News

This summer, SCRT and partners removed Bowston weir. This is the first major weir to be removed on the River Kent, Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation (SSSI/SAC). Why you ask? Well by removing weirs, you can restore a rivers form and function, reduce flooding, improve fish migration, improve biodiversity and improve navigation for river users! River restoration really does provide us with so many benefits including to help make our rivers more climate resilient for…

The River Kent system sees another weir removed. This follows on from the first major weir removed this summer in Bowston by SCRT. In September, we removed a small weir on a tributary of the River Mint, part of the Kent system, after months of preparatory work. Emma Wright, project officer for the LIFE R4ever Kent project, has spearheaded the removal in order to help improve the form and function of Lambrigg beck. Removal is the second phase of a…

September is now over, which means so is our annual Electrofishing programme. Electofishing is a monitoring technique used to assess the health and abundance of fish species in our becks and rivers. This year we have had our busiest yet, with a full summer programme of days, between June and September. We asked for the help of volunteers to lend a hand and we had a fantastic response, with many dates being oversubscribed. Thank you to everyone who contributed to…

There has been a lot of interest and local and national news regarding the blue-green algae currently present on Lake Windermere. Some of our partners from the LoveWindermere partnership have put together a really useful information sheet about blue-green algae and Cyanobacteria. Cyanobacterial blooms on Windermere – Joint Statement by UKCEH_LU_FBA If you do have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. If you’re interested, we also have additional information about water pollution available…

We have an exciting summer monitoring programme ahead, with various dates and locations for you to join us Electrofishing! These vital surveys allow us to assess the health and abundance of fish populations in our becks and rivers. Balsam Bashing events are ongoing in the catchment, with volunteers tackling the invasive non native species, Himalayan Balsam (HB). Repeat visits over a number of years, can eradicate this plant from entire areas, allowing native species to regenerate. Family river dipping! Bring…

We continue to organise a range of different events throughout the summer months for you to get involved in! Here are just some of the events we have been busy with the last week.. Fight the Aliens Day – completed Another year of the Fight the Aliens- Big Balsam Bash took place this weekend, with volunteers joining SCRT and Friends of the Lake District to do a large scale balsam bash. ‘Balsam Bashing’ refers to pulling Himalayan Balsam, an invasive…

The new “Love Windermere” partnership is a group of organisations from across South Cumbria that have come together to tackle the challenges facing Lake Windermere. Nutrients, climate change, more extreme weather patterns and increased seasonal tourism  have started to put the lake and its water quality under increasing pressure. These factors are causing ever increasing problems to the ecology of the lake, including an increased number of algal growths and a decline in wildlife and biodiversity. Members of the partnership…

The Bowston weir removal project has been five years in the making, with works underway to remove this three metre high weir at Bowston, Cumbria. Spanning the width of the River Kent SSS/SAC, Bowston weir is the largest weir to be removed this year under river restoration. Funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, removal of Bowston weir will allow the river to renaturalise; benefiting both people and wildlife. It will also see a 44% uplift in biodiversity,…

On 22nd June, there was a significant pollution incident on Cunsey beck, between Esthwaite Water and Windermere. Please find our initial statement about the incident here. 6th July – In addition to this, we have analysed the results of the water samples taken at Cunsey beck, which are available for your information, here.

SCRT staff and volunteers have been out and about the last two weeks, planting reeds for our reedbed restoration project. Funded by United Utilities through the CaST programme, these works will see over 800sq m of reedbed restoration around the shores of Lake Windermere. Reeds are vital habitat for fish, birds and invertebrates but they have declined significantly in recent years due to a number of reasons, including changing lake levels and boating activity. They have the amazing ability to…