Autumn Conference and Awards 2011 Where there s water there s Life+
Session 1 Life+ in the River Irfon Chaired by: Ian Gregg Chairman - The Rivers Trust
Peter Gough Senior Technical Specialist Environment Agency Wales
The Fish Peter Gough, Sophie Gott and Jeremy Tanner Rivers Trust Conference, 14.9.11 The Irfon Special Area of Conservation project
Structure of talk Early assessments of the Irfon Acidification Recent status of river Current and ongoing recovery? Acidification assessments Current status of fish populations The Irfon LIFE+ surveys
Early assessments of Irfon 1861 Salmon Commissioners report in the Eifon there is very good spawning ground.then there are the Commarch and Dalas 1913 Board of Agriculture & Fisheries (Masterman, 1913) Comparative study of salmon parr in Irfon, Ithon and upper Wye Irfon parr shown in a distinctly favourable light in terms of growth 1931 The Fish Food of the Wye (Masterman, 1931). Above Llanwyrtyd the Irfon is an ideal salmon spawning stream 1932 The Spawning Grounds of the Wye (Hutton, 1932) Irfon has very good tributaries but there is far more rock and the possibilities are not quite so good however the food supplies are better. three of its tributaries, the Garth Dulas, the Cammarch and the South Dulas noted to be excellent little spawning brooks. 1975/6/7 (Craig Goch) and 1984 (WSFOA) Important fish surveys, however they excluded the upper Irfon
The Irfon catchment Llandrindod Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Garth Llanwrtyd Llangammarch IRFON:- stream length 115km catchment area 289km 2 about 5% of Wye catchment accessible to migratory fish 70%
Upper Irfon
Clochiad tributary near Abergwesyn
Irfon near Llangammarch
1. Lower river, more-intensive arable 3 2 1 2. Upland grazing with riparian woodland 3. Base-poor upland grazing and conifer forestry, vulnerable to surface water acidification Source: Ormerod, 2009
Acid status of Irfon No suggestion of environmental damage in 1930s Wye salmon fishery at maximum productivity in 1960 s and 1970 s
1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 Number Performance of Wye salmon rod fishery Declared salmon rod catch, River Wye 1960-2010 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
Acid status of Irfon No reports of environmental damage in 1930s Wye salmon fishery at maximum productivity in 1960 s and 1970 s Consumption of fossil fuels in Europe doubles 1940-1970 Afforestation in mid-wales, mainly 1930s 1950s First hint at ecological damage in early 1970s (eg Craig Goch surveys in upper Wye) Extent of acidification damage mapped in 1980s and early 1990s Confirms absence of fish in Irfon upstream of Llanwrtyd (about 1.2% of Wye catchment affected) and significant impact on macroinvertebrates Smolt production in about 20% of Irfon catchment lost Conjectural importance for spring salmon
Results of Emission Control Policy: Source: Helliwell et al, 2011
Time series of annual total UK emissions of SO 2, NO x and NH 3 8000 500 SO 2 & NO x emissions kt yr -1 6000 400 NH 3 emissions kt yr -1 SO 2 NH 3 300 4000 200 2000 NO x 100 0 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 0 Years % of 1970 values SO2 NOx 1984 58 84 1995 31 76 2006 11 51 % of 1990 value NH3 1984 1995 95 2006 82 Source: National Atmospheric Emission Inventory Statistics (taken from Reynolds, 2009)
Spatial distribution of total acid deposition to Wales (keq ha -1 yr -1 ) 1986-1988 1996-1998 2004-2006 2020 Source: Reynolds, 2009
2010 WFD GB109055041910 Irfon - source to cf Gwesyn GB109055041870 Afon Gwesyn GB109055041880 Afon Cammarch GB109055041890 Garth Dulas Irfon Overall Status High Good Moderate Poor Bad GB109055042190 Chwefru GB109055036760 R Irfon cf Gwesyn to cf Cledan GB109055036680 Cledan GB109055037090 R Irfon - cf Tirabad Dulas to cf Wye GB109055036700 Irfon cf Cledan to cf Tirbad Dulas GB109055036690 Tirabad Dulas
2010 WFD GB109055041910 Irfon - source to cf Gwesyn GB109055041870 Afon Gwesyn GB109055041880 Afon Cammarch GB109055041890 Garth Dulas Irfon fish Status High Good Moderate Poor Bad GB109055042190 Chwefru GB109055036760 R Irfon cf Gwesyn to cf Cledan GB109055036680 Cledan GB109055037090 R Irfon - cf Tirabad Dulas to cf Wye GB109055036700 Irfon cf Cledan to cf Tirbad Dulas GB109055036690 Tirabad Dulas
2010 WFD GB109055041910 Irfon - source to cf Gwesyn GB109055041870 Afon Gwesyn GB109055041880 Afon Cammarch GB109055041890 Garth Dulas Irfon Inverts Status High Good Moderate Poor Bad GB109055042190 Chwefru GB109055036760 R Irfon cf Gwesyn to cf Cledan GB109055036680 Cledan GB109055037090 R Irfon - cf Tirabad Dulas to cf Wye GB109055036700 Irfon cf Cledan to cf Tirbad Dulas GB109055036690 Tirabad Dulas Upper Irfon appears Good for inverts, however the standard WFD classification tool appears not to pick up that pressure. A different acid invert tool exists which will be applied.
2010 WFD GB109055041910 Irfon - source to cf Gwesyn GB109055041870 Afon Gwesyn GB109055041880 Afon Cammarch GB109055041890 Garth Dulas Irfon ph Status High Good Moderate Poor Bad GB109055042190 Chwefru GB109055036760 R Irfon cf Gwesyn to cf Cledan GB109055036680 Cledan GB109055037090 R Irfon - cf Tirabad Dulas to cf Wye GB109055036700 Irfon cf Cledan to cf Tirbad Dulas GB109055036690 Tirabad Dulas Note Gwesyn not monitored and incorrectly grouped with lower Irfon WB. Needs to be grouped with upper Irfon to reflect acidification pressure.
Current position Irfon WFD assessment (2010):- 10 water bodies 8 fail to achieve GES 5 failures for fish 4 failures for invertebrates 3 failures for copper 2 failures for ph
Minimum ph Minimum ph How long might episodes limit biota? 6 CI4 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 Moorland 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Year 6 LI8 5.5 5 4.5 4 Forest (best case) 3.5 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 Year Source: Ormerod, 2009
The current position ISAC fish surveys (after 2010 WFD assessments) Good opportunity for full catchment assessment Large number of survey sites:- Salmonid/bullhead 70 sites Semi-quantitative electrofishing Presence/absence surveys in larger reaches Lamprey additional 29 sites Specific electrofishing survey technique
Salmon 0+ 1+ Llandrindod Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Garth Garth Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Legend Salmon Fry Classification A B C D E F Salmon Fry Presence Absence Absent Present
Trout 0+ Bullhead Llandrindod Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Garth Garth Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Legend Trout Fry Classification A B C D Legend Bullhead Presence Absence Absent E F Present Trout Fry Presence Absence Absent Present
Lamprey (river/brook) Sea lamprey Llandrindod Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth Garth Garth Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Llanwrtyd Llangammarch Legend River/Brook Lamprey Presence Absence Absence Presence
Salmon absence (2010) Llandrindod W039o W039m W039n W039k W158b W156a W095m W039i W115j W123 W165g W037 W009g Abergwesyn Beulah Cilmery Builth W162 W161a W163 W103c Llanwrtyd W165b Garth Llangammarch Legend Salmon Absence 2010
Recolonisation by salmon 2011 UPDATE Salmon now further up the Irfon Waterfall impassable to salmon More sites with salmon fry upstream of Gwesyn First parr found upstream of Gwesyn First record of juvenile salmon on main Irfon upstream of Abergwesyn - 2006 First record of juvenille salmon on Gwesyn - 1995 Gwesyn continues to improve Salmon fry found in Ryd Goch Abergwesyn First records of juvenile salmon - 2010 Record of juvenile salmon in 1993 Beulah Record of juvenile salmon in 1993 Garth Regular but poor numbers of salmon caught since 1986 Llangammarch Llanwrtyd
Irfon recovered? Chemical recovery is underway The rate and extent varies spatially throughout Wales depending on site conditions and deposition Evidence that episodes of adverse chemical conditions are still occurring, but their severity is becoming less (2015 2030). Episodes are still sufficient to inhibit and slow biological recovery Source: Reynolds, B.R., Hall, J., Durance, I. & Ormerod, S. J. (report in draft) But
ISAC fish surveys - conclusions Further evidence that recovery of fish populations is ongoing in Irfon catchment Salmon fry and parr increasing distribution and frequency of occurrence Bullhead and brook lamprey widespread but slower to recover? Sea lamprey distribution limited to lower river Boundary of impact of acidification on salmonids has moved north and is now upstream of Gwesyn confluence Likely to move further, imminently, by 5km (to impassable falls) Fish currently absent upstream Scope to increase rate of recovery of Irfon and reduce impact of episodes through LIFE+ project Evidence of response to liming in upper Wye and Tarenig Areas for further attention within LIFE+ project: Irfon u/s Devils Staircase (impassable falls, no fish upstream) Upper Cammarch (no brook lamprey) Upper Garth Dulas (no bullhead) 2 further years of monitoring to look at responses to liming Eel none found!
Autumn Conference and Awards 2011 Where there s water there s Life+