It is now a year since the new River Sid Catchment Group was established.
Since then, there has been the River Sid Catchment Plan public consultation – plus the results. And the Plan has been endorsed by the Town Council and is to be taken forward by West Country Rivers Trust.
Peter Brooks has been involved in the River Sid for many years now, giving migrating fish a helping hand up the Sid.
He is now a member of a broadly experienced steering group behind the River Sid Catchment Plan, established back in March 2024.
As he says: “We are not part of the SVA neither have had any Keith Owen funding, so we are completely independent and able to make our own decisions and choose our direction of travel.”
Peter has made available the 28-page River Sid Catchment Plan (RSCP) – written in November last year – which includes a graphic of RSCP Objectives giving a good introduction to the, then, proposed aims.
The group is now at a good point to look back over progress made. As Peter says: “I am pleased that we are now well underway with this.”
Peter has very generously provided the article below, originally published in the SVA’s bi-annual magazine, and is reproduced with permission.
“River Sid Catchment Group” – Progress
Ten years ago the SVA funded the Living Rivers project with two aims: 1) to report on what had been made possible by grants from the Keith Owen fund and 2) to recommend future actions. The River Sid Catchment Group (RSCG) was formed in 2023 and is steered by 5 residents, 4 of whom are SVA members. The aim of the RSCG is not only to consider the future and benefits of the river and its wildlife – but also to study the whole catchment from the Hare and Hounds in the north , and between East Hill strips and Salcombe Hill down to the sea.
To seek the broad views of Sid valley residents, we held an open day seminar/forum at Kennaway House, complemented by a public consultation questionnaire at the Byes and at the Methodist Church foyer. We had over a hundred responses with a range of views. The questionnaire was shared over social media and the library, over a 6 week period. This consultation helped us formulate our River Sid Catchment Plan which we published in November 2024. This is a 28 page, very informative document, which can be viewed on the SVBG website, or in the Library.
The plan discusses the current state, and opportunities for change, for Water, Land and People. The aims of the plan are to :
- Improve the ecological health, diversity and resilience within the catchment;
- Restore access for sea trout, salmon and eels to live and breed in the Sid;
- Mitigate the impact of climate change on flooding, peak flow and biodiversity loss;
- Foster in the community an appreciation and respect of our river system.
We are pleased that our Plan has attracted a sponsor who is willing to fund – with strict caveats – a number of projects.
We are already working closely with a number of national and regional organisations, including the Environment Agency, South West Water, Westcountry Rivers Trust, East Devon National Landscape, as well as more locally Sidmouth Town Council, East Devon District Council , farmers and landowners.
Historically the river was managed in different ways. Weirs were built to divert river flow to mills, both fulling mills to clean woven wool cloth, and mills to grind grain into flour. More recently School Weir was built as part of the Sidmouth Flood Relief scheme. These weirs now act as barriers to fish and wildlife migration, meaning that many species can neither enter the Sid from the sea nor move far upstream. There is some breeding stock from when fish have been lifted over School Weir, but their travel is limited. Initial results from the electro survey find low numbers of fry (young trout) which are bred in river gravel. Sadly there has been no confirmed sighting of salmon in the river since the one photographed in the fish rescue undertaken by the SVA in 2015.
…
As a way of assessing the degree of isolation of these fish, we propose to undertake a trout genetics exercise with Exeter University to objectively verify numbers and diversity. There were 5 “impassible” weirs identified in the Sid Vale Living Rivers Project report and the number may well have changed so a new assessment of barriers is now required.
We are also undertaking a couple of river quality initiatives whereby we can objectively assess the health of the river through:
- monitoring the river invertebrates – known as Riverfly Monitoring, whereby some 16 of us – all ages- carry out a count of the small creatures which inhabit the bed of the river. The species counted are sensitive to water quality and the EA set trigger levels and are able to investigate if these are breached. Sadly the Sid does not (yet) have a good score.
- We have monitored water quality on a monthly basis across the catchment for almost 5 years. 13 sites are surveyed by 9 volunteers who are registered with the Citizen Science Investigation project . We get to know our monitoring sites very well, recording wild life, invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam and noting bank erosion. We record water temperature, the amount of chemicals dissolved and the clarity and phosphate levels of the water.
As part of the Natural Flood Management we are supporting a “centuries old solution” whereby an area of land in the higher catchment – above Sidbury – could be used as a lake, thereby slowing flows, and reducing potential flooding to the downstream catchment.
Although on the surface the Sid looks like an ideal river, there are many areas where simple improvements can be made to improve its health. The single biggest barrier is still School Weir at the southern end of the Byes, which is the first major blockage to fish migration. It is like a locked door, and we are determined to find the key to open this but without spoiling the beauty of the area.
If you want to participate in any of the RSCG activities please contact us on: ourriversid@gmail.com
Peter Brookes
Photos: The last salmon to be recorded in the Sid (PB)
The cover or Objectives “snake” (EH-M)
…