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Improving water quality
- working with farmers
WRT and FWAG in partnership with
the Environment Agency are visiting farms in the
Upper Torridge catchment to help to improve land
management practices.
The River Torridge
rises on a gently rolling plateau near the coast
at Baxworthy Cross in North Devon.The Upper Torridge
is sparsely populated with a few small villages
and isolated farmsteads. It supports major salmon,
sea trout and brown trout fisheries.
However, salmon
- which were once recorded in good numbers in the
catchment - have shown a serious decline since the
1960’s. There has also been a deterioration
in water quality above the confluence with the River
Waldon in recent years. High ammonia levels and
biochemical oxygen demand indicate that the level
of organic pollution has increased.
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Putford
Bridge near Woolfardisworthy |
The Farming and
Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), Westcountry Rivers
Trust (WRT) and the Environment Agency are working
in partnership with farmers in the catchment to
arrest this trend.
Land run-off
is a major contributor to the decline in river quality.
It causes sedimentation in riverbed gravels, affecting
salmon spawning grounds. The eggs laid in the gravel
rely on ‘healthy’ aerated gravel to
survive. Run-off may also, directly and indirectly,
affect the rare freshwater Pearl Mussel population
which is dependent upon the salmon for its life
cycle.
Sarah Colquhoun
of the WRT and Jo Oborn from FWAG are visiting farmers
within the catchment and advising them on best environmental
farming practices and nutrient management methods.
Both are experienced officers who are professionally
qualified to provide advice on all aspects of fertiliser
and nutrient management having gained the Fertiliser
Advisers Certification and Training Scheme (FACTS)
qualification.
Further details
and pictures about this project, can be found on
the Upper Torridge Project information leaflet.
You can downloaded a copy of this leaflet, by clicking
on the icon below
Further details
on The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG)
can be found on their website:
www.fwag.org.uk
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