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Last month I attended the River Trust Autumn Conference in Bristol, right on the River Avon. The conference took place at a waterside café, most appropriate to the topic of the day. Over 150 delegates attended from trusts, statutory agencies, academia, and consultancies, providing a variety of perspectives. The theme centred around the Challenges of the 25 Year Plan, with a keynote speaker followed by 4 sessions looking at various aspects of river management. |
"I found the "Hydromorphology for river restoration" training extremely valuable and was packed full of useful information to help in delivering restoration schemes in the Derbyshire Derwent Catchment.
It has given me confidence in identifying the pressures and impacts of natural processes on a river, and how these can be addressed in a well-designed restoration scheme.
I look forward to playing "River Detective" in the field, and I am now confident in the data that needs to be collected and assessed before scheme implementation."
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Last week I went down to Somerset for a tour of the Hills to Levels Project across the catchment. Hills to Levels was the winner of the UK River Prize 2018, and winner of the catchment-scale category. |
The two day conference was a very interesting and educational experience with a range of talks and workshops from different organisations available. There certainly was a lot to take in and lessons learned from other organisations projects that could be applied to any future projects in the UBOCP area.
Peter Wohlleben’s book ‘The hidden life of trees’ (translated and published by Harper Collins 2016) makes fascinating reading as a water specialist. It is based on his experience in European woodlands. I am familiar with the ‘why fish need trees’ booklet but there seems to be much more to trees than provision of woody materiel and slowing the flow through wet woodland habitat. The book is well referenced, so you can check the sources, and forests seem to be more critical to the water cycle than I had thought.
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This week the RRC and Natural Resources Wales held a site visit to the Ynni Ogwen hydropower scheme in Braichmelyn, near Bethesda; and the Afon Ogwen valley in Nant Ffrancon in North Wales. |
