Post by paul on Sept 2, 2009 6:22:33 GMT
See below an e-mail I've sent to the EA. I have been puzzled by how low the Yeo has been compared with last year- not all bed movement in the winter- and the penny finally dropped when I popped into Howard's shop in Crediton yesterday and he mentioned upstream extraction where they have been trying to get an increased licence for some years.
Anyone else noticed this problem?
"I have been fishing the river Yeo to the south of Crediton (Salmon Hutch and Dunscombe bridge sections) all this season as a mmber of the Crediton Fly fishing club. The river level has been and is very, very, low since March and there is a major build-up of algae on the stream bed. It desperately needs a good flush. The fish are not taking but are dashing about in a somewhat disorganised fashion. The river is not in a healthy state.
Since the start of the season on March, there has been no variation in levels in response to rain. The level of the river has not changed in response to changed circumstances as the other rivers in the area that I fish- the Taw, Creedy, Exe and Culm.
I have a strong suspicion that this very low level is due to either high extraction or low returns to the river further upstream. Having never seen the river as low and consistently low as this I fear that the extraction/ returns may well lie outside licenced levels. If not there may be some other force at work such as unlicenced abstraction for irrigation??
I would be most grateful if you could either
-investigate and check the records of extraction and returns and discover whether they lie within licenced limits or
- give me the information regarding the abstractor/ returner and their licenced limits so that I can request the actuial levels from them as I presume these should be in the public domain.
I believe that, if at all possible' you should check the situatiomnas, in the case of an infraction, you are presumably the authority that would need to take action.
Thanking you in anticipation of a swift response,"
Anyone else noticed this problem?
"I have been fishing the river Yeo to the south of Crediton (Salmon Hutch and Dunscombe bridge sections) all this season as a mmber of the Crediton Fly fishing club. The river level has been and is very, very, low since March and there is a major build-up of algae on the stream bed. It desperately needs a good flush. The fish are not taking but are dashing about in a somewhat disorganised fashion. The river is not in a healthy state.
Since the start of the season on March, there has been no variation in levels in response to rain. The level of the river has not changed in response to changed circumstances as the other rivers in the area that I fish- the Taw, Creedy, Exe and Culm.
I have a strong suspicion that this very low level is due to either high extraction or low returns to the river further upstream. Having never seen the river as low and consistently low as this I fear that the extraction/ returns may well lie outside licenced levels. If not there may be some other force at work such as unlicenced abstraction for irrigation??
I would be most grateful if you could either
-investigate and check the records of extraction and returns and discover whether they lie within licenced limits or
- give me the information regarding the abstractor/ returner and their licenced limits so that I can request the actuial levels from them as I presume these should be in the public domain.
I believe that, if at all possible' you should check the situatiomnas, in the case of an infraction, you are presumably the authority that would need to take action.
Thanking you in anticipation of a swift response,"