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ih HydtoloOltol data .U.K Hydrometric Register and Statistics1986-90 INSTITUTE OF HYDROLOGY • BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY á HYDROLOGICAL DATA UNITED KINGDOM HYDROMETRIC REGISTER AND STATISTICS 1986-90 © 1993 Natural Environment Research Council Published by the Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxon OXIO 8BB ISBN 0 948540 44 3 Editors T J Marsh and M L Lees Assistant Editor S J Bryant The acquisition, archiving and validation of the bulk of the hydrological data featured in this publication is undertaken as part of the National Water Archive project at the Institute of Hydrology. Liaison with the measuring • authorities (see page 7) is undertaken by a team of regional representatives. In addition to the editorial staff, this team currently includes:- N W Arne 11, A R Black", D B Boorman, J M Dixon, I G Littlewood, S C Loader and D G Morris. The style and contents Of the Hydrometric Register and Statistics 1986-90 volume, and the scope of the data 'retrieval service which complements it, reflects a decade of archive system development supervised initially by D G Morris and latterly by R E Mac Ruairi. R W Flavin updated and refined the software used to produce the statistical tables which constitute the bulk of this report. The British :Geological Survey is responsible for the acquisition, appraisal and archiving of the featured hydrogeological information. R A Monkhouse is the Groundwater Level ArchiVe manager and P Doorgakant is responsible-for data archiving and :the associated liaison with the measuring authorities. S Black was responsible for the preparation of the text and supervises the sale and distribution of the Hydrological data UK publications through the National Water Archive Office at the Institute of Hydrology. Graphics: J J Carr Typeset and printed in the United Kingdom by Burgess. The materials used in the production of this volume are made from the pulp of softwood trees in managed Scandinavian forests in which every tree cut down is replaced by at least one more,thus replacing the Earth's resources. HYDROMETRIC REGISTER AND STATISTICS 1986-90 FOREWORD The Hydrological data UK series of Yearbooks and reports was launched in 1985 as a joint venture by the Institute of Hydrology (IH) and the British Geological Survey (BGS); both organisations are component bodies of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Such a collaborative enterprise arose naturally from the close liaison maintained between those responsible for the management of the national River Flow Archive at IH and their counterparts at BGS concerned with the national Groundwater Level Archive. This collaboration was reinforced in 1992 by the inclusion of both archives as core datasets in the newly created National Water Archive, the latest of the NERC's Designated Data Centres. A major objective of these Centres is to increase the use and utility of basic archived data. The Hydrological data UK series includes an annual yearbook and, every five years, a catalogue of river flow gauging stations and groundwater level recording sites together with statistical summaries; the Hydrometric Register and Statistics 1986-90 is the second such publication. Further details of the availability of publications in the Hydrological data UK series are given on page v- The last few years have been remarkable in hydrological terms throughout much of the United Kingdom. Persistently high runoff rates have characterised much of Scotland whilst an extremely protracted drought in the English lowlands has underlined our continuing vulnerability to exceptional climate pitter(fs. Ohe conkuence hasbeen an unprecedented level of usage of the River Flow and Groundwaie4:eriFel Archiites. However, flows and, groundwater levels reflect more than just the incidence of rainfali and themagnitude of evaporation losses. Catchment geology and land use also influence river runoff and aquifer recharge and the natural variations of each are often substantially disturbed by a complex and evolving pattern of water utilisation. Consequently, a considerable range of ancillary information is commonly required to exploit basic hydrological data fully. The objective of this publication is to document resource variations and to serve both as a reference source to the data sets available and as an essential guide to aid the interpretation of analyses based on the data. The work of the national River Flow and Groundwater Level Archives is overseen by a steering committee which includes representatives of Government departments, the National Rivers Authority and the water industry from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Professor W. B. Wilkinson Director, Institute of Hydrology 1 00 -1 0 ' NA r Nve / N C N D .- 9 9 [-',..:,...: i - 7 Hi N F :.:4 : S. N Ir-T' NJ -, NS-, "(,,,,, , 8 Letters desicreting 100km SO squares in tine National Grid N L „ ("--d -ZN .47? N r N 0 National Rivers Authority region or River Purification Board boundary :C, 2-1 •Ja. _ 57 7 (I ?„:„; / 3 , ' , -,. ) .„,„ fl 111tif s 17:11s i-hket- Itaii -k-s ,, L NT N U f) ,) } k "R ' '1,-.E n ri r'P, ' , I B ..... ) j;C:, r r — _.,, _ , . 66 ) .„1: „ C 4 , , ,,,..„. \ .. ' ---, )e „, cr- l ' .) \5, \ ''-- 2 N Y{I...., N z o v — '7 :----,NORTH1iticlit3 _LAND 6.- . s it-11 ,,I--r- .f, I Gdy, I H :111 hi id 5 ., ., YORKSHIRF le.R A 1 „„---,.,<°‘ • ,..,N.,„ 2 I / r \ P 3 tv ki ‘s t ci r ).! \ SC iiSD S E TA 2 i „1 . IL I IM iff .,e?' IN /7 ii 74 ...--4 1, Tit n' -1. VI ' '..? ? ' \ „ ,/,;(--dd- silts, A 1 I I' ) SH S.;4, ,.., SK '2. TG : 4 ,,s ..? p, I Q ,, k I R , Si:VERN t, I S ,„ TR T N Nit A r 3 ,s„") .4 1 i -,-,7,:,.„=„,i2 :. > , S M ,,,:.— S N S 0 r T L r, TM „-,--' \np,I.SLI hi 11 4. c:„. , ... 4 ' 1W - ,2 LC*, !I -71-_-.; - ,, „sir i Tille,e7IPS fil P. r 7 b 4 rin, t f ,- J -• i. 2 , „ „ 3 ss,.__,-„z-, „ „i ST '2_ S 0 c- „ ;:, TQ IR S R 1 "----„,„ —„ , Splil ifPh:la N la A 1 . 1 _-_,,, — - , 1 J S ( ii i 14 INES r ,,--- - -T.,...__ ,,....1 ,J 7 rr fil.trists i di d) SW, t r - S "N0 ( SY SZ TV ;km 3 4 5 60 HYDROMETRIC REGISTER AND STATISTICS 1986-90 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION Sources of Information SURFACE WATER - REGISTER AND STATISTICS 3 The Acquisition, Computation. and Accuracy of Gauged Flows 3 Scope of the Register and the Statistical Tabulations 3 Highland River Purification Board Area 12 North East and Tay River Purification Board Areas 18 Forth and Tweed River Purification Board( Areas 28 Solway and Clyde, River Purificatidn Board Areas 38 Northumbria/Yorkshire Region 48 Severn-Trent Region 62 Anglian Region ' 74 Thames Region 92 Southern Region 106 Wessex Region 116 South West Region 124 Welsh Region 132 North West Region 144 Northern Ireland 156 GROUNDWATER - REGISTER AND STATISTICS 163 Background 163 The Observation Well Network 163 Measurement and Recording of Groundwater Levels 163 Scope of the Register and the Statistical Tabulations 164 Well location map 166 Observation Well Register and Statistics 169 THE NATIONAL RIVER FLOW AND GROUNDWATER LEVEL ARCHIVE DATA RETRIEVAL SERVICE 181 DIRECTORY OF MEASURING AUTHORITIES 184 PUBLICATIONS in the Hydrological data UK series 186 GLOSSARY 187 á INTRODUCTION The Hydrometric Register and Statistics 1986-90 is metric activities and, following reorganisation, the the second such five-year volume in the Hydrologi- Water Services Companies retained responsibility cal data UK series. It is both a companion publica- for a number of important long records. In Scotland, tion to the individual yearbooks in the Hydrological the acquisition and processing of hydrometric data data UK series, providing comprehensive hydrome- rests principally with the seven River Purification tric data relating to the featured period, and a Boards (RPBs) and in Northern Ireland responsi- reference source for hydrometric information which bility is shared between the Departments of Agricul- does not change materially from year to year and, ture and the Environment (NI). Additional data has thus, does not merit annual publication. been provided by the Geological Survey of Northern The summary statistical data are provided to Ireland, the Borders Regional Council, Water Supply allow an examination to be made of the variation in Companies and by various research bodies and surface and groundwater resources both within the public undertakings. period 1986-90 and by comparison with the long River flows in the United Kingdom are often term average conditions. Details of the gauging difficult to measure precisely - particularly in flood stations, the catchments they command and observa- or drought conditions - and can be substantially tion wells in the national networks are presented both affected by artificial influences. These influences can to assist in the interpretation of the statistical data and range from a large diminution in flows caused by a to help data users in the selection of appropriate major abstraction immediately upstream of the hydrometric data sets for their particular application gauging station to the often subtle impact of land use or area of interest. Information in the Surface Water change on river -flow patterns. An appreciation of Register and Statistics section is grouped according to these effects- is necessary to exploit the archived data the major administrative divisions in the UK - see most effectively. The NRA (and the precursor Frontispiece. In all, details are given of around 1300 regional Water Authorities), RPB's and DoE (NI) gauging stations and 160 observation wells. supplied and checked important material relating to A description is given of the River Flow and the changing pattern of water utilisation in indivi- Groundwater Level Archives together with the dual catchments and the hydrometric characteristics retrieval facilities which complement the data pub- of the river flow measurement stations.