Rita Penman
- 22-Feb-2008 - Volunteers from the Environment
Agency and Grantham Angling Association
have been improving stretches of the Upper
River Witham in a bid to encourage brown
trout to thrive.
The team of workers
spent a series of weekends installing brushwood
bundles and willow and hazel faggots to
the sides of the river at Great Ponton and
Syston, using all natural materials sourced
from the site. The faggots help to stabilize
the eroded embankments by providing a base
– similar to tree roots – for soil to adhere
to, while the fissures created provide a
refuge for invertebrates such as crayfish
and brown trout fry.
As well as local and
Environment Agency volunteers, licensed
crayfish surveyors from the Trout Trust
were also present to ensure that no protected
crayfish were affected during the work,
and Natural England provided advice on what
materials to use to naturally enhance the
site. The Environment Agency also contributed
£1,000 towards the cost of the enhancement
works.
Reuben Page, fisheries
technical officer with the Environment Agency
said: ‘Brown trout are locally rare and
an important species for biodiversity as
well as for the continued enjoyment of anglers
as a sport fish.
‘We were delighted to
be able to provide our support to this project
which complements a suite of similar enhancements
already implemented on the Upper Witham.’
+ More
Environment Agency welcomes
funding announcement
National Press Office
- 21-Feb-2008 - The Environment Agency today
(Thursday) welcomed the Government’s announcement
of a boost in funding for its work programme
for 2008/09.
“We have a lot of work
to do this coming year. Flood risk management,
climate change adaptation, water resources,
river quality, agricultural pollution and
cracking down on environmental crime are
just a few of things that are on the top
of our list. This funding will help us to
get on with this work and really create
a better place,” said Environment Agency
Chief Executive Barbara Young.
“Our combination of
Defra funding, charging and other income
is allocated to a vast and diverse range
of environmental protection projects this
year. This is alongside the previously announced
guaranteed increase in flood defence funding
over the next three years which will see
more than £1.8 billion spent on flood
defences and flood risk and coastal erosion
management. We have a solid foundation on
which to create a better place for the people
of England and Wales.”
By far the largest amount
of money will be spent on flood risk management
and defences, with around £679 million
earmarked for investment in capital projects
planned by the Environment Agency, Local
Authorities and Internal Drainage Boards.
Barbara Young continued:
“Extreme rainfall events such as we saw
during 2007 are more likely as the effects
of climate change take hold. Long-term investment
in flood risk management is essential if
we are to adapt to the global warming that
is already locked into the weather system.
The additional funding will be used to develop
flood defences and warning systems and to
protect a further 145,000 houses from flooding.
“While the remainder
of our budget allocation has also marginally
increased, we face a number of large new
duties, challenges and inflationary pressures
which will need us to prioritise rigorously
what we can best do to protect and enhance
the environment.
“We will now take all
this into consideration when finalising
our Corporate Plan for 2008-11 to achieve
the best balance of resources to get the
best result for the environment, which will
be agreed with Ministers in May this year.”
The Environment Agency’s
priorities for the coming year include:
Adapting to climate
change – ensuring our policies, strategies
and plans are climate change ‘proof’ and
can protect our environment and quality
of life as the impacts of climate change
are felt more and more.
Implementing a new integrated
permitting regime in April – this streamlines
more than 40 pieces of legislation into
one regime which makes us quicker, more
effective and simpler to do business with.
This will include more online interactive
services.
Cracking down on environmental
and waste crime – closing down cheap alternatives
for disposal of waste, using intelligence-led
enforcement and surveillance to catch the
big, bad and nasty criminals, stopping illegal
activities undermining the new waste and
recycling markets created.
Responding to the new development challenges
of Eco Towns and new Growth points – encouraging
sustainable development and ensuring that
new homes are not at risk from flooding
and have adequate water supply and waste
infrastructure.
Actively campaigning
to reduce damaging abstractions and improve
water efficiency in water scarce areas as
a priority
Delivering the Water Framework Directive
– during 2008/09 we will publish draft River
Basin Management Plans, which will show
how we intend to manage water in a more
integrated way for real environmental benefit.
Working with farmers
to promote sustainable land use and reduce
nutrient impacts from agriculture.
+ More
Environment Agency helps
Thames fish grow with the flow
Dave Ferguson - 21-Feb-2008
- Perch, pike, bream, bleak, and dace are
just some of the fish which are returning
to a River Thames backwater this year after
it was restored by the Environment Agency.
The fish have been detected
following monitoring work carried out at
the backwater in Water Eaton, near Cricklade
in Wiltshire last week. The monitoring is
being carried out as part of a £30,000
Environment Agency project to restore the
backwater and other lost habitat carried
out last year.
Wildlife habitats were largely destroyed
during dredging work undertaken following
the Second World War, which saw agricultural
land drained to boost food production in
the area. Large sections of the main channel
were dredged and straightened, and many
valuable habitats, such as shallow gravel
fish spawning areas and backwaters, were
lost.
The Environment Agency
partially excavated a former backwater which
had been dry for many years and reconnected
it to the Thames. The aim was to re-establish
a valuable backwater refuge for fish fry,
water voles and otters during high winter
flows.
Local limestone was
also placed in the river channel at alternate
sites of the channel to create flow deflectors,
with the aim of increasing habitat diversity
and spawning areas within the river channel.
Flow monitoring carried
out by Environment Agency fisheries officers
on the stretch last week, using a new piece
of equipment known as an Acoustic Doppler
Current Profiler, has proved that things
are getting better. It uses acoustic lens
technology to deliver high quality images
of flows over a cross section of river.
Charts produced by the
monitoring equipment have shown that the
gravel flow deflectors have formed shallow,
fast flowing areas which maintain clean
gravels for fish such as chub, barbel and
dace to spawn upon. The monitoring also
showed that slack areas have formed behind
the flow deflectors which provide valuable
areas for fish to shelter.
Environment Agency fisheries
officer Chris Bell said: “This kind of diversity
of habitat is exactly what we hoped to achieve
through this project, by providing habitats
for all life stages of fish, and we are
delighted by the results. We hope that the
fish populations in this section will continue
to utilise these habitats and fish populations
in the area grow.
“We also netted the
backwater, looking at both fry and adult
fish populations. It is obvious that the
newly created habitat is successfully providing
a safe haven for fry and adult fish, particularly
during high flows, for species such as perch,
pike, bleak, bream and dace.
“This is particularly
important for fry, which can be washed out
of river systems and are increasingly vulnerable
to predation, so the creation of the backwater
has provided a great refuge area for these
fish.”
This was the first project
of its kind on the Upper Thames and has
been fully funded by sales of anglers rod
licences.
Mr Bell added: “We have
worked closely with local landowners, the
Swindon Golden Carp angling club and local
groups to improve the Thames for fish and
other river wildlife for years to come.
To watch fish, damselflies and kingfishers
move into these restored areas bodes very
well for the sustainability of the river
in the future.”
