Catch up with what's been happening with Team BART! From river restoration, to community engagement, to river surveys and citizen science, we are working hard to improve the health of our rivers and connect people with their amazing blue spaces. Here in our newsletter, you'll be able to read about the many projects we have been working on.
 

The Bristol Avon Rivers Trust team is continuing to expand! BART now have a team of 15 people working hard to improve the health of our rivers.

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our newest members, Robert Bamford, Dan Nicholas and Giorgia Comana, and to congratulate James McCallan and Molly Boyce who are both in new roles as Project Officers. BART also welcomes Thomas Kjeldson as a new trustee.
 

RiverHub Goes Live!

 

Little Blew
 

Over the past few months BART have been undertaking a natural flood management project at a site call Little Blew in the headwaters of the Cam Brook. The site hosts an ephemeral stream running down a valley through pasture lands. Through this project we were able to ‘slow the flow’ by holding water back in a series of wetlands and by spilling the stream out across the valley using woody debris to create a more diverse suite of habitats at the site. Working closely alongside the landowner, the project was designed to complement their ongoing livestock grazing of the site while still benefitting local nature and helping reduce downstream flooding.

Initial site pre-restoration
 

Following initial feasibility visits and studies, contractors were hired to create a series of four wetland depressions in targeted locations at the head of the field. As these are seasonal wetland scrapes, they remain dry until the stream begins flowing during periods of high rainfall. Collectively these wetlands cover ~600m² of land and hold significant amounts of water. Their capability has been evidenced already with the recent very wet weather during which the scrapes quickly filled up, in doing so preventing large amounts of water reaching the main Cam Brook all at once. To prevent headward erosion occurring at the flow pathways between the wetlands, local stone from the excavations were used to create a stone ‘shelf’ over the outflow pathway which will help maintain the storage capacity of these wetlands for much longer. Over time vegetation will colonise the depressions helping blend them nicely with the surrounding landscape and enabling the area to continue to be grazed by livestock during dry conditions.

Series of temporary wetlands filled with water
 
Further downstream complex woody debris selectively collected from the woodland on the site were strategically positioned along the flow pathway in placed where they will have the greatest impact by spreading the flow out across the field. The mini temporary wetlands created behind these structures slows the flow of water while also capturing sediment carried within the stream which can otherwise be detrimental to river health. These new wetter areas of the grassland greatly diversify the available habitats creating niches for a wider variety of plant species to establish.


Woody debris in field holding back water and capturing sediment
 

By spreading the flow pathways out, it takes longer for water to reach the main channel while also increasing the likelihood water will infiltrate into the soil to be stored for even longer periods of time. This also helps promote the formation of wet meadow habitat with an associated greater variety of species preferring wetter conditions establishing. Towards the bottom of the valley, two scrapes were dug to direct the surface water back into the main channel. Working alongside the landowner, these scrapes were designed to make sure that the existing livestock feeding area positioned at the bottom of the field remains dry and that any mud building up around this feeding station is not carried away by the flows into the river.
 

 

You can see in the images the transformation from a simple single-channelled ephemeral stream to a complex and diverse series of interlacing channels and wetlands which will provide a much greater range of ecosystem services. It is fantastic to see these actions working as they were designed to do so quickly after implementation and it will be great to see how they develop and improve the local habitat and flood risk downstream.  

 

 

Collaborative River Restoration Work

Over the last few months with the help of Mossy Earth, Bart have been hard at work restoring and improving rivers and streams in and around the Chew catchment. BART have restored ~400m of the Candlestick stream inputting complex woody debris into the river. Project funder, Mossy Earth created a really good video that can be found here.

BART have also been creating cross drains across farm tracks to reduce the volume of surface water and sediment entering the Candlestick stream and improving overall water quality.

Working with the Halpin trust and local landowners BART have been hard at work restoring and enhancing the Candlestick stream and Bathford Brook. Two seasonal wetlands have been created to increase floodplain reconnection, storing water during high flows, whilst also creating incredibly valuable habitat in there own right.

 
BART also worked with local volunteers to improve habitat along a ~200m reach of the Bathford Brook to input complex woody debris and improve habitat for fish and invertebrates found within the stream.

Gauze Brook Restoration

BART worked with local volunteers from the Hullavington Environment Group to restore a section of the Gauze Brook near Hullavington by planting trees and building a series of woody berms. 
 

Tucked away under deciduous woodland this is an attractive section of the Gauze Brook with great potential for wildlife. The brook has suffered from over-siltation and is over-straightened in several sections. The combination of these issues reduces the availability of diverse habitats within the brook itself. Ideally, the brook should display a multitude of physical features such as clean gravels, an array of varying flow patterns, depositional features and bed scour in order to provide a dynamic aquatic environment in which a variety of fish and invertebrate species can thrive.
 

By installing six woody berms along key stretches we are able to ‘pinch’ the channel to encourage the development of natural river processes and create a more sinuous course. As water passes through the tightly packed brushwood structure, the water energy falls and suspended sediment drops out of the water column. Over time as the structure increasingly fills with sediment it becomes an extension of the bank itself and bankside vegetation should colonise.

By selectively coppicing trees to provide woody material, more light reaches the water through the canopy which will encourage aquatic plants to grow being anchored to the newly cleaned river bed gravels. Trees were planted along the banks where they were lacking. The majority of those planted were alder which thrive in wetter river bank environments and will provide great wildlife habitat as they mature. 
 

A massive thank you to our volunteers who worked to build these structures. Many are signed up as BART Riverfly Monitors, so we are excited to see how the survey results change post-restoration. BART would also like to thank the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership and the Wiltshire Community Foundation without whose funding this work would not be possible. 

 

 

 

Stoke Brook & Patchway Brook Restoration 

With the assistance of a dedicated team of local volunteers, BART has been working to restore the river habitat along Patchway Brook and Stoke Brook, tributaries of the Bristol Frome which flows through the Three Brooks Nature Reserve and Forty Acres Nature Reserve in North Bristol.

These urban streams have been significantly altered over time, primarily functioning as a conduit for rapid water flow. Consequently, they have become disconnected, concealed, and depleted of vital habitat that supports resident fish and aquatic life.

The unnaturally widened and straightened channels lacked depth and varied habitats across the cross-section, offering minimal shelter for small fish species and invertebrates. Flow conditions were slow and uniform, with the riverbed covered in silt, smothering the riverbed gravel. Additionally, sections of the brooks were excessively shaded, blocking sunlight from reaching the water and impeding the growth of aquatic plants (macrophytes), reducing habitat diversity and the available niches essential for aquatic life to flourish.



Over winter 2023, brushwood berms were added to both brooks. Brushwood berms are woody structures built in the river to encourage natural processes and increase flow and habitat diversity for river wildlife. To build the berms, small branches were collected and tightly packed behind the main deflector arm. The woody deflectors were positioned in the channel in suitable locations to encourage natural processes to begin creating new good quality habitat. The structures were secured to the riverbed and banks to create a series of pinch points to diversify flow conditions and in channel habitat throughout the stretch of river.



During periods of increased flow in the brooks, the brushwood berms will become submerged, potentially staying underwater for extended durations, possibly even months. As water rushes over and through these berms, they will trap fine sediment, gradually accumulating to extend the riverbank at a lower level. Over time, these berms will become self-sustaining, enhancing the river’s cross-sectional diversity by forming deeper pools in areas with the swiftest flow and clearing silt from the riverbed, which is essential for creating habitats for fish. Moreover, the berms will create marginal habitats, a feature often missing in many of our rivers. As they trap silt and grow vegetation, these berms will provide valuable new habitats for a variety of wildlife, including mammals, birds, and insects.



At Forty Acres, a selection of native trees were planted along the river bank, to provide further habitat and add some shading to the river in open areas.



Thank you to South Gloucestershire Council for funding the restoration and Forest of Avon for funding the tree planting.

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Bristol Frome Water Environment Improvement Fund



BART continued to work in the Bristol Frome catchment as part of the Environment Agency Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF). This project focused on engagement to a wide variety of audiences to discuss water quality, pollution, SuDS and Natural Flood Management (NFM).
The project achieved:

• One school involved in our Eels in the Classroom project
• Seven school events, such as lessons, field trip to our NFM work, river dips. Reaching a total of 378 children.
• Four community events involving local beaver, scouts and a general community event, reaching over 100 individuals.
• Engaging one hundred businesses through our ‘Only Rain Down the Drain’ campaign, raising awareness to businesses about the connections between surface drains and nearby watercourses, safe management of waste material, drainage blockages and to discuss ways of minimising impacts of business activity on water pollution.
• Three farm landowners engaged about the current health of the Bristol Frome, water quality improvements, the increasing flood risk to downstream areas in the catchment and the benefits of incorporating water based improvements to their farm land and yead. Bespoke advisory reports were created for the landowners to make these improvements.
• An animation aimed at enhancing understanding of the combined sewage system and the role of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in mitigating their impact on discharge frequency. You can view the the animation we created here

Thank you to the Environment Agency for funding this project.

 
 

Resilient Frome

BART continues to deliver Natural Flood Management (NFM) across the Bristol Frome catchment. One project delivered through the Resilient Frome project has been a leaky dam project in Yate.



Leaky dams and large woody debris were strategically positioned along the brook in Yate Common to reduce the speed of surface water flow during heavy rainfall and enhance the connection between watercourses and their floodplains. This effort aims to create wetland and wet woodland habitats in areas where human interference had previously disrupted natural river flow patterns. The leaky dams are designed to allow controlled water leakage, preventing complete blockage of the watercourse. We arranged the coppiced material to blend seamlessly with the environment, and the dams were securely anchored using chestnut posts attached to the riverbed.

We now look forward to continuing working with partners to build a wider programme of catchment restoration that includes further restoration, wetland creation, and Natural Flood Management measures during 2023-2027 via the Resilient Frome partnership programme, one of 25 projects supported by Defra’s Flood & Coastal Resilience Innovation Fund.

Eels in the Classroom update

BART has launched this year's Eels in the Classroom project in six schools across the Bristol Avon catchment and beyond! The project aims to educate the next generation of river guardians about a species that is not only one of the most endangered species in the United Kingdom, but also one of the most elusive and mysterious. European eels urgently require conservation efforts to ensure their survival in our rivers. Since the 1970s, numbers reaching Europe have plummeted by 90%, primarily due to overfishing, river pollution, migration barriers, and habitat loss, all contributing to their critical status.



The critically endangered European eel was introduced into classrooms at three schools along the Bristol Frome, two along the Cam Brook, and one along the River Sheppey. Over four weeks, BART delivered engaging sessions to educate students about the eels' challenges, threats, and life cycle. Over 200 children helped to care for the elvers over four weeks and then participated in a release event, returning the eels to their local rivers or streams. During the release event, students also enjoyed river dipping sessions, learning to identify various river flies and understand their role as indicators of river health.

       

A big thank you to Wessex Water, the Environment Agency and the Wild Trout Trust for funding and supporting us on the project this year.

Bristol Avon Water Resources:

This project, funded via the Rivers Trust, has recently completed a series of workshops raising awareness amongst schools and scout groups on improving management of our water resources.  

A total of 14 workshops and assemblies were conducted reaching a total of 1,603 young people.  The workshops featured several hands-on activities, including, river mapping exercises: model water transport system construction, lego SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) building activities, and a filtering exercise where students better understood the waste water treatment process and the risks associated with storm overflows.  

It was pleasing to see participants taking place from a wide range of schools and groups in the Chew Valley, and Hartcliffe, Knowle West, and Lawrence Weston areas of Bristol.  As these young people will become the householders and employees of tomorrow, raising their awareness on the practical steps each of us can take to reduce pressure on our water resources and storm overflow systems will  continue for years to come.

 
The results of the project were presented to the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership (BACP) in May, following which a water resources user group including members from the water companies and local authorities will look at ways to mainstream the efforts of this project into their own work.

Completion of the River Chew Fish Recovery Action Plan

We are delighted to announce the completion of the River Chew Fish Recovery Action Plan, a comprehensive initiative designed to enhance freshwater biodiversity and support the recruitment of wild fish populations throughout the River Chew. This project, funded by the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership project grant scheme, is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to restore and protect our local waterways.

Key Elements of the Plan:

Prioritised Actions
The plan outlines a detailed list of priority measures aimed at improving freshwater ecosystems and boosting wild fish recruitment in the River Chew. These targeted actions address the specific needs and challenges faced by the river’s fish populations.

Detailed Project Information
To assist our partners, we have developed an internal Excel file containing in-depth information on proposed projects. This resource provides comprehensive insights into each project’s scope and objectives, facilitating coordinated and informed efforts.

Public-Facing StoryMap
To effectively communicate the plan’s initiatives to a broader audience, we have created an ArcGIS StoryMap. This interactive tool showcases the necessary work in the Chew, including case studies and images that illustrate what successful project implementation might look like. Explore the StoryMap here.

Ecosystem Benefits and Project Synergies
Beyond fish recovery, the plan highlights additional ecosystem benefits, such as enhanced water quality and habitat diversity. It also details indicative project costs, the extent of river habitat that could be opened up, and potential synergies with other ongoing projects in the area.

Future Blueprint for the Bristol Avon
The River Chew Fish Recovery Action Plan is set to become a model for developing similar plans in other sub-catchments within the Bristol Avon region. This blueprint will guide efforts to create tailored fish recovery strategies that address the unique needs of each sub-catchment.

By providing a clear roadmap for fish recovery and broader ecosystem improvements, the River Chew Fish Recovery Action Plan is a significant step towards a healthier and more resilient river ecosystem in the Bristol Avon region.


Image above taken from the public facing storymap

Cam and Wellow Species Recovery Project

Preparatory work has continued for the removal of four barriers to fish passage on the Cam and Wellow brooks in North Somerset under our Natural England funded Species Recovery Project. 

The land-owners involved indicated their willingness to participate, and will shortly be asked for their approval of preliminary designs for the removal or modification of weir structures on their land (and in one case for the provision of an eel pass). The regulatory bodies (Environment Agency and Local Authority) have also been engaged and permit applications for the delivery of the designs are also in process. 



In addition, two river habitat enhancement projects (woody debris) have been designed and approved by the local angling clubs and are being scheduled for delivery in September.  An eDNA survey was undertaken in March to set a baseline for the project.  This shows the current distribution of fish species in the two brooks.  This confirms that one of the easements, at Midford, will open up under-used habitat for Eel for many tens of kilometres.  We look forward to providing further updates in the next edition.

BART's network of volunteer riverfly monitors continue to diligently sample their local rivers and streams, reporting back their data to provide an indicator of river health. Impressively, BART monitors, collects and reports back more data to the national Anglers’ Riverfly Monitoring Initiative than any other group in the country!



Thank you to those of you who have supported us with riverfly monitoring through the first six months of 2024.  BART monitors have already collected over 160 RMI (Riverfly Monitoring Initiative) samples since January 2024! This provides BART with a valuable dataset to help inform partners and focus our work in the Catchment as well as highlighting trigger level breaches and detecting one off pollution events.
We trained three members of the Long Ashton Nature, Community and Environment (LANCE) Trust in Long Ashton earlier this year, we’re in the process of delivering further training for Chippenham volunteers and have recently trained another 12 keen volunteers in South Bristol (including four more volunteers from the LANCE trust!). 



Our new Survey and Monitoring Officer Dan Nicholas will be helping these new monitors to set up sites on rivers and streams of their choosing; it will be really exciting to grow our network in the South Bristol area.

Thanks to the Long Ashton Parish Council and Wessex Water for funding the training and to Connor from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust for leading on the South Bristol practical session.  We hope to run one more training course this Summer, given the tremendous public interest in our rivers.  Communities are more enthusiastic than ever about protecting their local environment, and we're excited to support their passion and involvement.   If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a riverfly monitor then please contact jess@bristolavonriverstrust.org
 

Chew Water Vole Project 



The water vole, one of Britain's most rapidly declining wild mammals, has vanished from 95% of its former habitats across the UK. In the Bristol Avon and Chew catchment areas, their decline is attributed to poor water quality, loss of bank-side vegetation, farming pressures, habitat degradation, and predation by invasive American mink.

In 2022, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) initiated The Chew Water Vole Project to evaluate water vole populations in the Chew catchment area. Surveys were carried out to map water vole presence, assess habitat conditions, and identify factors contributing to their decline. Unfortunately, no signs of water voles were found in the surveys of the main River Chew and its six tributaries.

Next Steps: Train our volunteers to become Water Vole Monitors!

To expand monitoring efforts, BART has recently trained several volunteers to survey for water voles. These volunteers will now conduct monthly surveys along 500-meter river stretches throughout the River Chew catchment. They will collect and submit data on wildlife sightings and habitat conditions, including images, thereby enhancing our understanding of water vole populations through consistent monitoring. They will also assess potential habitats for water voles and provide crucial data to guide future conservation initiatives.

Thank you to Bristol Water for funding and supporting this project.

Volunteer with BART


There has never been more opportunities to get involved with the work BART does to help our rivers. Our citizen science and monitoring programmes are currently expanding and we are actively recruiting volunteers who are willing to make a regular commitment.
You can find out about all of our current volunteer opportunities in the volunteering section of our website or by emailing volunteer@bristolavonriverstrust.org

Join BART on a workplace volunteering day!
 
BART offer a range of corporate volunteering opportunities from river cleans to balsam bashes and tree planting. You and your colleagues could spend the day outdoors boosting your own wellbeing and helping improve the health of our rivers.


For more information visit our website: https://bristolavonriverstrust.org/corporate-volunteering/  or email: csr@bristolavonriverstrust.org