Trent Licensing Policy Review Executive Summary> Report
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NRA 628.113 NRA National Rivers Authority Severn-Trent Region Trent Licensing Policy Review Executive Summary> Report M ay 1992 i s E n v i r o n m e n t A g e n c y NATIONAL LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICE ANGLIAN REGION Kingfisher House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5ZR NRA £>*2% - U3 TRENT LICENSING POLICY REVIEW Executive Summary Report — = - N R A INTRODUCTION WS Atkins were appointed by NRA-ST in The following bodies were met, or contacted, September 1991 to carry out a review of the policy during the course of the study:- for considering and granting licences to abstract _ water-from-the River Trent. This Executive NRA - Severn Trent Region Summary Report presents the main findings. NRA - Anglian Region PowerGen Abstractors taking water from surface and National Power groundwaters were first required to obtain a licence British Waterways through the Water Resources Act of 1963- Those Severn-Trent Water who had statutory powers or who could demonstrate Anglian Water that they had been abstracting water over the South Staffordshire Water previous 5 years were automatically entitled to a Keadby Power Ltd licence to continue to do so indefinitely. These Nottinghamshire County Council 'Licences of Right’ exert the first claim over any National Sports Council water available in the river, and the statutory authority, now the NRA, is obliged to ensure that no future licences may derogate from these and THE TRENT CATCHMENT other licences subsequently granted. In addition, the NRA has a statutory duty to protect and, where The River Trent drains the Midlands region of possible, enhance the environment. England and has a catchment area of nearly 10,500km2, containing a population of over 5.5 One of the primary reasons for commissioning the million people. The river has five major tributaries study was the increasing interest being placed in as can be seen on Figure 1. The Dove and the the Trent as a potential source of public water Derwent rise in the Peak District; the Tame drains supply. Indeed, during the course of the study a the industrial West Midlands; the Soar drains the number of new proposals emerged, emphasising agricultural and urban areas of Leicestershire; and the important role that the Trent could play in the the Idle joins the Trent in its lower reaches. The future. annual effective rainfall (total rainfall less evaporation) varies from over 1000mm in the The increasing water resource interest in the river headwaters of the Derwent to as little as 100mm in reflects the significant improvement in water quality the lower reaches, with the majority of the catchment that has occurred since the mid 1960s, and the having less than 300mm. continuing rise in per capita water consumption. However, any further abstraction must take account of the existing uses, particularly the power generation industry and navigation, and the importance of the Trent as a coarse fishery and recreational resource. May 1992 Page No. 1 ENVIRONMENT AGENCY 089501 LEGEND ^400v^ ISOHYETS OF MEAN ANNUAL EFFECTIVE RAINFALL TRENT BASIN CATCHMENT BOUNDARY MAJOR URBAN AREAS s r POWER STATIONS SCUNTHORPE SBOROUGH MANCHESTER LINCOLN STOKE EWARK- - ON - ON-TRENT TRENT STAFF OR LEICESTER WOLVERHAM /COVENTRY ^ U G B y 0 10 20 30 40 50 km MAP OF RIVER TRENT CATCHMENT FIGURE 1 TRENT LICENSING POLICY REVIEW Executive Summary Report = = " N R A USES OF THE RIVER TRENT The following points summarise the uses of the Industry River Trent and their particular requirements. They provide a necessary background against which - Direct abstraction from the Trent for industrial use to consider licensing policy and, in particular, is not significant, being restricted to milling and proposals for public water supply. cooling water. ♦ Water Abstraction Agriculture Power Generation Spray irrigation of crops occurs in a number of areas in the Trent basin, but is most intensive in the The principal abstractors from the River Trent are lower reaches, particularly the Idle and Tome sub the nine powerstations operated by National Power catchments. Demand for spray irrigation is likely and PowerGen. Their water requirements vary to increase, although availability will be restricted depending on the method of cooling they employ; by the limited resources in the sub-catchments. evaporative via cooling towers, or direct abstraction through the condensers. The older stations use * Effluent Disposal direct cooling, at least in part. They therefore have licences to abstract large volumes of water; in three The River Trent receives significant amounts of cases in excess of the dry weather flow in the river. domesticand industrial effluent. Typicaiiy, around Practically all of this water is returned to the river, 1500 Ml/d of effluent is discharged through sewage but the protection of these licences presents major treatment works, which can represent over 50% of constraints to the management of the Trent. the dry weather flow in the river. About half of this effluent is derived from the West Midlands Public Water Supply conurbation via the River Tame. The maintenance of sufficient flow to dilute effluent is a very Historically, public water supplies for the Trent important use of the river. basin have either come from the rivers Derwent and Dove; groundwatersourceswithinthe catchment; ♦ Navigation or surface water imports either from the River Severn or from the Welsh hills via the Elan Valley The Trent is a navigable river as far upstream as aqueduct. In 1991 water taken from the Torksey Nottingham. Downstream of Gainsborough it is abstraction below Newark (for the Trent-Witham- used predominantly by commercial traffic, whilst Ancholme scheme) was used for the first time for upstream the main users are pleasure craft. The public water supply. A number of new supply navigation authority downstream of Gainsborough options are being considered for the use of the Trent is Associated British Ports (ABP), whilst upstream and these are discussed later in this report. it is British Waterways (BW). The Trent acts as a link with the canal network in other areas of the country. May 1992 Page No. 2 TRENT LICENSING POLICY REVIEW Executive Summary Report _ N R A ♦ Fisheries The Trent supports an abundant and diverse coarse This proposes that an increase in cruising and fish population throughout much of its length. pleasure boating should occur on the Trent, with The river is designated as a Cyprinid Fishery under sporting activities being encouraged in old gravel the EC Freshwater Fisheries Directive from the pits and ocher bodies of water. Nottinghamshire Dove confluence to Gainsborough and for reaches County Council consider the Trent to be a very upstream of the Tame confluence and upstream of important recreational resource and have drawn up Stoke. The possibility of reintroducing salmon to their own Trent Valley Plan. the Trent is being considered. ♦ Conservation ♦ Recreation There are no Sites of Special Scientific Interest Angling (SSSIs) along the river itself, although Attenborough Gravel Pits adjacent to the Trent are so designated. The Trent is considered by many to be one of the However the quality of the river, its flood plains finest coarse fishing rivers in the country. It is and nearby gravel wetlands is generally very high, intensively fished over much of its length, but providing landscape as well as conservation interest. particularly in the Nottingham area. The river represents a major regional resource, providing The Humber Estuary, into which the Trent flows, enjoyment for a very large number of anglers. is a SSSI as far downstream as Humber Bridge. There are extensive and important brackish water Canoeing habitats which are dependent on the freshwater flow into the estuary. Canoeing and rowing are major uses of the river, with the National Watersports Centre being at ♦ Flood Defence and Land Drainage Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham. The canoe slalom course uses flows directly from the river and Flooding along the Trent is a major concern, and is the home training ground of the British Olympic flood defence schemes have been constructed, team. During low flow periods, the flow particularly in the Nottingham area. Theembanked requirements of the slalom course can be almost as reaches of the river are protected from erosion high as the flows in the Trent itself. The course is between the top of the banks and normal low water of major local and national significance, with the levels. heaviest use occurring during the summer months. Concerns have been raised in the Upper Trent area General that a reduction in flows could lead to increased weed growth in summer. This would affect land A Regional Recreation Strategy has been drawn up drainage and would require increased weedcutting. by the Regional Council for Sports and Recreation. May 1992 Page No. 3 TRENT LICENSING POLICY REVIEW Executive Summary Report N R A STATE OF THE RIVER The following paragraphs discuss the existing state River flows, therefore, drop significantly during of the river with regard to flows and water quality. droughts. The 1990 drought had a return period in the region of once in 10 years, and 1976 of once ♦ River Flows in 50 years.. ------------- Low river flows that occur during summer are the main concern when considering licensing policy. The dry weather flow, which is a measure of average low summer flows, is shown on Figure 2 for the entire length of the river. A substantial proportion of these dry weather flows, typically 30% to 50%, are artificial. These are flows which are not derived from natural run off in the catchment, but which come from discharges of effluent. In the case of the West Midlands, a large part of these discharges originate from water imported into the catchment from the River Severn and the Elan Valley. In the East Midlands the water comes from reservoirs in the Derwent valley, which have stored water during the winter.