Category: Environment
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Catrine Dam and smolts
The smolt run is upon us again and we are seeing numbers of smolts increasing at Catrine Dam again this year. Since the small amount of rain we had last week, numbers are steadily increasing between penstock and lade and it seems only a matter of time until we will be facing a repeat of…
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Smolt run at Catrine
in EnvironmentFollowing the last two years delays in smolt migration at Catrine dam on the Ayr, SEPA instructed the hydro’s operators to make alterations to the by-wash chamber ahead of the 2019 smolt run. This morning, ART had an opportunity to see the alterations for ourselves and although there’s still another minor adjustment to be made,…
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Tarbolton Landfill pollution
in EnvironmentExtract from Ayrshire Rivers Trust’s Blog: Tarbolton Landfill: A Ticking Timebomb! For nearly a year, Tarbolton Landfill has been closed after the parent company went into liquidation. All operations on site ceased and the pumps were removed. The Water of Fail flows beside the coup which was constructed on a wetland. The threat of…
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Weir Issues
Dams and weirs on any river cause problems for salmon and trout migration. Not just adults but also smolts and juveniles that become held up behind them. Removing obstacles is acknowledged as one of the best ways to naturally increase fish populations. ART has long campaigned to see barriers removed or eased, where removal isn’t…
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Mauchline Rainfall data 2018
The rainfall total in Mauchline for 2018 is now complete and reveals just how dry 2018 was compared to 2017. As I’ve only been collecting rainfall for a couple of years, it is hard to state what’s average rainfall is for this area however, other local recorders find that rainfall is broadly consistent between years.…
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The Ponesk in the Upper Ayr catchment
in EnvironmentART walked the Ponesk on the Upper Ayr today for the first time in well over a year to see how things were looking and to check if any salmon or trout had spawned or were looking as though they might. It was perhaps a bit early to expect to see salmon here. We didn’t…
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Bogend Burn
ART looked at the Bogend Burn again this week as water quality and sediment released from this burn has been of concern to the biologists and anglers for some time. ART have highlighted the impact this causes to anglers at times in the past when their fishing has been ruined by the dirty water emerging…
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Willow Spiling on the Ayr
One year has passed since ART installed willow spiling on the River Ayr at the new Tarholm sewage outfall This technique was used after SEPA recommended a green engineering solution rather than a traditional hard engineering approach that would have included rock armour or rip rap. Scottish Water asked for ART’s advice and assistance and…
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River Ayr unfishable today!
in EnvironmentRiver Ayr unfishable today… on many beats. That’s the situation many anglers must have faced when they turned up at the river this morning. From Catrine downstream at least as far as Failford was affected early on following very localised heavy rain overnight. The pollution was travelling downstream and I expect by mid day, most…