Cuckmere Estuary Partnership

Q: Given EA’s operations elsewhere, there will be plenty of intertidal marshes elsewhere, so what about the unique characteristics of the estuary at present that will be lost if it is allowed to flood?

A: Best available information is that saltmarshes in the UK are being lost to erosion at a rate of 100 hectares per year, with this being most pronounced in south east England. In addition to erosion, saltmarshes are also being lost through piecemeal land claim for industry, port facilities, transport infrastructure, waste disposal and marine developments, through changes in local sediment budgets and through the spread of non-native species. Coastal saltmarsh has been identified as a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and is internationally important in its own right and for the communities it supports. As such, we have national and international obligations to offset these losses.

The majority of habitats that the estuary currently supports are not unique and are found in large quantities elsewhere in the local area, most notably upstream of the A259. If the estuary was allowed to flood, or rather if it was allowed to become intertidal again, the freshwater habitats that would be lost are already present elsewhere and some compensatory habitats could be created. The saltmarsh and mudflat habitats that are already present in small quantities in the estuary would spread and expand.

The current landscape of grassy field grazed by sheep would change if a naturally functioning estuary was allowed to become re-established. We know from measurements of land levels that large areas of saltmarsh would quickly develop, interspersed with areas of intertidal mudflat where the land is lowest (particularly in some areas of the western floodplain). As the land on the east side of the estuary is higher, and highest around the meanders, for the majority of the time, the landscape there would be largely unchanged – the meanders would be surrounded by vegetation. The creeks that are already visible across the estuary floor would become more visible. It is also worth noting that saltmarsh can be grazed.

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