Meon River

We studied the River Meon, a small lowland stream in Hampshire, as part of our AS level course. We surveyed the river at eight sites, measuring variables such as the depth, width, wetted perimeter, velocity and channel gradient. We visited the river in October 2011, after a dry period, so the level of water in the river was generally low.

This case study is particularly interesting from a hydrological point of view because the characteristics of the river were so different at each site. Being a small lowland stream, the River Meon is particularly vulnerable to changes such as deforestation and abstraction of water.

. The River Meon starts at a spring 2km south of East Meon and enters the Solent at Hill Head near Titchfield. It flows over chalk until Mislingford then over less permeable sands and clays.

At East Meon the river channel has been encased in brick to speed up the water through the village during times of flood.

At West Meon the river is very shallow as the channel splits into two just upstream of this site.

At Warnford the channel is shallow and there is vegetation on the banks.

At Exton the river had flooded up the footpath so was the widest and deepest of all our sites.

At the next site, Droxford, some attempt has been made to manage the flow of the river using concrete blocks.

At Wickham the water was fairly deep - we got to use waders! - and the banks were steep and highly vegetated.