Teifi Rivers Trust Newsletter - March 2014

8/12/2019 Teifi Rivers Trust Newsletter - March 2014

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Spring 2014 | Issue 1Spring 2014 | Issue 1Spring 2014 | Issue 1

n this issue:

work from our Chairman

ackling Himalayan Balsam

iver Invertebrate monitoring

Water Framework Direc ve Delivery

he search for Ra y!

ase Studies:

River Cerdin

Afon Fleur

Afon Morgennau

Afon Arberth

nd more...


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A word from our Chairman...A word from our Chairman...

Welcome to this, the rst newsle er of the Tei Rivers Trust.

ABOUT US: ABOUT US:

The Tei Rivers Trust wasstablished by a group withroven track records in riveronserva on.

We live locally and have aroad based pool ofnvironmental managementnd business exper se.

Many of us were born in therea and have a deep

achment to the Tei whilethers are newer arrivals whoave been inspired by theivers and surroundingountryside that create the

Tei Valley, one of the mostmpressive and biologicallyiverse river systems in

Britain.

Our aim is to improve theakes rivers and streams which

make up the Tei byduca ng and inspiring theommuni es along the valleysnd engaging them inonserva on projects which

will have a posi ve impact onhe quality of the river and itsatchments.

CONTACT US:CONTACT US:

Tei Rivers Trust Room 101 The Porth Hotel Llandysul Ceredigion

SA44 4QS dmin@tei riverstrust.com

Registered Charity Number: 123876

FOLLOW US:FOLLOW US:

RSS

E -Mail

The coming year promises to be a busyone which sees the nal period of

delivery for the agship EnvironmentalImprovements to Sustain WelshFisheries (EISWF) Project.

This European Fisheries Fund projectbegan in 2009 with Afonydd Cymru, ofwhich Tei Rivers Trust is a memberTrust, securing over one and a halfmillion pounds of funding from EFF andWelsh Government. Through thisfunding it has been possible to deliver

signi cant improvements to Welshrivers and the riverine habitat. Thefunding has supported an ambi ousprogramme aimed at delivering bene-

ts to migratory sh by increasing theiraccess to spawning areas through theimprovement of the water quality andriver habitat restora on through thecomple on of easements ofobstruc ons to sh passage, limingschemes and habitat restora onschemes.

As part of the project Tei Rivers Trusthas completed 34 improvementschemes, put in place over 26 kms ofdouble bank fencing, and by usingskilled and experienced local contrac-tors contributed over 311,000 to thelocal economy. The nal delivery peri-od hopes to deliver more projects

across the regions rivers so if you areaware of local landowners wishing towork with us to develop and deliverschemes that will protect and improvelocal watercourses please let us knowand we will explore the possibility ofworking with them all improvementschemes delivered under EISWF arefully funded and incur no costs for par-

cipa ng landowners.

Read about some of the workundertaken in the projects sec on ofthis newsle er.

Volunteer e orts have been animportant aspect of the work of the

Trust and we are grateful for thecontribu ons of our volunteers whoregularly carry out invertebratemonitoring on their local rivers and alsoto the others who have helped carrysurveys on the F ur, Nant Gor en,Morgennau and the Cle wr.

The Trust is keen to develop andincrease its volunteer resource andhopes to train more invertebrate

monitors; the ar cle on monitoringprovides further informa on about ourplans to hold a training course later inthe year.

Delivering further projects andgathering informa on for futurefunding bids o en begins with the workof volunteers, see our ar cle on theRiver F ur. Suppor ng volunteers andco-ordina ng ac vi es to keep them

busy is vitally important to our futureand we are seeking a voluntaryvolunteer co -ordinator, see the FutureOpportuni es ar cle for furtherdetails.

Hopefully this will be the rst of manyfuture newsle ers and we welcomeany comments or indeed ar cles youwould like considered for inclusion inthe next publica on. Please dont hesi-

tate to get in touch with your views andideas.

All best wishes and thank you foryour contribu on to the work of TeiRivers Trust ~ Dr Ian Thomas, Chairman,Tei Rivers Trust.

Tei Rivers Trust Newsle er Spring 2014 ||| Issue 1

www.tei riverstrust.com
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Apologies to all you seasoned riverinvertebrate monitors out there you know who you are and you

know the worth of what you do!This ar cle is for the as yetunini ated in the pleasures ofstanding in a local river andcoun ng the bugs and beas es thatyou nd in your net.

Whats it all about?

The invertebrates to be found inrivers are excellent indicators ofriver health and important components of the aqua c foodchain meaning that most sh, birdsand mammals rely on invertebratepopula ons for their survival. In ahealthy river most of the pollu onsensi ve invertebrates should bepresent.

Declines in water quality arere ected in declines in theabundance and number ofdi erent invertebrates presentmeaning regular monitoring ofrivers can help detect changes inwater quality and ag upproblems .

Invertebrate popula ons are a ect-ed by many factors, predominatelywater quality, habitat diversity,water level and ow rate.

Their common characteris cs oflimited mobility, rela vely long lifecycle, presence throughout the yearand speci c tolerances to changes inenvironmental condi ons makethem powerful biological indica-tors

to monitor water quality, and arecommonly referred to as the canaryof our rivers.

Tei Rivers Trust, along with RiversTrusts across Wales, has a dedicatedbody of invertebrate monitors andthrough the sterling work of BobMontgomery all results are passed

to the monitoring co -ordinator atNatural Resources Wales. This helpsto ensure that volunteer monitoringsupplements the rou ne workcarried out by NRW and therebyhelps to conserve the riverenvironment.

Regular monitoring ensures that thebiological water quality is checkedmore frequently and widely and

enables early ac on to be takenshould problems be iden ed. Thedata provides a seasonal baseline ofthe biological quality of watercourses which can be used to moni-tor changes.

Tei Rivers Trust is seeking toexpand the number of volunteermonitors and is planning to trainfurther monitors in the Spring.

By training more volunteers TeiRivers Trust hopes to widen itsRiver y monitoring work to includemore watercourses.

The workshop and equipment isprovided free of charge tovolunteers however we do ask thatyou be able to commit to futureRiver y monitoring for the Trust ona regular basis.

Places are s ll available for anyoneinterested in being trained in themonitoring technique.

For further informa on contact:

Glyn Jones [email protected] Mobile: 07964 271316

PS: For all previously trainedvolunteers who are no longer able to

undertake invertebrate monitoring,TRT would really appreciate thereturn of your unused equipment.Please contact Glyn to makearrangements for return.

River InvertebrateMonitoring

Curbing ca le in theCerdin, West Wales

Afonydd Cymru with Tei Rivers Trustreceived funding from NaturalResources Wales 2012/13 LivingWales Fund to deliver 5 HabitatRestora on schemes along theCerdin, a tributary of Afon Tei in theLlandysul area.

The Cerdin was iden ed as having amoderate classi ca on under theWater Framework Direc ve becauseof low densi es of salmonids andissues with di use agriculturalpollu on. Along this stretch ca leaccess to the river contributed topoaching & increased sedimenta on.

By providing controlled stock accessto keep the ca le to a de ned areaand reducing me spent in the riverthe project aimed to fence alongiden ed sec ons, add crossingpoints, drinking bays and swing gates.

The project included: 1,465m oldfencing removed and 2,640m of newfencing erected, 3 stock bridges, 4Drinking bays including swing gates,10 gates, 1 drinking trough with 200mpipework and ngs and 2 lengths ofbank revetment.

Since the instalment of the habitatschemes the river bank has had anopportunity to naturally regeneratereducing the likelihood of bankerosion during high ows andhelping reduce sedimenta on whichwill keep more of the rivers gravelbeds free of sediment and available tospawning sh & therefore increasingthe chances of greater success forsalmonid spawning.

This valuable work was achieved withthe help of Dr Ian Thomas and

considerable e ort from the TeiRivers Trust volunteers.

Photo credit: John Morris

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.teifiriverstrust.com/http://www.teifiriverstrust.com/http://www.teifiriverstrust.com/mailto:[email protected]


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Afon F ur Volunteer Walkover Survey

Stock/vehicle crossingon the Afon F ur

As with the majority of Welsh riversAfon F ur is failing to reach theGood ecological status required bythe Water Framework Direc ve(WFD).

Entering the Tei in the upper partof Tregaron Bog (Cors Caron), the

F ur ows through agricultural landused for sheep and ca le grazingwith some dairy farming also takingplace.

The river is used by salmon andbrown trout for spawning andhistorically was known forsuppor ng good sh popula onsalthough the present moderateecological status is as aconsequence of lower thanexpected numbers of salmon andtrout.

To iden fy possible issues a ec ng

the Afon F ur volunteers from TeiRivers Trust have carried out acomprehensive walkover survey ofthe river and the Nant Gor entributary which iden ed issuessuch as di use and point sourcepollu on and barriers to sh

migra on contribu ng to the F ursfailure to meet its WFD target forwater quality.

Thanks to the detailed work carriedout by volunteers, opportuni eswere iden ed to work withlandowners to carry out a range ofac ons to protect and enhance theriver and riparian habitat. Prac cal measures such as stockproof fencing, controlled stock

drinking arrangements, swinginggates and debris removal from theriver were provided through fundingreceived from Natural ResourcesWales.

The work done by volunteers insurveying the F ur and its NantGor en tributary are an example ofthe success bringing a combinedapproach to issues a ec ng localrivers can bring.

The ini al informa on gathered byvolunteers is an integral part of aprocess that allows funding to be

found to deliver improvementschemes by the sta of AfonyddCymru and Tei Rivers Trust.

If you would like to be involved withsurveying local rivers and areinterested in receiving training tocarry out walkover surveys pleasecontact: Glyn Jones

E-mail: [email protected] ,

Many thanks to all volunteers whotook part in the F ur and NantGor en surveys, your contribu-

ons are greatly appreciated.

(Please note, if you currently haveany TRT surveying kit i.e. handheldGPS, weather writers and cameraswe would like to use it for futureriver surveying work, please contactGlyn to make ar-rangements

for its return.)

Improvements toNant Gor en

rec ve 2000/60/EC of the Europeanrliament or as its more usually known - e Water Framework Direc ve (WFD) - is aajor piece of legisla on that will not onlyape the future of our rivers andater -ways but will be a major considera-on in the work of all organisa ons andencies dealing with Welsh water coursesthe future.

escribed by the Founda on for Wateresearch as the the most substan al piece

water legisla on ever produced by theuropean Commission it is seen as beinghe major driver for achieving sustainableanagement of water in the UK and otherU Member States for many years to come.

he WFD requires surface waters to meetod ecological and chemical status andoundwaters to meet good chemical andan ta ve status by 2015 with good

atus being de ned as a slight varia onom undisturbed natural condi onsgether with the achievement ofdi onal chemical standards.

In par cular it will help deal with di usepollu on which remains a big issuefollowing improvements to most pointsource discharges.Successful implementa on of the WFD willhelp protect all elements of the water cycle. With the rst round of targets now clearlyin sight it is clear that many Welsh rivers,will not meet the required good status andthe need to take ac on to address this isrecognised by key regulators and waterindustry operators alike.

In 2012 the then Environment AgencyWales announced support for 21 projects toshare a 420,000 investment aimed ataddressing water quality issues. This gurewas matched by Dr Cymru who providedsupport for 6 projects and announced afurther 150,000 funding for environmentalprojects was being made available for 2013.

Despite these commendable ini a ves ,Wales faces a tremendous challenge inachieving the WFDs required good

ecological status and it cannot be ignoredthat some reports suggest that over 60% ofWelsh rivers are below good ecologicalstatus.

It is hoped that the need to improve andachieve favourable Water FrameworkDirec ve status will provide further fundingopportuni es for third sector organisa onssuch as Rivers Trusts and all others involvedwith improving the quality of Welsh rivers,lakes and wetlands.

Only by accep ng the enormity of thechallenge and being prepared to supportchanges and improvements with realis clevels of funding will it be possible to meetthe requirements of the Direc ve andprovide the protec on that Welsh riversand water courses deserve.

More informa on about the WaterFramework Direc ve in your local area isavailable through Natural Resources WalesWater Watch Wales map gallery at h p://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/

The Water Framework Direc ve, will it deliver?
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/http://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/http://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/http://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/http://sparkmap.comxa.com/waterwatchwales/mailto:[email protected]


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Afon Arberth easement project

Support our work:

Our volunteers and supportersre commi ed to working inartnership to conserve, restorend enhance the waternvironment and associatedabitats.

This work will bring las ngene ts to wildlife and to theeople of the Tei Valley and

will contribute to:

Restoring riparian andwater habitats Protec ng and conservingplants and animals Suppor ng environmental

educa on

f you would like to support usnd become a volunteer pleaseontact:

ohn Morris Tel: 01545 590153 E-mail: [email protected]

The Trust relies on dona ons to

o our work. If you would like tomake a dona on, howevermall, it would be most wel-ome.

The address for dona ons is:

Tei Rivers Trust Room 101

Porth Hotel LLandysulCeredigionSA44 4QS

Upstream of the village of Llechryd,Afon Arberth a River Tei tributary,

ows through an old mill leat beforere -entering the original river channel bya small waterfall.

Deteriora on in the condi on of the oldchannel resulted in the river soakinginto a water -meadow leaving migratory

sh no access to the headwaters as thewaterfall was too steep to nego ate.

Further di cul es existed with thedesign of an upstream sluice andbreaches to the leat which againhindered e ec ve sh access to theupstream areas.

In October 2013 an ambi ous projectwas undertaken to repair the leat walls,re -establish the ow over the sluice andinstall a rock -ramp style sh passleading up to the sluice to allowmigratory sh to bypass the falls andcon nue upstream.

Flow control structures at the sluiceensure that the primary ow followsthe sh -pass and old channel and theresidual ow runs over the falls.

Fencing o the leat and old channelensure that the works remainundamaged by livestock and allow theriparian vegeta on to re -establish.

The easement consists of a rock -ramp /stepped pool sequence within thedownstream channel from the sluice.The ramp is approx 30m in length,

consis ng of a cascade of pools withnotches between allowing a con nuous

ow through the structure.

A notched concrete ba e across theleat (at the head of the ramp)determines the appor onment of owdown each respec ve channel.Individual pools on the rock -ramp areapprox 3 -4m in length with a maximumheight increase of 300mm betweenpools.

The main body of the ramp isconstructed out of boulders of approx1m cubed or larger, in - lled withgraded block -stone and the excavatedriverbed nes.

The structure incorporates a low waterchannel that allows con nuous anduninterrupted ow through the rampduring low ows enabling the freepassage of sh in either direc on.

The design and layout of the structurewas tailored during construc on to bestrepresent a natural channel in order tosympathe cally blend with the exis ngsurroundings.

Other elements of the scheme includedthe installa on of approximately 650mof new fencing with access gates, theestablishment of a solid bed stockcrossing point with swing gates andbank revetment, the construc on of adrinking bay, repairs to the leat wallsand vegeta on clearance / selec vecoppicing along the leat channel.

As a result of the work approximately 4kilometres of the River Arberth havenow been made accessible to migratory

sh.

Tei Rivers Trust Newsle er Spring 2014 ||| Issue 1


Completed Rock Ramp looking downstreamto a new stock crossing point with swinggates. Sluice before work A er: Completed Rock ramp
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Afon Morgennau Easement Scheme Situated in north Pembrokeshire AfonMorgennau is a tributary of the Teirunning from its source upstream inBoncath to its con uence where cul-verts carry it to the Tei within thegrounds of the Hammet House Hotel.

Today the carefully tended grounds ofthe Hotel and the tranquillity of thesurrounding woodlands give no clue tothe areas industrial past, described in

former mes as; a pleasant place, anda resort of anglers; and a bridge overthe river, communica ng with thecharming grounds of Castle Algwyn.

A large weir formerly was here,preven ng salmon from ascending theriver; and was destroyed, in 1844, by alarge body of the Rebecca rioters. 1

Whilst the weir may havedisappeared the Morgennau has formany years been a ected by ablockage to the culverts, a legacy of anindustrial past which saw theexistence of a n works in the oldstable block of the hotel.

From its con uence with the Tei the

Morgennau has been virtually sealedfrom the main river making thepassage of migratory sh such as salm-on and sea trout impossible.

Work was undertaken in October 2013to remove the obstruc ons from theculverts and reduce the poten al dam-age from large trees which had estab-lished above them over many years.

Stands of Himalayan balsam and

Japanese knotweed together with thepoten ally delicate state of theculverts themselves meant a carefulapproach was needed and all workdone at the site was carried outmanually to minimise the possibility offurther damage and spreading the in-vasive species.

The work was completed just beforethe rst of the winter spates andmeant that the culverts once againcarried the Morgennau into the Teiand, importantly, the upstream watersof the Morgennau and its tributariesare now open once again to thepossibility of passage by migratory sh.

Following comple on of the clearancework volunteers from both Tei andPembrokeshire Rivers Trusts carriedout walkover surveys from theculverts at Llechryd to the source ofthe river some 5 kilometres upstream atBoncath.

The survey reports will be analysed inthe coming months and opportuni esto improve or address any issues foundwill be considered.

With availability of suitable fundingwork will be undertaken to protect andimprove the ecological health of theriver.

For further informa on contact: Glyn Jones Tel: 07964 271316 E-Mail: [email protected] References:

1. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth,History of Llechryd, in and Cardiganshire | Mapand descrip on, A Vision of Britain throughTime.h p://www.visiono ritain.org.uk/place/11171 , viewed 12/11/2013.

verts blocked by debris Morgennau in spate

w w w. t e i f i r i v e r s t r u s t . c o mw w w. t e i f i r i v e r s t r u s t . c o mw w w. t e i f i r i v e r s t r u s t . c o m

Volunteer co -ordinator opportunity

lunteers play a key role within Tei Rivers Trust and we areeking a volunteer who would be interested in taking on the

le of voluntary volunteer co-ordinator.

volunteer co -ordinator will play a major part in organisingd co -ordina ng volunteer ac vi es to not only develop theten al of exis ng volunteers but also to recruit morelunteers and help Trustees in the delivery of the aims and

mbi ons of Tei Rivers Trust.

his is an unpaid role and the rewards of working withlunteers is very sa sfying and there will be manyportuni es to make a posi ve contribu on to protec ngd enhancing the watercourses of the Tei area in the years

come.

you are interested in nding out more about this role and thentribu on you can make please contact John Morris on Ad-n@tei riverstrust.com.

Join us for our volunteer training day!

Pembrokeshire & Tei Rivers Trusts with West WalesBiodiversity Informa on Centre are running a VOLUNTEER

TRAINING DAY on MARCH 19th at the WELSH WILDLIFECENTRE in CILGERRAN.

The theme for the day is invasive non -na ve species (INNS);iden ca on and the role of volunteers in species recording

and future ac ons to combat INNS.

The morning will consist of presenta ons from Ant Rogers,Pembrokeshire Biodiversity Partnerships Biodiversity

Implementa on O cer, and from Colin Russell, manager ofWest Wales Biodiversity Informa on Centre. Gill Wislocka ofCwmdeithas Llandudoch will also speak about community

approaches to invasive species.

Following lunch there will be an (op onal) opportunity to viewthe Tei Marshes Reserve with a guided walk with reserve

ranger Howard Jones and the Rivers Trust will provide ademonstra on of river invertebrate monitoring.

To help us gauge numbers a ending or to have furtherinforma on please contact Glyn Jones,

[email protected], mobile 07964 271316.

Work in progress Culverts clear once again
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Photo credit: Margaret Holland

Mole's friend Ra y, the misnamedwater vole, has faced some seriousthreats over the last few decades.Water voles are a protected

species but sadly these cutecreatures are in decline due tohabitat loss and preda on byAmerican mink.

The water vole is Britain's fastestdeclining wild mammal and hasdisappeared from many parts ofthe country where it was oncecommon. It is threatened by

habitat loss, but has su eredpar cularly from preda on by theintroduced American mink.

The Wildlife Trusts are workinghard to save the water vole byimproving riverbank habitats,controlling mink and beinginvolved in water volereintroduc on schemes.

It lives along rivers, streams andditches, around ponds and lakesand in marshes, reedbeds andareas of wet moorland. Look outfor the signs of water voles such asburrows in the riverbank, o enwith a nibbled 'lawn' of grassaround the entrance.

Water voles like to sit and eat inthe same place, so piles of nibbledgrass and stems may be found bythe water's edge, showing a

dis nc ve 45 angled -cut at theends. 'Latrines' of rounded, cigar -shaped droppings may also bespo ed.

Much bigger than other voles.Dis nguished from the largerbrown rat by its chestnut -brownfur, rounded nose, small, roundedears that do not protrude from thefur and furry tail.

The Wildlife Trust of South andWest Wales have an exci ng newproject star ng in 2014 to map thedistribu on of water voles inCeredigion and Carmarthenshire.To try to save this much loved

species it is important to surveythem, to monitor their popula onsand to work out what needs to bedone to improve their chances ofsurvival such as habitatmanagement.

Nia Stephens has just beenappointed as Water Vole O cerand will be surveying for water

voles from March un l October.

Nia said It is very important wend out where the water voles are

so that we can make sure thatthey and their habitats areprotected.

If any landowners know of watervoles on their land we would be

extremely grateful if they couldcontact us.

If you would like moreinforma on, know of any watervole sites or would like to getinvolved as a volunteer on thewater vole project please emailNia: [email protected]

This project is funded by theWelsh Government ResilientEcosystems Fund and by theMegan Jones legacy.

Help Us Find Ra y!

Whats in YOUR

backyard?

Ever wondered just how goodthe quality of your localenvironment is?

Concerned about air pollu on,coastal erosion, bathing waters,drinking water, ood and coastalerosion?

By checking out the informa onavailable on the EnvironmentAgencys Whats in yourbackyard? webpage you can ndinforma on rela ng to all thesetopics and many others.

Follow the links from the RiverBasin Management icons to ndinforma on about your localrivers, lakes, estuaries and coast.


River InvertebrateMonitoring Training

Tei Rivers Trust is developing afunding bid to run 2 River yMonitoring Ini a ve trainingworkshops for volunteers whohave not yet been trained inRiver y monitoring techniques.

It is hoped that the workshops willbe held in April or May 2014 totake place Llandysul.

The workshops involve shortpresenta ons on the River ymonitoring techniques andprac cal demonstra ons at theriverside, with volunteers learninghow to collect and iden fypollu on -sensi ve invertebrates.

Some places are s ll available!

For further informa on contact: Glyn Jones, Project O cerMobile: 07964 271316 or byEmail: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.teifiriverstrust.com/http://www.teifiriverstrust.com/http://www.teifiriverstrust.com/mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Teifi Rivers Trust Newsletter - March 2014