The Bourne Rivulet Initiative Gail Taylor Our membership a - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Bourne Rivulet Initiative

Gail Taylor

Our membership – a partnership

Riparian Owners Environment Agency Natural England Angling interests Local land

• wners

University of Southampton Vitacress Salads Vitacress Conservation Trust Hants and IOW Wildlife Trust Local community Water company River restoration

Bourne Rivulet Management

Aims

• Provide a focus for meeting of all agencies,

stakeholders and representative groups interested in the Bourne Rivulet

• Agree ideal state; identify deficiencies; agree actions

to rectify; implement and review

• Develop an action plan for the multi-purpose long-

term management of the Bourne Rivulet

• Undertake applied research and take expert advice

as necessary

• Develop approach on the Bourne Rivulet as an

exemplar for other headwaters such as on The Itchen

Current Activities

• New PhD research being commissioned

– Diffuse pollution, co-funded by Wessex Rivers Trust

• Restoration work on east channel
• Two year electro-fishing study
• Plans for scoping study for a wetland underway
• Concerns about St Mary Bourne Sewage

pumping

Improvements to the Eastern Channel - before works

Restored sinuosity with riffles.

Provision for a cattle ford and watering point

Road drain before removal to discharge into a sediment trap.

Fish community surveys

• Fish are good indicators of overall

ecosystem health and key to the value of chalk headwaters – part of ‘good ecological status’

• Data on fish in chalk headwaters

are relatively scarce

• Need for whole community data
• n fish in the Bourne Rivulet –

including “minor” species that elude catching & catch records

www.fishstockphotography.com

Site name Location (NGR at upstream end of reach) Dates surveyed Site description Malyon SU431486 3/8/2010 5/4/2011 27/7/2011 90m reach, recently rehabilitated (including bank re- grading and coarse woody debris) to provide mixed habitat. Overhanging trees, more abundant on left hand bank. Footpath and fishing access on right hand bank. Testbourne SU441461 24/8/2010 4/4/2011 28/7/2011 90m reach, generally of uniform depth and relatively

• shallow. Overhanging trees, more abundant on left hand
• bank. Footpath and fishing access on right hand bank.

Testbourne weir SU441462 29/7/2011 90m reach immediately upstream of the gauging weir. Generally uniform in depth with large overhanging trees on both banks. Lower Link SU430491 4/8/2010 6/4/2011 26/7/2011 Three converging reaches (54m, 49m and 9m) maintained by water discharged from Lower Link Farm. Recently created, generally narrow (ca. 1-2m) surrounded by marginal vegetation that is cut intermittently.

Table 1 Dates, locations and site descriptions for electro-fishing surveys conducted.

Species: Malyon reach Testbourne reach Testbourne weir reach Lower Link streams 3/8/2010 5/4/2011 27/7/2011 24/8/2010 4/4/2011 28/7/2011 29/7/2011 4/8/2010 6/4/1011 26/7/2011 Brown trout (<125mm)

96 4 168 71 3 108 6 37 6 10

Brown trout (>125mm)

26 4 14 24 5 11 19 4 7 2

Bullhead

223 111 71 279 137 465 124 68 103 114

Grayling (<125mm)

14 10 1

Grayling (>125mm)

4

Minnow

36 13 70

3-spined stickleback

2 1 3 20 6 1 30 2 16

Stone loach

1 1

Brook lamprey

4 5 1 3 1 1 1

Eel

1 2 1 6

Species richness

4 4 5 8 5 8 4 3 4 3

Table 2 Species observed at each site and total numbers sampled in three-pass electric fishing surveys, over ca. 90m. Data are totals for catches over three passes.

Electric fishing surveys 2010-2013 Completed Planned

Site Year 1 (2010-2011) Year 2 (2011-2012) Year 3 (2012- 2013) August April July/August March/April July/August Malyon      Testbourne      Lower Link    Testbourne Weir  Site 5  Site 6 

St Mary Bourne – sewage,

• verpumping and flooding to homes

Flooding and sewage back-up to the village when ground water is high

• particularly 11 properties – raw sewage

Southern Water have implemented a pumped solution to these properties in St Mary Bourne village that were subject to foul sewage backing up The BRI is calling for a hydrogeological survey to identify rising springs with a view to developing a proposal to drain these rather than sewage to the Bourne.

Objectives ectives - wetl tland WWT com

• mmissioned

sioned for

• r

scop

• ping

ing To identify and explore the potential for the establishment of a multifunctional wetland at Lower Link Farm, considering:

• Environmental factors: effects on water quality, temperature etc.
• Sustainability issues: review of carbon and energy balances
• Cultural and location issues: recreational activities, cultural values
• Statutory and financial matters: outline costs and benefits

Thank you!

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