs typically trap sediment, decreasing sediment availability downstream, while inducing valley sediment accumulation upstream. We focus on …