A NEW monitoring network has been set up six months after a major pollution incident on the Holme to Skeeby watercourse.
Residents have teamed up with local anglers under the umbrella of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust to cover 11 locations along the watercourse, tracking the recovery of river flies which are a vital part of the ecosystem.
The beck, which rises on moorland to the west of Newsham, is joined by a number of tributaries and converges with the River Swale near Brompton-on-Swale.
Last April, discharge from AWSM Farming in Hutton Magna ran into Holmedale beck, turning the water black and causing catastrophic fish and lamprey kill, harming ten miles of the beck.
The pollution was reported to the Environment Agency, local rivers trusts and the Holmedale Community Nature group. At the time, Ben Lamb, a Dalton resident and CEO of the Tees Rivers Trust said: “This is a sad day for our beck. It comes when juvenile trout and salmon are emerging from the gravels, almost all coarse fish are spawning, when the first hatches of fly that feed the fish have started, when breeding pairs of kingfisher and dipper are feeding new hatchlings and otter their new cubs.”
Following the incident, many people and organisations were keen to take action. As a result, residents, the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT), the Environment Agency, Gilling West Fly Fishers and the Richmond & District Angling Society set up a new river fly monitoring network.
River flies are invertebrates which are an important part of the aquatic ecosystem and food chain.
A national scheme – the Anglers Riverfly Monitoring Initiative – involves a standardised method of monitoring river fly species as an indicator for river health. Launched in 2007 it has nearly 500 participants, monitoring 850 UK sites.
Martha McBarron, a member of the Holmedale Community Nature Group, previously trained as a river fly monitor with the Wear Rivers Trust. She contacted the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT) to see if she could monitor a few sites to track recovery of the beck.
Ron Wood, chairman of Gilling West Fly Fishers, started a Crowdfunding appeal and mobilised anglers to provide support.
In addition, angling groups had been collaborating with Jonathan Grey, a research and conservation officer with the Wild Trout Trust.
Marie Taylor, the CEO of the YDRT put everyone in contact with each other and also with the Environment Agency, to provide ecology support.
Subsequently, a number of new volunteers were trained in river fly monitoring, including nine residents and nine anglers. The monthly monitoring of 11 sites involves disturbing the beck sediment, collecting a sample in a net and doing population counts of eight target species, including mayfly, caddis, stoneflies and native shrimp.
Funding for the training and equipment came from YDRT, the two angling groups and Gilling West Parish Council. Ms McBarron accompanied volunteers for their first session in August.
She said: “All are very enthusiastic and committed. The good news is that all of the target species were found at most of the sites, albeit in relatively low numbers.”
Six rounds of monitoring will be needed to establish normal site variations.
The river fly monitoring complements water quality testing being done in Gilling Beck at Gilling West as part of a national Angling Trust water quality monitoring scheme.
Anglers Will Smith and Mike Grace collect monthly samples for on-site analysis for nitrates, phosphates and other water quality indicators.
Ms McBarron added: “The commitment shown by resident volunteers and anglers to monitoring demonstrates that people really care about their local environment and watercourses, which are essential for supporting local wildlife.”
For further information and to get involved, contact Jennifer Lee at the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust or visit the trust website, ydrt.org.uk.
