! CaBA Catchment Partnerships ! Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting ! Ecosystems Services Mapping ! Habitat Restoration Projects TICP Rivers Week - 20th April

!

NEWSLETTER !FEBRUARY 2015 !

© Tom Davis© Tom Davis

© Tom Davis

© H&IOWWT

Dear Supporter !I am delighted to be able to tell you about significant developments at Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust since our last newsletter. In October 2014 Dr Paul Jose joined WCSRT as our full-time director, taking over from Tom Davis who had done a sterling job part-time since the establishment of the trust in 2010. Paul was previously Head of Environmental Management at Huntingdonshire District Council and before that had a distinguished career as an environmentalist in the public and private sectors. Much of this newsletter gives Paul’s opening thoughts on WCSRT after four months in office. !We have had a great deal to do in the past year, leading catchment partnerships for the Hampshire Avon and the Test & Itchen, taking forward our invertebrate fingerprinting project led by Dr Nick Giles to identify and rectify pollution hotspots and expanding our in-river project work and educational outreach activities. !Now, more than ever, we need your support. Government funding for the environment is under severe pressure and the national budget of the Environment Agency has been cut dramatically over the last 2 years. Not surprisingly, WCSRT is getting less support from Government than in previous years and needs increasing help from the private sector to deliver our prime objective of ensuring high water quality with sustainable water flow in the rivers of the Wessex region. So if you can help us financially, or by donating fishing days (please see page details on page 11), we would be tremendously grateful. !!George Seligman!!

CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

The Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust is a charity dedicated to the guardianship, protection, enhancement and maintenance of healthy, functioning ecosystems within the river

catchments and corridors of the Wessex region. Our vision is of healthy rivers which are valued and nurtured by the community.!

www.wcsrt.org.uk

© South Downs National Park Authority

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As part of the growing Rivers Trust movement, I believe the Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust is well placed to tackle the ever mounting and wide ranging pressures damaging this region’s precious river systems.

Through our involvement in the government’s Catchment Based Approach, we see an important role for the relatively newly formed Catchment Partnerships in bringing together key players and organisations. We have already begun facilitating the agreement of priorities amongst partners and stakeholders and together we have planned and are starting to carry out a series of actions to deliver habitat and catchment wide improvements. The first part of this newsletter highlights these activities and looks at some of the proposed projects for the Hampshire Avon and Test & Itchen Catchment Partnerships.

In the second part of this newsletter you can read about how the Trust is shaping ideas for the future, based on sound science and evidence. We are using a technique called Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting (CIF) to identify the spatial coverage and extent of environmental stresses, such as excessive sediment and nutrients. This information is helping us and our partners to target activities on the ground which not only will benefit the environment but also enhance wider ecosystems services.

Central to the work of our Rivers Trust is habitat restoration and rehabilitation. Our recent projects, highlighted in the third section of the newsletter, are delivering tangible improvements to our rivers and fish populations. The Trust is able to undertake habitat enhancements such as these in a professional and cost effective manner and we will seek to help riparian owners and statutory bodies to deliver further habitat improvement and restoration throughout the Wessex region.

We are also continuing to work closely on our educational activities with local schools and are currently working to deliver an outdoor programme with Winchester College for several local junior schools. We hope to feature more on this in a forthcoming newsletter.

Finally, it is thanks to you and your generous support that the Trust is able to look towards a brighter future for our rivers. We are committed to working on your behalf to achieve our vision of healthy rivers that are valued and nurtured by the community. To do so, we will focus on four key themes; catchment management and habitat improvement, underpinned by sound science and evidence and shared through positive education.

We hope you find the newsletter informative and we will look forward to bringing you more success stories and news of our activities over the year ahead.

A look to the future !Thoughts from new Director, Dr Paul Jose

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Catchment Based Approach: Catchment Partnerships

Websites

Both catchment partnerships have recently launched new websites to help share information between partners and to communicate with a wider audience about the work being undertaken to address the issues affecting the catchment’s local water environments.

To view the websites, please visit:

www.ticp.org.uk

and

www.hampshireavoncathmentpartnership.org.uk !

Twitter

You can also follow the catchment partnerships on Twitter!

@TICP_CaBA

and

@JacobDewWCSRT

The two catchment partnerships being hosted by the Trust, the Hampshire Avon Catchment Partnerhsip (HACP) and the Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership (TICP) (where we are working alongside the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust), are continuing to develop apace.

Our Catchment Officers, Jacob Dew and Rupert Kelton, have been busy working with local stakeholders to agree priority issues and actions for the two catchments. Both Partnerships have now published Catchment Action Plans and are currently working up a number of partnership projects to deliver against the aspirations of these plans. Further details can be found on the catchment partnership websites.

The catchment partnerships have partly been funded by the EA and DEFRA. We are also extremely grateful to Wessex Water and Southern Water for their generous contributions to supporting the work of the partnerships. !Partnership Projects

From the suite of projects being developed by the respective catchment partnerships, Sediment and Septic Tanks are two common themes that have been identified by stakeholders from the Hampshire Avon and the Test & Itchen catchments and both partnerships are working on plans to deliver the following two projects:

Septic Tanks Awareness Scheme

Phosphorous from septic tanks and domestic cleaning products has been identified as a significant issue for a number of catchment partnerships. The TICP and the HACP are working jointly with several other neighbouring catchment partnerships in the South of England to develop a collaborative project that will build awareness of the environmental impacts of

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non-mains sewerage and high phosphate domestic products on the water environment. The project will aim to improve management of septic tanks and increase the supply and purchase of low phosphate or phosphate-free cleaning products in most severely impacted parts of the catchments.

Sediment Pathways Project

Increased levels of fine sediment are widely agreed by stakeholders to be a significant threat for both catchments. Physically, sediment causes damage by clogging aquatic habitats and it also acts as a vector for many undesirable contaminants, including phosphorous.

This project will deliver measures to reduce levels of fine sediment entering river channels from roads, tracks and other pathways. In doing so, it will improve water quality, as well as also having positive implications for flood risk mitigation and highways maintenance.

Other Projects:

The partnerships are also working on a number of other projects, these two are on the Hampshire Avon:

Salmon Spawning & Juvenile Habitat Project

With Hampshire Avon Salmon numbers at an all-time low, the Catchment Partnership are looking to deliver a project to improve salmon survival rates at spawning riffles and in associated downstream juvenile habitat at key locations across the catchment. Historic EA Spawning data will be used to identify priority sites and an appraisal undertaken to understand the level of impact the available habitat is having on salmon survival. Where a modest amount of input could improve the site, the Catchment Partnership will look to undertake works to improve gravel spawning and habitat for hatched fish. This will include, but is not limited to, channel narrowing, gravel cleaning and, where possible, the introduction of large wood and flints to act as cover for the hatched juvenile fish. The budget for the project is small, but we are hoping funding will enable us to also improve habitat on other large scale restoration schemes already planned for 2015.  

The Lower Hampshire Avon is suffering from declining cyprinid numbers. Other projects on the lower River are already looking to improve numbers through stocking, but the Catchment Partnership are seeking to install long term habitat improvements to increase and improve the juvenile cyprinid survival rate. 2 projects are planned, at Burgate and Avon Tyrell, which will open up historic drains and back waters proving still water and cover, ideal for juvenile cyprinid species. Previous similar works have been a great success and it is hoped that this work will continue the success so far.

Burgate & Avon Tyrell Estates

© Tom Davis

© casterbridge fisheries

© John Hannon

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Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting Study

The evaluation of invertebrate communities living in a river or stream is one of the best methods available for assessing the impacts of environmental stress on the health of an aquatic ecosystem. Invertebrates that spend all, or part, of their lifecycle living in a river are constantly exposed to changes in the structural composition of the river bed, in the volume of water in the river and in the chemical composition of the water flowing over them. !The Catchment Invertebrate Fingerprinting (CIF) study, which has been generously supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, is examining aquatic invertebrate communities, throughout the river catchments of the Wessex region, and is looking at their responses to four environmental stresses:

SEDIMENT PHOSPHATE ORGANIC POLLUTION LOW FLOWS

The first phase of the study has been to examine historic invertebrate sampling data, supplied by the Environment Agency. The community structure at each sampling site has been analysed, to family level, for four biometric indices: PSI (fine sediment), TRPI (total reactive phosphorous index), Saprobic (organic pollution) and LIFE (low-flow impacts). !For each of the indices, an invertebrate group is allocated a score according to its sensitivity to a particular environmental stressor. When a river becomes polluted the most sensitive and highest scoring groups are the first to be lost and the average score falls. Where the average score of the groups found is high, it indicates that the most sensitive groups are present in the river and that, by inference, the pollution levels are low. !The Trust is using GIS software to map the results and has created a series of maps showing the current degree of impact and the long term trend at each sampling site. The examples below for the Test & Itchen, show the current impact from sediment (below, left) as well as highlighting those sites where the long term trend shows sediment pressure is increasing (below, right).

Phosphate Given that the contamination in a catchment can be caused by a wide array or different pollutants in different locations, and that these pollutants can each be derived from a number of different sources, it is vital to explore the contribution that different sources of contamination make to the pollution load in different sections of the catchment.

There are a huge number of pollutants that can be derived from so-called point sources (outfalls, discharges, drains, mis-connections, etc..) and it is important to consider the location and contribution of these alongside examination of the different diffuse sources when making an assessment of the water quality problem in a catchment and designing a programme of interventions to correct it.

CIF

Res

ults

: Pho

spha

te

Nut

rient

Enr

ichm

ent

Total Reactive Phosphorous Index (TRPI) Eutrophication, the enrichment of waters by nutrients resulting in an array of biological changes, is widespread in the lakes and rivers of industrialised countries, with typical symptoms including algal blooms and sometimes enhanced growth of higher aquatic plants. A new phosphorus index has been developed by Dr Nick Everall and co-workers where the Total Reactive Phosphorous Index or TRPI, uses sensitive invertebrate groupings present in a sample to calculate scores across five groups of invertebrate taxa (A to E, where A taxa are very TRP sensitive through to E taxa which are relatively insensitive).

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Rec

reat

ion

Infra

stru

ctur

e re

gula

ting

the

serv

ice

Infrastructure regulating service The biggest challenge in assessing the provision of resources and accessible land for recreation and cultural activities is mapping the current provision of those opportunities across the landscape catchment and to examine the way that these opportunities were accessed and managed. Only when this assessment has been made can the level of provision be assessed and compared to the level that I required by the residential and business communities.

The data presented here gives flavour of the infrastructure that exists – public rights of way remain to be mapped, but will allow the levels of access to greenspace/open spaces to be assessed in more detail. !

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Open spaces, green spaces and blue spaces

Data / information Notes

Nature reserves NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Local Nature Reserves (LNR) are the best sites in England for seeing wildlife.

Access Land NE dataset from NE GIS data website www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/data

People can access ‘open access land’ or ‘access land’ across Britain without using Public Rights of Way

Publically accessible woodlands Should$be$obtained$from$the$Forestry$Commission$or$Woodland$Trust

Woodlands with public access can be mapped using data from the Forestry Commission.

Public open spaces (parks & gardens) & other visitor attractions (open farms, leisure parks) English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/NMRDataDownload/

The English Heritage 'Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England‘ currently identifies over 1,600 sites assessed to be of national importance.

Lakes & reservoirs OS Open Data - Strategi

Larger waterbodies are popular recreational resources (blue spaces) for people wanting to do water sports, angling, swimming etc.

Designated Bathing Waters EA dataset from Geostore www.geostore.com/environment-agency

A bathing water is one where a large number of people ~100 people) are expected to bathe at any one time.

Accessible heritage sites English heritage GIS website www.services.english-heritage.org.uk/NMRDataDownload/

Many World Heritage Sites/Landscapes and Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) have public access.

Urban areas OS Open Data - Strategi

Urban areas themselves are key recreational spaces.

Linear features

Data / information Notes

Public Rights of Way (PROW)

Includes footpaths, permissive paths & bridle paths.

Cycle routes & long distance paths

Important recreational infrastructure.

Minor roads, tracks and paths

Important recreational infrastructure for walking, cycling etc.

Point attractions

Data / information Notes

Car parks OS Open Data - Strategi

Important recreational infrastructure.

Accommodation Important recreational infrastructure.

Heritage/historical interest attractions

Important recreational infrastructure.

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2.3$More$detail$on$analytical$methods$$$(NOTE:!The!Technical!Appendix!(7)!provides!a!more!technical!explanation!of!methods).!!A!number!of!biometrics!are!available!to!determine!aquatic!invertebrate!fingerprints!for!siltation!(Proportion!of!SedimentLsensitive!Invertebrates!or!PSI),!flow!velocity!conditions!(Lotic!Invertebrate!Flow!Evaluation!or!LIFE),!organic!enrichment!(Saprobic!index)!and!phosphate!enrichment!(Total!Reactive!Phosphorous!Index!or!TRPI)!from!familyL!and!speciesLlevel!macroinvertebrate!community!sample!data.!Samples!can!be!either!carefully!collected!3Lminute!sweep!samples,!carried!out!to!a!strict!protocol,!or!fully!quantitative!Surber!samples!(which!provide!population!density!estimates).!These!biometric!tests!will!be!applied!to!both!historic!EA!GQA!(General!Quality!Assessment)!and!newlyLcollected!macroLinvertebrate!sample!data!for!survey!sites!in!selected!catchments.!

!

!Nymph!of!mayfly!Seratella'ignita,!the!BlueLwinged!Olive;!a!species!known!to!be!in!decline!on!the!River!Test!and!

Hampshire!Avon.!$Siltation$analysis$from$Proportion$of$SedimentLsensitive$Invertebrates$or$PSI$Extence!et.!al.!(2010)!proposed!the!use!of!a!sedimentLsensitive!macroLinvertebrate!metric,!PSI!(Proportion!of!SedimentLsensitive!Invertebrates)!which!can!act!as!a!proxy!to!describe!temporal!and!spatial!suspended!sediment!ecological!impacts!on!a!river!catchment!scale.!The!PSI!score!describes!the!percentage!of!sedimentLsensitive!taxa!present!in!a!kick/sweep!net!sample!and!the!metric!is!calculated!using!scores!for!the!differing!invertebrate!groups.!PSI!scores!range!from!0!(entirely!silted!river!bed)!to!100!(entirely!siltLfree!river!bed).!!!Flow$velocity$conditions$from$Lotic$Invertebrate$Flow$Evaluation$or$LIFE$Many!freshwater!invertebrates!have!precise!requirements!for!particular!current!velocities!or!flow!ranges,!and!certain!taxa!are!ideal!indicators!of!prevailing!flow!conditions.!!The!LIFE!technique!is!based!on!data!derived!from!standardised!3!minute!kickLsweep!net!sampling!of!macroLinvertebrates!in!order!to!assess!the!impact!of!variable!flows!on!benthic!populations!(Extence!et.!al.,1999).!The!higher!the!LIFE!score!in!comparable!flowLhabitat!sections!of!watercourse!the!higher!the!prevailing!flow!conditions!and!vice!versa.!!$Organic$pollution$and$enrichment$measured$by$the$Saprobic$index$Saprobic!indexing!at!the!species!and!family!level!allows!for!a!more!revealing!insight!into!the!nature!and!quantum!of!organic!pollution!in!watercourses!than!other!methods,!as!it!accounts!for!species!differences!in!tolerance!to!organic!pollutants!(e.g.!elevated!ammonia!and!lowering!dissolved!oxygen!regimes).!$Inorganic$(Phosphorous)$enrichment$from$Total$Reactive$Phosphorous$Index$or$TRPI$

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!!

Nymph!of!mayfly!Ephemera!danica,!‘The!Mayfly’;!a!species!which!likes!clean!water,!but!which!can!tolerate!siltation.!!!

The!first!phase!of!the!proposed!work!programme!will!centre!on!agreed!sections!of!the!Rivers!Test,!Itchen!and!Hampshire!Avon!Catchments!where!there!is!evidence!of!damaging!impacts!on!river!habitat!quality,!fly!life,!fisheries!and!other!wildlife!through!various!pressures!on!water!quality!and!quantity.!After!the!analysis!of!historic!data,!a!carefullyLtargeted!network!of!sampling!sites!will!be!drawn!up!and!samples!collected!using!the!standardised!‘3!minute!kickLsample’!technique.!The!invertebrate!samples!will!then!be!identified!to!genus!or!speciesLlevel!by!Aquascience!Consulting!staff,!giving!overall!numbers!of!each!species!and!also!the!structure!(the!proportions!of!different!species)!of!the!invertebrate!community!for!each!section!of!river!catchment.!! The!basis!of!the!subsequent!analysis!is!the!suite!of!unique!computer!programmes!called!The!Pollution!Diagnostic!System!which!detects!environmental!stressors!such!as!fine!sediment!inputs!(know!as!PSI),!organic!enrichment!(Saprobic!pollution!from!ammonia,!oxygen!demand),!inorganic!enrichment!(Total!Reactive!Phosphorous!Index!LTRPI),!and!flow!velocity!conditions!(known!as!LIFE).!!As!noted!above,!analyses!will!be!run!on!both!existing!EA!data!sets!and!newlyLcollected!data!to!analyse!historic!and!geographic!environmental!impacts.!Additional!carefully!targeted!samples!will!be!collected!by!WCSRT,!using!appropriate!techniques!to!add!data!in!critical!locations.!Data!available!from!external!volunteers!and!partners,!such!as!the!River!Fly!Monitoring!network,!will!be!added!to!our!information!databases.!!!The!results!of!all!the!above!analysis!will!be!displayed!in!a!colourLcoded!interactive!map!which!will!show!the!overall!health!of!the!WCSRT!catchments!and!highlight!the!worst!affected!parts!of!particular!rivers.!!!Once!we!have!a!clear!picture!(and!indeed,!map)!of!where!the!degraded!stretches!are,!the!root!causes!of!pollution!will!be!identified!and!removed!or!alleviated!via!the!rollingLout!of!the!new!River!Basin!Management!Plans!via!the!appropriate!CaBA!Partnerships.!!!It!is!already!recognised!that!successful!CaBA!outcomes!will!require!an!understanding!of!both!pointLsource!and!diffuse!forms!of!water!pollution!and!overLabstraction!impacts!on!river!catchments.!The!present!project,!if!funded,!will!directly!address!this!requirement!and,!in!the!process,!support!and!add!capacity!to!WCSRT.! $

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The results have also been combined and mapped on a sub catchment basis, as per the example below on the Itchen. Please visit our website for the complete set of maps showing the results of the first phase of the CIF study. www.wcsrt.org.uk

With the help of the GIS maps, the Trust has already begun to use the first phase results to engage with businesses, landowners and government agencies, encouraging them to work with us to deliver solutions that will improve invertebrate communities at a number of individual sites.

The second phase of the Study is now underway with a wide range of sites (50+) having been sampled, both in the Test / Itchen and Avon catchments, last autumn. These samples are currently being analysed to ‘species-level’, by AquaScience Consulting Ltd, which will enable further refinement for targeting of catchment-wide management actives (e.g.

addressing sediment inputs) which have been highlighted in the Catchment Partnership updates. Work is also underway to report to the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which has funded this innovative work. It is hoped that this programme will be extended in the longer term to look at the Stour and Meon catchments. !Sampling will begin again in April and our officers will be in touch with riparian owners and keepers to arrange follow-up visits to collect the spring samples that are needed to complement those taken last autumn and provide a year round picture of invertebrate assemblages.

CIF StudyPhase 2:

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Ecosystems Services Mapping

‘Ecosystems services’ can be described as the benefits that society receives from the natural environment e.g. the provision of clean drinking water, habitats for wildlife, opportunities for recreation, etc.

The Catchment Partnerships have been using GIS software to map these services, so that we can provide a visual environmental audit of the Test & Itchen and Hampshire Avon catchments. The maps allow us to assess the current provision of ecosystems services and engage people to be part of the debate about the need to improve particular services. They also provide a theoretical framework of where to focus act ivi ty, so that improvements can be maximised and delivered in the most cost effective way.

The mapping process follows four key steps; 1. identify all the priority features that are effected by the provision or non-provision of a particular ecosystems service, 2. map the features of the landscape that are responsible for providing that service, 3. assess the current provision of the service to establish a baseline and question whether or not there is a mandate to improve the existing level of service and, finally step 4. identify the parts of the catchment where action is likely to deliver the greatest improvement to that particular ecosystem service.

This process is repeated for each of the six services we have mapped for each catchment. The opportunity maps for individual services can then be overlaid, to produce a map (seen below in blue), which identifies the areas of the catchment where investment can be targeted to deliver the greatest amount of benefit to the widest number of services.

!

Recreation & Leisure

Carbon Regulation

Leaf litter Photo: Nick Paling

Habitats for Wildlife

Flooding

Drought

Cracked soil Photo: Terry Freedman

Water Quality

The ‘Environmental Services Evidence Review’ for the Test & Itchen catchment is available to view and download from the TICP website - www.ticp.org.uk . The map booklet is primarily a visualisation tool that we hope highlights ways in which we are all affected by the condition of our natural environment and will encourage people to work with the Catchment Partnership to agree solutions and deliver environmental improvements.

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Habitat Improvement Projects

WCSRT Programme Development Officer, Dr Nick Giles, has worked on 42 projects /reports over his first 2 years in office. A snapshot of the coverage of habitat improvement projects undertaken by the Trust is shown on the map below and overleaf is a case study of works that the Trust completed on the Severals Fishery on the River Avon.

We are working in partnership with a number of organisations and landowners to deliver a range of priority projects identified in the Avon and Test and Itchen restoration strategies led by the Environment Agency and Natural England. Current projects include:

River Location Works Partners

Wylye Longleat Estate Habitat improvement Landowner

Wylye Stapleford Habitat improvement SADAC / WWT

Wylye Wilton Estate Butchers stream project Wilton Fishing Club

Avon Ibsley Fish passage EA / Wessex Water

Test Upper Test River restoration project Landowner

Itchen St Cross Mill Habitat improvement Landowner

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Case Study:

River Avon, Severals Fishery, Habitat Improvement Project

Location: Westover Farm, downstream of Castleman Trail, Ringwood, Hampshire.

Installation Date: June 2013

Partners: Environment Agency, Natural England, Mr D. Goulding, Ringwood Angling Club, Barbel Society,

Project Objectives

• Improve habitat for juvenile Cyprinids

• Improve instream habitat variety

• Improve cover for all instream species to reduce the threat of predation

• Reduce flood risk to Ringwood

Project details:

Using 5 Rivers Contracting Ltd., WCSRT excavated six new fry bays into the banks of the Avon to provide back water habitat for juvenile coarse fish.

WCSRT also installed 21 upstream facing log deflectors, keyed into the bank, to scour new pool/riffle features into the relatively uniform and open river bed. Low-growing willows were also planted at the bankside-end of all log deflectors to combat bank erosion and to add much needed in-stream cover and habitat features on the river bank.

The lower end of Bickerley Stream and two Culverts under Castleman Public footpath were cleared as part of the project, improving the conveyance of flood waters across the site and away from Ringwood town centre.

Net sampling in the summer of 2014 showed large numbers of dace, chub, minnows & other species utilising the safety of the bays and some interesting new instream features developing due to the installation of the log deflectors.

Ariel view of site

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Rivers Week Chalk Stream Temperatures

WCSRT Scientific Officer, Jon Bass, has been monitoring chalk stream temperatures with in-river data loggers: 2013 data show that the Avon at Ringwood reached almost 24O C in July 2013 – warm enough to compromise salmon health and only a degree below the level where trout deaths are possible. See our website for details - 2014 results are currently being analysed. River shading by tree planting and changes to abstraction / discharge regimes hold out the hope for improvements.

Trout in Schools

The Trust’s ‘Trout in Schools’ Project is underway for another year with new kits set up at the Pilgrims School, Winchester and the Anton Junior School, Andover in collaboration with Test Valley Borough Council’s ‘Anton Enhancement Scheme’.

Eggs have been delivered to the classrooms and will be hatched and cared for by the pupils until they are ready to be released this coming spring!

IBM Collaboration

In the Autumn of 2014 we were excited to begin a new collaborative initiative with IBM (Hursley) to look at catchment water quality and public engagement.

Sale of Fishing Days

WCSRT’s ability to deliver improvements to the environment of the rivers of Wessex is directly dependent on the financial support we receive, whether from Government, businesses, landowners or fishermen. In the last two fishing seasons we have received many gifts of fishing days by generous individuals and fishing clubs which we have sold on line to raise funds for our work. We started modestly in 2013 and expanded the programme in 2014, and have now raised a total of £3,000 towards our work. !We would like to expand this source of funding in the 2015 fishing season. So if you fish or own fishing in the Wessex region, please would you consider donating one or two days to WCSRT to help us to improve the quality and quantity of water in our rivers, for the benefit of fish and everything else that lives in and around them? If you are able to help, please email our Chairman, George Seligman: george@gvseligman.com

The Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership are holding a series of educational workshops and site visits for a ‘Rivers Week’ starting on 20th April, including on 23rd April the Catchment Partnership’s annual meeting and a river walk / habitat workshop hosted by the National Trust and the Wild Trout Trust. For further information please contact: admin@wcsrt.org.uk

© Timsbury Fishery

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THANK YOU

FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

www.wcsrt.org.uk

© Tom Davis