|
Post by Deleted on May 18, 2011 12:25:39 GMT
What is the environment agency doing to clean up the tributaries of the river rother that have suffered years of pollution from disused mine workings the river drone in particular is bad as during time of heavy rain it turns orange also disused weirs are stopping fish migrating to its upper reaches
|
|
|
Post by envagencyyorkshire on Jun 2, 2011 12:16:15 GMT
Q. What is the environment agency doing to clean up the tributaries of the river rother that have suffered years of pollution from disused mine workings the river drone in particular is bad as during time of heavy rain it turns orange? craigmason
A. John Hancox (South Yorkshire Environment Management Team) writes:
Hi Craig. We live in what was historically a very industrial area and this has left it’s legacy on our rivers in the form of weirs, culverts and discharges. We routinely monitor rivers, including the tributaries of the River Rother (of which the Drone is one) to gather information on water quality, invertebrates and fish. There are too many tributaries to go through each in turn and as you’ve mentioned the Drone I will give a little more information about that watercourse.
The River Drone starts in Greenhill Park at Low Edges, in the South of Sheffield. It initially flows in an easterly direction but then turns south where it flows until its confluence with the River Whitting.
The Drone receives sewage overflows from two combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in Greenhill Park. A little further downstream there is another sewage discharge in emergencies from Chesterfield Road Sewage Pumping Station . There are also intermittent problems with ‘cross-connections’ from housing on the Low Edges estate.
Currently there are 20 permitted discharges into the River Drone. The most significant of these discharges is treated sewage effluent from Dronfield Sewage Treatment Works (STW), which is operated by Yorkshire Water. The discharge operates consistently within the limits of its permit. The remaining permits are mainly issued to Yorkshire Water for storm sewage discharges that only operate under heavy rainfall when the impact on the river will be reduced by high flows and dilution. In fact there has not been a significant pollution incident recorded on the Drone since 2002.
In spite of these discharges the Drone is currently classified as fair quality and supports a healthy coarse fishery. At the moment we are currently looking at all of our waterbodies under the Water Framework Directive and are trying to work out how to bring them to Good Ecological Status or Good Ecological Potential in the case of heavily modified watercourses such as the Drone.
This includes seeking to influence further investment in Dronfield STW by Yorkshire Water to improve the quality of final effluent. This will also have a beneficial impact on the River Whitting downstream of the confluence with the River Drone and the River Rother further downstream. A local improvement on the Drone has been the diversion of sewage from the former sewage treatment works at Unstone. Sewage is now pumped from Unstone to Old Whittington where it is treated at a larger works and discharged into the River Rother there.
For the future, there are several minewater discharges that affect the quality of the Drone, including Summerley and Unstone minewaters. We are working with the Coal Authority to influence a programme for mine water treatment including these two, but it is unlikely they will be looked at before 2015. The Coal Authority have however successfully constructed a treatment plant which is now treating minewater from the former Fender Colliery and this has resulted in significant improvements to the Barlow Brook, the other major tributary of the River Whitting beside the River Drone.
Jerome Masters (Fisheries Officer) writes:
We are working hard to improve fish passage throughout Yorkshire, but we have to prioritise where we work in order that we achieve the maximum benefit for the greatest length of river. At the moment we’re focussing on the really big weirs on our main rivers. As well as our own projects, we’re also working in partnership with Rivers Trusts, Yorkshire Water and British Waterways.
We are sometimes able to condition developers to install fish passes as part of riverside developments, or hydropower installations, so this offers another route for us to reconnect rivers for fish migration.
Improving fish passage is a key requirement of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Defra have recently released funds to support WFD work. In addition to funding us directly, an equally sized ‘pot’ of money is being made available to ‘third-sector’ organisations (volunteer groups, charities, trusts). Getting involved with your local Rivers Trust, or a local wildlife group, might offer you another route for improving fish passage in the Drone. If you’re able to get a project off the ground, we might then be able to offer technical advice, and/or help with funding.
|
|
|
Post by willothewisp on Jun 2, 2011 12:28:23 GMT
Good answer guys, from which it seems you are "on the case". Just wish you had the money and staff to do more, but, as you say, "you have to prioritise", and you'll not please everybody.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 15:10:53 GMT
when you say the drone my local river supports a healthy coarse fishery i would have thought its to shallow and fast flowing to support a coarse fishery what sort of coarse fish are they?
|
|