For the first time in decades, juvenile Atlantic salmon have been recorded in a section of the River Elan in mid-Wales. The discovery last week follows a three-year initiative by the Wye and Usk Foundation, along with partners Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales, to restore the ecology of 7km of this important Wye tributary downstream of the Elan Valley dams.
Completed in 1905, the dams cut off the natural source of riverbed gravels to the lower Elan while the river’s existing gravels have steadily been washed away. This had resulted in an ‘unnatural’ river, devoid of the sediments required for aquatic life to thrive.
Following careful planning and impact assessments, 2,300 tonnes of new gravel has been introduced to the Elan just below Caban Coch over the past two years. More will be introduced this year and providing funding can be found, yearly top-ups thereafter.
Initial surveys in 2017 showed a recovery of invertebrates in the newly gravelled areas. This was followed by eyewitness reports of adult salmon spawning in these areas last winter.
Last month, electrofishing surveys (a specialised method of counting the number of young fish) confirmed the presence of salmon and brown trout fry just downstream of Elan Village. This is the first time they have been recorded there since monitoring began in the early 1970s and shows that adult fish had used the new gravel to spawn successfully. Monitoring further down the Elan also showed a large increase in salmon numbers this year.
Simon Evans, CEO of the Wye and Usk Foundation said: “Restoring the environment in the river Elan has been a goal of the Foundation for some time. Finding juvenile salmon there is a sign that we are heading in the right direction. I would like to thank our partners Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales for helping to make this project happen”.
He added: “However, the job is only part done. We need to continue adding further amounts of gravel to complete what is already a very successful project and to continue to monitor the results.”
Peter Gough, Senior Fisheries Technical Specialist for Natural Resources Wales said: “Depletion of gravel below dams occurs in many rivers in the UK. The results of this work on the Elan show that there is a workable solution to this. This is another success story and will contribute to the ongoing improvements in the Wye salmon population.”
Tony Harrington, Director of Environment at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water said: “We are delighted with the results of this project. Welsh Water supports an evidence led approach to nature conservation, and this is a great example of where our funding to restore a habitat has delivered real ecological improvements. Our Water Framework Directive Funding Scheme, which this project is funded by, aims to support third sector organisations to deliver cost-effective improvements to our rivers and sea. The recent findings of this project are very encouraging and we look forward to continuing to support this type of work.”