Peatland water table depth is an important control on runoff production,
plant growth and carbon cycling. Many peatlands have been drained but
are now subject to activities that might lead to their restoration
including the damming of artificial drains. This paper investigates
water table dynamics on intact, drained and restored peatland slopes in
a blanket peat in northern England using transects of automated water
table recorders. Long-term (18 month), seasonal and short-term (storm
event) records are explored. The restored site had drains blocked 6
years prior to monitoring commencing. The spatially-weighted mean water
table depths over an 18 month period were -5.8 cm, -8.9 cm and -11.5 cm
at the intact, restored and drained sites respectively. Most components
of water table behaviour at the restored site, including depth
exceedance probability curves, seasonality of water table variability,
and water table responses to individual rainfall events were
intermediate between that of the drained and intact sites. Responses
also depended on location with respect to the drains. The results show
that restoration of drained blanket peat is difficult and the water
table dynamics may not function in the same way as those in undisturbed
blanket peat even many years after management intervention. Further
measurement of hydrological processes and water table responses to
peatland restoration are required to inform land managers of the
hydrological success of those projects. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All
rights reserved.