The Lugg & Arrow, Leader +
Herefordshire Rivers LEADER+ Programme:
A Fisheries Improvement Scheme
Final Report
The principal aims of this project was to restore the habitat and other features of the Herefordshire Lugg and Arrow and engage stakeholders, residents and visitors in this process so by furthering knowledge of management and ecology of these valuable natural assets.
Delivered by The Wye and Usk Foundation and partners, the Environment Agency Wales (EAW), the project has made significant progress into many of the strategic riverine issues within the county as described ahead.
The outputs and results compared against the project targets are shown in table 1 and associated annexes. However, further considerations of the themes of the Project are as follows:
People:
Central to the project has been the issue of raising the awareness of the value of their rivers to the communities of Herefordshire.
In delivering this aspect of the project, the project has established a sustainable approach to issues such as the management of the natural habitat, the restoration of fish access to the Lugg catchment and increasing the socio-economic value of the rivers.
During the life of the Project we have organised walks (1), and given presentations and talks to a wide range of relevant communities in Herefordshire. We have supported a group of local fishery owners and anglers who are in turn integral to the continuation of the projects aims. The Lugg and Arrow Fisheries Association (LAFA) has become the conduit for future sustainable management of the rivers and will continue to deliver its outcomes beyond the life of this initiative.
During the life of the project, the Lugg catchment was designated as a priority area for the Catchment Sensitive Farming Initiative and the project gave full assistance to the pursuance of CSF's aims. Further highlighting the increased awareness of the rivers importance and the issues affecting them, the project has been active in the establishment of the Bulmer Foundation's co-ordinated Sustainable Land and Water Use Group in Herefordshire.
This project and its counterpart in the welsh part of the catchment - the Lugg and Arrow (Radnor) Project, have been a key part in the adoption of an integrated approach to dealing the problems of Lugg and Arrow. Progress has therefore been made with the rectification of Significant Water Management Issues as defined in the Water Framework and Habitats Directive (Article 10) which relates to creating and maintaining migratory routes of the designated species - Atlantic salmon, and the National Biodiversity Action Plan - Priority Habitats Rivers and streams and Priority species salmon, eels and brown trout.
Education:
From the Foundation's perspective it was very welcome that the project provided an educational opportunity to increase young people's appreciation of the value of steams and rivers and provide an insight into their ecology.
Developing an earlier Environment Agency Wales (EAW) initiative, the Lugg and Arrow "Salmon Homecoming" has engaged pupils in becoming more aware of the environmental issues in the Lugg and Arrow, and brought the life cycle of one the rivers key species into the school curriculum.
Aquaria were established in schools and eggs from wild Wye broodstock taken from the Foundation's Painscastle hatchery were nurtured through several months to emerge as alevins before being returned to the rivers adjacent to the schools as fry. This has been an entree to the factors affecting the success of fish in the rivers and has involved local children with a hands on/wet feet project.
Chris Rees of EAW was responsible for this aspect of the project. It started with an explanation of the stages of Atlantic salmon in the classroom, before the children hatched the salmon in the aquaria. This was followed by a visit to the EAW Hatchery at Abercynrig. Finally, the release of the salmon fry back into the River Arrow near their respective schools, upstream of weirs that were being fitted with fish passes by the project. As salmon stocks build in coming years, the children hopefully will be able to watch salmon surmounting these passes knowing that some of them started life in their classroom.
The four schools involved in this aspect of the project were:
Kingsland CE School, Kington Primary School, Marden Primary and Pembridge Primary School, West St., Pembridge Herefordshire HR6 9DU
Environmental Enhancement:
To target the environmental enhancement work and provide a permanent record, comprehensive surveys were undertaken of the Arrow system, the Lugg upstream of Leominster and all the principle tributaries. These identified issues ranged from over shading, overgrazed and damaged rivers banks to impassable obstructions and barriers to migration of all descriptions (3) to streams impacted by pollution from agriculture. These surveys provided the necessary guidance for the work undertaken within the project, and will continue to do so for any future schemes.
At the outset, we identified a need for fencing on some of the lowland tributaries where excessive stock poaching and grazing was causing a serious siltation problem. Our efforts to tackle this put us in direct conflict with the Lugg Internal Drainage Board, whose prime objective is not principally concerned with the good ecological status of the streams in their domain.
Latterly, discussions and some tough talking by both parties has resulted in a degree of accord that has enabled a more sympathetic approach to be taken to the difficulties of managing land drainage while not increasing the effects of diffuse pollution; the risk of which is increased by better aquatic connectivity that land drainage brings. During the life of the project we were forced to target the habitat restoration outside the IDB controlled area. The project has established demonstration sites on the main river Lugg at Lyepole (an example of the management of a main river fishery) and on an important tributary of the Arrow, the Gladestry Brook (4), which crosses the border from Wales. This provides an excellent example of an upland stream and a suitable spawning and nursery area for salmon and trout.
Much use has already been made of these demonstration sites, with statutory bodies and community groups visiting the sites to see the work and the changes brought about by active management.
Weirs were originally constructed for many reasons ranging from providing water power and irrigation, via a series of carriers, to flood and erosion prevention. Many are either an intrinsic part of the Herefordshire countryside and/or still functional and so removal is either too costly or unacceptable. Fortunately, providing fish access does not necessarily require this as there are simpler ways using the natural ability of salmonids to ascend obstacles by fitting fish passes on the weirs or by using existing leets to bypass the obstacle the weir provides.
These problems have been sympathetically addressed and 14 fish access schemes have been completed to ease upstream movement. Where EAW is the weir owner, they have led the work and WUF has taken the lead on privately owner structures:
On the Lugg the project has completed fish passes on Yatton Court, Ballsgate and upper Lye weirs and there have been alterations to the blockstone weirs at Crowards, Coxall and Eyton. This takes forward the work done with the fish passes at Leominster and Hampton court built prior to the project. Salmon now have access to the Welsh headwaters for the first time in at least 30 years.
On the Arrow, fish passes have been installed on Grove farm weir (6.) and bypass channels re established on Mowley, Hunton and Malhollam (5.).
In addition 2 obstructions have been eased on the Stansbach stream, an important trout spawning stream.
At Folly farm and Glanarrow weirs, structural surveys, planning, listed building and flood risk management consents have been obtained and fish passes "built". However, the high flows of summer 2007 delayed the final "bolting down". These will now be installed in the spring of 2008 at the Foundation's expense.
As a consequence to this work, salmon trout and coarse fish will now be able to access the spawning and nursery areas of the upper reaches of both these rivers, significantly improving the fish stocks and thereby the socio-economic benefits derived from fisheries.
Access and Economics
As with all schemes to enhance the natural environment, encouraging people to enjoy, appreciate, use but above all share concern for the rivers must be accompanied by raising awareness of the opportunities available balanced against the threats facing the rivers.
The inclusion of sections of the Herefordshire Lugg and Arrow in the Wye and Usk Passport has proved to be a great success. The booklet detailing the scheme now has a circulation of over 10,000 and the availability of Herefordshire's natural resource and the Leader + Project work is a feature of the publication.
The 2006 edition of the passport included 2 Arrow beats which brought in 122 rod days. In 2007 the Passport expanded with the inclusion of 7 more Lugg and Arrow fisheries and in total they generated 278 visits. Surveys in both 2006 and 2007 within the Passport showed that 64% of the rod days were associated with a least 1 nights accommodation within the county. In 2008 a further 4 fisheries joined the scheme and early sales of vouchers in 2008 are showing considerable growth (137% over the first 2 months). It is anticipated that these beats will accommodate in excess of 800 rod days in 2008.
The overall growth of the passport scheme is shown in below
Finally:
Within the Foundation, we view this project as a great success. We have succeeded far beyond our expectations with the number of fish access schemes, beats made available through the Passport, and "salmon in the class room". The benefits of this project are amplified upstream with a parallel scheme across the border in Wales. We hope its sets the standard for both river management and its appreciation for many years to come: We appreciate that there is more to do especially with habitat restoration, reduction in the damaging impacts of agriculture, the activities of the IDB and in consideration of fish access to the smaller tributaries
Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank the Team at Herefordshire Rivers under Dawn Turner who has provided essential support and encouragement, with the absolute minimum of time consuming bureaucracy and with a very large measure of understanding.
The Environment Agency: Pete Gough and Chris Rees for managing their respective schemes: Fish passes and Salmon in the Classroom
The Lugg and Arrow Fisheries Association (LAFA) for their tireless support, both financial and on site, under the direction of WUF trustee Tony Norman, LAFA committee and chairman, David Forbes
The Wye Salmon Fishery Owners Association for their essential financial support
And the people of Herefordshire for the many words of support and encouragement
| Outputs | Target | Achieved | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community groups/trusts/forums established or assisted | Y | Y | Lugg and Arrow Fisheries Association, Bulmer foundation, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust. |
| Environmental / cultural appraisals carried out | 6 | 9 | Riparian habitat and access surveys of main stems and 7 principal tributaries |
| Community environmental / cultural activities established or assisted | 1 | 1 | Fishing on the rivers of Herefordshire has thrived as a direct consequence of the work of this project |
| Environmental advice or assistance facilities provided for business | 20+ | 18 | Success here has been limited due to the IDB Issues; however landowners associated with key demonstration/exemplar sites are perfect examples of the wider success that could be achieved. |
| Information facilities provided | 3 | 3 | WUF website content, display material, landowner leaflets |
| Sites made available for tourism activity | 4+ | 11 | New fishing beats have been a major success story of the Project with 11 new beats in the 2008 WUF Passport and Booking Office Schemes |
| Number of community initiatives developed | 1 | 2 | Community engagement in the river through the passport scheme, Riverfly monitoring scheme |
| Result (as a result of your outputs quoted) | Target | Achieved | Comments |
| People involved in groups / trusts / forums on activities | 50 | 50+ | With the growing awareness of issues within the River Lugg and Arrow the numbers achieved are only a fraction of the overall awareness.
Lugg and Arrow Fisheries Association A new Riverfly Group is being established by local groups including secondary schools, The issue of raising issue |
| People involved in studies or appraisals | 250 | 287 | Surveys, LAFA investigations, School programme, Talk on L+ and restoring Lugg and Arrow to Hereford nature group 30th Oct, 49 present. Talk to IDB 10th October- How they are destroying the Lugg and how they can change, went down surprisingly well!, Severn River Basin Liaison Pannel |
| People undertaking enhancement projects | 30 | 44 | Please refer to issues considered under the Environmental schemes. |
| People participating in local cultural and recreational events or festivals | 150+ | 230+ | 4 River walks, field visits with local groups |
| New environmental interpretation points established | 6 | 0 | A decision was taken not to produce interpretation points, but to concentrate efforts on the production of appropriate training/educational material this includes a landowner leaflet and information boards to be used at specific events. |
| Area of land demonstrating improved environmental management (in hectares) | 40+ | Unkown | Due to issues including the IDB, this target should be considered in a different way. With the delivery of the fish passes during 2006 and 2007 (and those outstanding) the whole of the Lugg and Arrow catchments have been opened up for species access significantly increasing the habitat available. |
| Environmental enhancements on historic and cultural features completed | 4 | 14 | Fish passes. This figure exceeds the target due to the issues of delivering the environmental/habitat enhancement as outlined earlier. |
Budget
| INCOME | |
|---|---|
| Leader Plus | £98,618 |
| E A Contribution | £70,000 |
| WUF Contribution | £9,086 |
| TOTAL | £177,704 |
| EXPENDITURE | |
| Fish Pass & Fencing etc | £73,774 |
| Education boards & Equip | £7,870 |
| Salaries (inc Education Officer) | £76,337 |
| Professional Fees | £138 |
| Travel (project staff) | £6,653 |
| Marketing & Publicity | £7,233 |
| Office costs | £4,026 |
| Materials (stationery etc) | £335 |
| Survey costs | £1,080 |
| Hatchery costs | £258 |
| TOTAL | £177,704 |
