Case study:Bristol Frome Diffuse Pollution Project

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Location: 51° 34' 46.61" N, 2° 26' 59.64" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Habitat and biodiversity, Land use management - agriculture, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Harriet
Main contact surname	Alvis
Main contact user ID	User:H.alv
Contact organisation	Bristol Avon Rivers Trust
Contact organisation web site	http://www.bristolavonriverstrust.org
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Valuable topsoil and nutrients entering the Ladden Brook from agricultural run-off

Project summary

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The Bristol Frome Diffuse Pollution Project is a project led by Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) from June 2015 – March 2016, as part of the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership. The project has been conducted in partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) South West and the farmers and landowners along the Ladden Brook and Bradley Brook which form the headwaters of the Bristol Frome. It has been driven by Water Framework Directive classifications that have shown a need to identify issues and take actions to contribute towards a reduction in the levels of sediment and nutrients entering the Bristol Frome and its tributaries.

Reports commissioned by the Environment Agency suggested that a focus on agricultural practices within the streams of the upper Bristol Frome catchment should be carried out as a priority and pre-requisite to further improvement works. Therefore, the Bristol Frome Diffuse Pollution Project chose to focus on two agriculture dominated brooks, The Ladden and Bradley Brooks in order to achieve the overall aim of reducing nutrient and sediment inputs from diffuse agricultural sources.

Baseline and wet weather monitoring, farmer engagement and advisory visits, walkover surveys and past Environment Agency data was used to assess areas for capital improvements to be made that would have the greatest impact for the timescale and funding available. These were decided upon as fencing to reduce bank erosion and an in-ditch wetland to separate clean water from dirty yard run-off that was previously entering the brook.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Baseline and wet weather phosphate, turbidity and dissolved oxygen monitoring and invertebrate monitoring.

Main findings:

-Phosphate concentrations measured during this study were high enough to cause WFD failure at every site, suggesting high levels of diffuse pollution throughout the catchment.

-Particularly high phosphate concentrations recorded during during dry-weather conditions in the lower reaches of the Ladden Brook, were accompanied by low dissolved oxygen and elevated turbidity. This requires further investigation as a high priority.

-Historic DO concentration in the Bradley Brook has steadily increased over the last 35 years, suggesting an improvement in water quality over time.

-The flood defence impoundment at Three Brooks Nature Reserve appears to be causing significant issues for turbidity and dissolved oxygen upstream in the Bradley Brook.

-There is a need for a future regular monitoring scheme on the brooks, including during wet weather events, if pollution sources are to be identified and resolved.

Lessons learnt

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Both the Ladden and the Bradley Brooks are suffering biologically and physico-chemically due to agricultural run-off. Whilst the improvements made during the course of this project will help to reduce these issues to some extent, the catchment requires a much larger programme of improvements in order to make a measurable difference.

Image gallery

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In-ditch wetland to seperate clean water from dirty water before entering the Ladden Brook

Fencing to reduce bank erosion and silt pollution

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Severn River basin Bristol Avon and North Somerset Streams Subcatchment River name Bradley Bk - conf Stoke Bk to conf R Brist Frome Area category 10 - 100 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Less than 100 m Maximum altitude (m) 8383 m <br />0.083 km <br />8,300 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB109053027570 Site Edit site Name Ladden & Bradley Brooks WFD water body codes GB 109053027590 & GB109053027570 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Agricultural Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Land drainage Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Agricultural/Farming improvements, improvement of structure of agricultural land Non-structural measures Management interventions Farm advice and plans Social measures (incl. engagement) interacting with farmers Other Survey work Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information