Our Latest News
in this issue…
YDRT Open Day | Local Action Groups | Impact Report
Ure Sampling | Christmas Auction | Volunteering Update
What’s been happening …
Last month we were delighted to welcome back our CEO, Dr Marie Taylor from maternity leave. Great to have you back at the helm Marie – especially when we have so many exciting projects on the go!
Local Action Groups for INNS
Invasive non-native species (INNS) are plants and animals that have been introduced from outside their native range by humans, and have a negative effect on the new ecosystem. In the case of riverside INNS like Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed this is through the plants out-competing native vegetation leaving riparian areas with low habitat diversity and then dying back in winter to leave bare banks which are easily eroded.
Are you part of a group, or interested in getting some like-minded individuals together, to do something about invasive species in your area? Sometimes the scale of the problem can be overwhelming and it’s hard to know where to begin. We can help put together a plan and provide volunteers with training in mapping the area and the best control measures for different species. By having a coordinated approach any effort will be more effective.
Our Volunteers
Jennifer Lee our Volunteer and Engagement Officer has once again been busy training our volunteers and so has been able to get all the new Riverfly volunteers up and running with their sites.
She also wanted to extend a big thank you to those who completed the Big River Watch – which saw 97 participants complete 72 surveys across the Dales. A summary of the results are available via the button below:
The results of the Great UK Waterblitz are also in and can be viewed via the button below. Thank you to all those that collected samples.
Our Christmas Auction!
Save the date – our popular Christmas Auction returns on 22 November, closing on 30 November.
We already have several ‘money can’t buy’ lots including angling experiences and a unique studio and village tour of ITV’s Emmerdale – with lunch on a day they are actually filming!
If your are able to donate an experience or an item – we’d love to hear from you.
We will be including details of the full list of Auction prizes in next month’s newsletter.
Ousewem
Ousewem is deeply committed to fostering flood resilience in its communities, which span from the catchments of the Swale, Ure and Nidd to York. With a mission of safeguarding communities by educating them about the intricate connections between water, land use, and flood risk, it has sponsored the flyer for our award-winning educational programme, River2U. Click on the button below to find out more:
Our Open Day
We are travelling to the Swale catchment for our annual Open Day: 5 October at Gilling West near Richmond, 1pm – 4pm
There will be talks about our work and how we look after the rivers and their catchments, plus we have a guest speaker from Holmedale Nature Network and a film about the work of Save Our Swale. Our #Rivers2U mobile classroom will be there with its working river lab and rivers table. This year we are also be hosting a guided walk by Gilling Beck at 3pm – booking essential via the button below.
All the above can be washed down with some tea and cake too! Hopefully see you there…
Our Impact Report
We’ve revamped our Annual Report to become an Impact Report – a punchy pamphlet that clearly lays out the impact we’ve had on rivers and catchments of the Yorkshire Dales. Discover what we’ve achieved from how many trees we’ve planted, scrapes we’ve created and farms we’ve advised to how many school children we’ve engaged with via the button below:
Sampling on the Ure
At the end of August with the help of 41 volunteers from the Stop Ure Pollution group we sampled along the length of the River Ure. Samples were taken at 45 sites from the top of Wensleydale to beyond Boroughbridge, to try and find out the extent of the pollution in the watercourse.
20 out of the 45 sites tested had E-coli concentrations above the levels deemed sufficient for bathing water – 900 coliform forming units (CFU) per 100ml of water. E-coli levels that day were above that level from Bainbridge until past Spennithorne, with increased levels also at Masham Bridge and Ripon North. The highest level of E-coli was at Lord’s Bridge near Wensley (3,300cfu/100ml). These 20 sites would be classed as poor for bathing water with swimmers being advised against bathing there.
The tests also included those for phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, temperature and conductivity and overall these results reflected a good quality river on the day we tested, although further testing is required on the Skell and Tutt tributaries.
We are working with Stop Ure Pollution to conduct another river-length testing soon when the river flow is high.
