Andy Bell, Manager of North Devon's Biosphere, stepped in to the breach when the speaker from the Environment Agency was unable to attend.
However, this was no second-rate imitation, as Andy has a deep knowledge of the area, the Water Famework Directive and catchment planning in general and works closely with the EA.
Apart from a keen interest in the countryside around them, Coastwise members appreciate that coastal water quality can be heavily affected by the inflows from the Taw and Torridge catchments,and Andy outlined the extensive work that has been done by a variety of initiatives. This includes the Nature Improvement Area project being run by the DWT, which over the last 3 years has benefited from approx. £6M of spend, and which focusses on helping farmers manage their land more effectively to mitigate drainage runoffs and the associated coliform, nitrate and phosphate content.
This work constitutes primary flood prevention further down the valleys, which affects the spate rivers of the South West with their origins in upland areas with low storm storage capacity.
Andy then covered the Transitional Coastal Waters (TRACS) that can be affected by river inflows, and the good news is that water quality here is generally good, although not to a standard which allows mussel cultivation without pre-market treatment.
Illustrations on the right show the general water quality status in the SW, land improvement measures being demonstrated to farmers – this piece of equipment aerates and loosens compated pasture to improve it and moisture retention – and the effects at Umberleigh of poor storm water retention in the Dartmoor catchment area.
Members' interest in this whole topic turned the talk into an interactive session, and many were impressed by the amount of activity in the field that they were quite unaware of.