Calder Rivers Trust

Did you know Calder Rivers Trust offers free, confidential advice on land management and funding opportunities for your farm or holding? If you would like to arrange a visit, or just have a chat to see what we could do for you, contact farmadvice@calderandcolneriverstrust.org

Over the past few months, we have been collecting baseline #waterquality data at our project sites in the Upper Calder, which have various types of #wetland habitats and ponds being constructed in the coming months. Most of these features will attenuate overland flow from agricultural land and roads, trapping sediment and other pollutants. We are currently monitoring 8 paramaters including, Phosphate, Nitrate, and Dissolved Oxygen. We hope this data, along with some fixed point photography, will illustrate the multiple benefits of these features once they are functioning.

Calder Rivers Trust will be at Holmfirth Auction Mart on Tuesday 13th August to talk about our free, confidential farm advice and funding opportunities. Our Farm Advice Team will be offering free and confidential farm surveys to assist farmers and landowners in identifying where there might be opportunities to support farm business #resilience, improve #biodiversity and #soilhealth, and provide nature-based solutions to a range of issues. We can also help with finding funding to this kind of work, from Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive to local, targeted funds. We work at a catchment level, so provide these services to any farmer or landowner in Calderdale, Wakefield or Kirklees. If you are outside these areas, we will put you in touch with the Rivers Trust which will cover your area. Come along and have a chat and share with your networks!

At our recent Calder Catchment Partnership meeting, Prof Jonny Grey from The Wild Trout Trust gave us an electrofishing demonstration on the newly restored section of Black Brook. Electrofishing is a method of surveying fish abundance, diversity, and age structure in our rivers and streams. An electric current is passed through the water, encouraging fish into a net to be identified, measured, and swiftly released. This technique causes no harm to the fish, and is an effective way to build a picture of the fish populations in our catchment, and any pressures that may be impacting their life cycles. Last year, we removed a small weir on this stretch of Black Brook, as well as reprofiling the banks to encourage natural processes. We were thrilled to see plenty of Brown Trout and Bullheads in the river! Thanks to all our partners who attended, and to Jonny for the demonstration.

We are #recruiting! We are looking for a Natural Capital Manager to lead our Catchment Science and Data Team. This will allow us to continue making data driven decisions across the catchment and capitalise on environmental markets. Get in touch if you are interested, or share with anyone in your networks who might be. Find out more and apply here https://zurl.co/LClj This role is part of the Calder and Colne Landscape Links DEFRA Landscape Recovery Project https://zurl.co/pKpQ

Yesterday we hosted our summer Calder Catchment Partnership meeting. This included a morning site visit to our river restoration site on Black Brook, followed by an afternoon of networking and insighful talks from our guest speakers. Thank you to everyone who came and contributed! Calderdale Council Slow The Flow Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Environment Agency Kirklees Council Wakefield Council

Last month we hosted a river clean up and balsam bash at Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve. One of our talented volunteers, Jim, took some great pictures of our group hard at work! Jim is a photographer and is working on a project titled 'Encounters with the Calder'. Take a look at his work here: https://zurl.co/cxta

Over the past few months we have been assisting the University of York in their ECOMIX project. Daily samples are taken from the Calder at two monitoring points, and we process them on a weekly basis. This includes some simple bankside measurements, like pH, and bottling samples in various ways to be sent back to the lab. Gathering this #waterquality data will contribute to assessing the impact of #chemicalpollution in our rivers, how this may change in the future, and targeting mitigation and adaption measures. Read more: https://zurl.co/rpl8

Before heading to the polling stations tomorrow, take a look at The Rivers Trust summary of party manifestos and how you can #VoteForRivers 👇 https://zurl.co/d91L

Through time the Calder's rivers and streams have been straightened, walled, and dammed with 78% of waterbodies now classified as heavily modified. These modifications disrupt natural processes and remove diverse aquatic habitats. As well as the obvious physical barriers to fish migration, the ecological consequences of heavy modifications in our rivers can spread much wider. In July 2023, we witnessed alarming fish kills, primarily due to these modifiations combined with hot weather - similar to the weather we are expeirencing now. The combination of high air and water temperatures and impounded, stagnant water can create low oxygen levels, making it difficult for fish and other aquatic life to survive. This is why we are undertaking a huge survey of all the weirs in our catchment, currently with over 300 visited and mapped. This information allows us to prioritise river improvement opportunites that reinstate natural processes and restore lost riverine habitats—building resilience in our rivers. Read more about a recently completed project where we naturalised a modified river: https://zurl.co/ZQho