Celebrating 25 Years of the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SCARP SLOPE STREAMS‘Water in a Dry Landscape’ is designed by CCSP to look in detail at the ecological status and opportunitiesfor restoration of chalk scarp streams between the M40 and the A41 which feed into the Thame catchment.The project is a partnership between River Thame Conservation Trust (RTCT) and CCSP, delivered in threephases as part of the Chiltern Conservation Board’s ‘Chalk Cherries and Chairs, Landscape PartnershipScheme’, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Phase One, led by CCSP, started with avolunteer-led survey of 47 sites across the project area to assess water quality at the source, middle andend reaches of scarp streams to identify key water quality changes along their length.Barton SpringsSite surveys were also carried out to identify opportunities for enhancement and restoration along thedifferent streams. Through this work, a series of maps was created to show water quality variations, and theteam agreed that the remainder of the project would focus on the Horsenden Brook, parts of which aredesignated as a chalk stream.Initial surveys of the Horsenden Brook indicated that the stream had lost its population of brown trout; eDNAsampling by the RTCT confirmed that there is no remaining or relict trout population in the stream. On thepositive side, the surveys indicated that there are opportunities to remove impoundments along the stream,which should lead to the natural re-stocking of the trout population. Over time, the river channel has beenstraightened, and the gradient is now so steep that there is little by way of refugia for fish in strong flows.As a consequence, when there is a flood, any small fish will get washed out of the catchment and downthrough weirs that will form barriers to their upstream migration.The next phase of the project is to work with a group of landowners and a farmer cluster in the PrincesRisborough area to identify and prioritise river restoration options along the brook, with a view to deliveringrestoration that will improve connectivity and habitat, with the long term aim to reintroduce brown trout. It ishoped this will form a basis for more projects in partnership with RTCT looking at the chalk streams interfacebetween the Chilterns escarpment and River Thame tributary catchments.50 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF THE CHILTERNS CHALK STREAMS PROJECT
Scarp slope streamsHorsenden BrookHorsenden Brook, upstreamof Bledlow RoadSCARP SLOPE STREAMS | 51
Page 1 and 2: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF THECHILTERN
Page 3 and 4: FOREWORD2022 marks the 25th anniver
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTSIntroduction 4Milestones of
Page 7 and 8: THE REPORT HAS BEEN SPLIT INTOTHREE
Page 9 and 10: THE TIMELINE ALSOSHOWS HOW THECCSP
Page 11 and 12: 2001First watervole Survey2002Produ
Page 13 and 14: KEYChalk scarp andvale fringesPlate
Page 15 and 16: OVERVIEWChalk streams have not only
Page 17 and 18: The reasons for these chemicalfailu
Page 19 and 20: 5040Abstraction in the Ver Valley (
Page 21 and 22: WWF-UK, The Wildlife Trusts, The Ri
Page 23 and 24: OVERVIEWMISBOURNE‘Chalk Streams i
Page 25 and 26: RAISING AWARENESSOF THE NEED FORCON
Page 27 and 28: BEFORE DURING AFTERRIVER RESTORATIO
Page 29 and 30: WATER VOLE SURVEYSACTIVITIESWater v
Page 31 and 32: FESTIVALS, FAMILY EVENTSAND CONFERE
Page 33 and 34: ACTIVITIESProject workand school vi
Page 35 and 36: The earliest river flow records fro
Page 37 and 38: River Chess Smarter WaterCatchmentT
Page 39 and 40: The Ewelme Brook is a small chalkst
Page 41 and 42: The River Gade is under pressurefro
Page 43 and 44: The Hamble Brook is an ephemeralstr
Page 45 and 46: The 3.5 km Hughenden Streamis sprin
Page 47 and 48: The Misbourne is an intriguingchalk
Page 49 and 50: 1. Source of the VerThe embryonic R
Page 51: The Wye flows 17 km fromWest Wycomb
Page 55 and 56: For the first time in its history,
Page 57 and 58: WAYS YOU CAN HELPRiverfly monitorin
Page 59 and 60: The River Chess at Sarratt BottomFo

Celebrating 25 Years of the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?