St Ives Sluice and Brownshill Sluice

We are working to provide short-term, cost-effective solutions, whilst also considering longer term options for St Ives and Brownshill sluices.

Both structures are ageing and suitable solutions for refurbishment or replacement need to be developed.

Our aim is to:

  • maintain statutory navigable water levels along this stretch of the river
  • manage the risk of flooding to nearby properties both up- and downstream
  • limit any disruption to nearby residents, businesses and water users

The short-term projects for each of the sluices are funded differently, with varying rules. St Ives sluice has been successful in obtaining funds for urgent and statutory works (Moderation funding) and Brownshill sluice has been allocated Reconditioning funding. Each of these funds must be requested annually and is prioritised against all other National requests.

You can find out more about Funding in the About the Sluices and our work section on the right of this page.


St Ives sluice on the River Great Ouse from downstreamSt Ives sluice on the River Great Ouse from downstream


How to get involved

You can register with the Engagement HQ website using the Register button on the side information bar. This allows you to subscribe and follow different Environment Agency projects that interest you.

You can then follow the progress of this project using the Subscribe button. This will add you to our mailing list for notifications when we release any significant updates or announce events. You can also check the Newsfeed section below which will be regularly updated as the projects progress.

If you have further questions, please use the Contact Us tab on the right hand info bar. You can also use the Quick Poll and feedback (How can we improve this page?) options below to make this page better for you.

Remember - please Register and Subscribe to use the full Quick Poll and Feedback tools


To help you understand the work we have done so far

Have a look at our Project Timeline which sets out our journey from the initial public drop-in event to today, including the key milestones we have reached.

We have also taken your questions and used them to provide answers in the About the sluices and our work section over on the right hand sidebar. This will be added to as the project develops so please check back regularly.

We are working to provide short-term, cost-effective solutions, whilst also considering longer term options for St Ives and Brownshill sluices.

Both structures are ageing and suitable solutions for refurbishment or replacement need to be developed.

Our aim is to:

  • maintain statutory navigable water levels along this stretch of the river
  • manage the risk of flooding to nearby properties both up- and downstream
  • limit any disruption to nearby residents, businesses and water users

The short-term projects for each of the sluices are funded differently, with varying rules. St Ives sluice has been successful in obtaining funds for urgent and statutory works (Moderation funding) and Brownshill sluice has been allocated Reconditioning funding. Each of these funds must be requested annually and is prioritised against all other National requests.

You can find out more about Funding in the About the Sluices and our work section on the right of this page.


St Ives sluice on the River Great Ouse from downstreamSt Ives sluice on the River Great Ouse from downstream


How to get involved

You can register with the Engagement HQ website using the Register button on the side information bar. This allows you to subscribe and follow different Environment Agency projects that interest you.

You can then follow the progress of this project using the Subscribe button. This will add you to our mailing list for notifications when we release any significant updates or announce events. You can also check the Newsfeed section below which will be regularly updated as the projects progress.

If you have further questions, please use the Contact Us tab on the right hand info bar. You can also use the Quick Poll and feedback (How can we improve this page?) options below to make this page better for you.

Remember - please Register and Subscribe to use the full Quick Poll and Feedback tools


To help you understand the work we have done so far

Have a look at our Project Timeline which sets out our journey from the initial public drop-in event to today, including the key milestones we have reached.

We have also taken your questions and used them to provide answers in the About the sluices and our work section over on the right hand sidebar. This will be added to as the project develops so please check back regularly.

  • October 2025 - St Ives Sluice

    We have carried out repairs to the St Ives Sluices, bringing 3 gates back into automatic operation. These repairs will not provide long term resilience but should help maintain navigation levels during high flows over the coming winter period.

    The remaining four gates continue to be isolated in the closed position to maintain statutory water levels for navigation.

  • September 2025 - St Ives sluice

    Over the last couple of weeks, our incident response team have been deployed to St Ives Staunch Sluice to carry out temporary repairs due to a fault with one of the operational gates. As the situation stands, three of the seven gates are able to be operated. One of the three gates (gate 6) is operating automatically and, if required, the other two gates (gates 1 and 7) can be operated manually. The remaining four gates (gates 2, 3, 4, and 5) remain isolated in the closed position to maintain statutory water levels for navigation.

    While we continue with the moderation project for St Ives sluices, we are currently awaiting the delivery of parts to hopefully bring the two manually operated gates back into automatic operation. These repairs would be temporary and given the condition of the structure, may not last long.

  • Summer 2025

    We are currently working hard to identify and develop cost-effective solution for the project. This involves approaching commercial partners for their costs and building a plan which provides the best solution allowed by the budget.

    We will keep you informed of progress as the project develops.

  • March 2025 - Brownshill Staunch sluice

    Our bid for Capital Reconditioning funding over the next two financial years (2025/6 and 2026/7) has been approved.

    This means we can start investigating what solution will recondition the structure so they can continue maintaining navigable river levels along this stretch of the River Great Ouse.

  • September 2024 - St Ives sluice

    Our case for moderation funding to work on the St Ives Sluice has now been approved.

    We can now start developing a cost effective plan that allows us to maintain navigable river levels along this stretch of the River Great Ouse.

Page last updated: 03 Dec 2025, 11:19 AM