River Mease Walkover Survey Report Natural England APEM Ref 413482 March 2016 This project is part of the IPENS programme (LIFE11NAT/UK/000384IPENS) which is financially supported by LIFE, a financial instrument of the European Community Dr Peter Stone Client: Natural England Address: APEX Court City Link Nottingham NG2 4LA Project reference: 413482 Date of issue: April 2015 ________________________ Project Director: Dr David Fraser Project Manager: Dr Peter Stone Other: Hugh Graham ________________________ APEM Ltd Riverview A17 Embankment Business Park Heaton Mersey Stockport SK4 3GN Tel: 0161 442 8938 Fax: 0161 432 6083 Registered in England No. 2530851 “This is a draft document and should not be cited” Registered in England No. 2530851, Registered Address Riverview A17 Embankment Business Park, Heaton Mersey, Stockport, SK4 3GN Revision and Amendment Register Version Date Section(s) Page(s) Summary of Changes Approved by Number 1 10/2/15 Draft for client review PS 2 27/02/15 5 27 Final following client comment PS Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background ................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Aims and Objectives ................................................................................................. 1 2. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Survey and Mapping Considerations ........................................................................ 3 2.2 Walkover Survey ....................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Data Processing ....................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Wet Weather Sampling ............................................................................................. 5 2.4.1 Limits of Detection (LOD) ...................................................................................... 7 3. Results ......................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Diffuse Pollution Sources .......................................................................................... 7 3.2 Diffuse Pollution Grade breakdown ........................................................................... 9 3.3 Diffuse pollution – Source Categories ..................................................................... 10 3.4 Wet Weather Sampling ................................................................................................ 12 4. Summary .......................................................................................................................... 21 4.1 Walkover Survey ..................................................................................................... 21 4.2 Wet Weather Sampling ........................................................................................... 21 5. Key Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 21 List of Figures Figure 1 River Mease location and study reach. .................................................................. 2 Figure 2 Wet Weather sampling locations. .......................................................................... 6 Figure 3 Locations of Pollutant discharge on the River Mease ............................................ 8 Figure 4 Pollution site grade distribution on the River Mease .............................................. 9 Figure 5 Percentage contribution of each category to pollution sources on River Mease... 10 Figure 6 Frequency distribution of pollution source types on the River Mease. .................. 10 Figure 7 The locations and types of conduit sources observed during the walkover. ......... 11 Figure 8 Calcium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. ......................... 13 Figure 9 Platinum concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. ........................ 13 Figure 10 .................................................. Palladium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 11 .................................................... Rhodium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 12 ................................................ Ruthenium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 15 Figure 13 ........................................................... Lead concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 15 Figure 14 ................................................... Cadmium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 16 Figure 15 ...................................................... Arsenic concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 16 Figure 16 ............................................................ Zinc concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 17 .......................................................Copper concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 18 ......................................................... Nickel concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 19 ............................................................. Iron concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 20 ............................................... Manganese concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 19 Figure 21 ................................................. Chromium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 19 Figure 22 ................................................. Aluminium concentrations recorded during wet weather sampling. .............................................................................................................................. 20 List of Tables Table 1 Definitions of Grades 1 to 3 sources, as classified during the walkover surveys ... 4 Table 2 Categories and recording codes of diffuse sources ............................................... 4 Table 3 Grade distribution on the River Mease .................................................................. 9 APEM Scientific Report 413482 1. Introduction 1.1 Project Background Natural England commissioned APEM to undertake a walkover survey to identify the extent and causes of diffuse and point source pollution along the River Mease. The River Mease and the Gilwiskaw Brook have been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Following the completion of a survey and report in 2013/14 by APEM and Plymouth University it was found that a key source of sedimentation and pollution, in the catchment, was diffuse agricultural runoff. However, it was also confirmed that road networks play a major role in the conveyance of agricultural runoff and act as a source of numerous heavy metals. The River Mease is currently achieving poor ecological potential under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) between Ashby-De-La-Zouch and the B4116 road bridge. This section of the upper Mease includes the tributary named the Gilwiskaw Brook. Between the B4116 and its confluence with the River Trent, the Mease is classed as having moderate ecological potential. The upper River Mease waterbody, number GB104028046590, is failing to meet WFD requirements for invertebrates and fish based on the Environment Agency data from 2011. The downstream reach of the River Mease is meeting good standards for invertebrates and high status for fish. However, the reach is rated as ‘bad’ for phosphorus concentrations. To attempt to identify the potential sources of diffuse pollution within the catchment two approaches have been adopted. One is to use a sediment fingerprinting approach to determine the