The Moors River is a tributary of the River Stour, which together with the River Avon flows into Christchurch Harbour and they are both well known for extensive flooding in the area caused by the restrictive channel from the harbour to the sea.
  
Following a storm or cloudburst, the quickly rising Moors River is diverted into the lakes where the water level can rise some four feet before being released back to the river further downstream. This provides a time delay for the flood water below this point. This initial river control scheme by Wessex Water provided the original idea for the present park. Spoil from the lakes was used to contour the land for the golf course, which had been a wide open flat space, so these earthworks were now benefiting the park by giving it a more rolling and interesting landscape.