The River Eau ( ) is a 15-mile-long (24 km) tributary of the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

that flows through

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Eau catchment lies between that of the Bottesford Beck to the north, and the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...

to the south and east, and covers an area of 125 square kilometres (48 square miles). The river is one of the few notable streams that drain the right bank of the tidal Trent. The source of the river is near Harpswell, at the foot of the

Lincolnshire Edge The Lincoln Cliff or Lincoln Edge is a portion of a major escarpment that runs north–south through Lindsey and Kesteven in central Lincolnshire and is a prominent landscape feature in a generally flat portion of the county. Towards its norther ...

, and it joins the tidal River Trent at Susworth. Unlike other rivers that drain into the tidal Trent, there is no pumping station associated with the outfall, it relies on gravity to discharge during periods of tidal

low water Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

. The Eau flows through the village of

Scotter __NOTOC__ Scotter is a large village and civil parish in West Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England, situated between Scunthorpe and Gainsborough.OS Explorer Map 280: Isle of Axholme, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough: (1:25 000) : The population of the ...

, which has a history of being flooded by the river; the most recent occasion was in June 2007. The river is also important for the drainage of the flat low-lying agricultural land that surrounds it, with some 2000 hectares or 20 square kilometres (8 square miles) of the Gainsborough

Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management with ...

district, relying on the Eau for this function. Whilst the drains that discharge into the Eau are maintained by the Drainage Board, the river is the responsibility of the Environment Agency being designated as a

Main river Main rivers () are a statutory type of watercourse in England and Wales, usually larger streams and rivers, but also some smaller watercourses. A main river is designated by being marked as such on a main river map, and can include any structure o ...

. Its tributaries are Northorpe Beck, Manton Sewer and Dar Beck.Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 Scale Colour Raster map West Common Drain - geograph

References

{{authority control 1Eau Eau Eau

See also

References