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River
Basin
The Garry catchment is one of great extent and substantial
modification due to the hydro electric installations. The
regime of the river is substantially interrupted by water
extraction for generation of electricity. Within the basin
there has also been a substantial amount of commercial afforestation,
some of which borders the section described. The bulk of land
use in the catchment is open hill grazing. Between the dam
and White Bridge very substantial infestations of rhodedendron
have been allowed to develop and some action has been taken
in recent years to tackle this problem.
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Usage
The river sees a high usage by kayakers and occasional canoeists
in the summer period, but only on the one day a week when there
is a release of water from the dam. At the same time there is
commercial rafting taking place and the section is used for
salmon fishing throughout the season, inhibited to some extent
by the limited compensation flows. The release of water for
only 24 hours per week during the summer period has created
some pressure which on a few occasions has brought anglers and
fishing rights owners into conflict with paddlers. |
Water
Quality
Occasional general List B litter was found, along with a small
amount of construction litter, just below the dam outlet. No
evidence was found of List A contaminants and water quality
was judged to be "good". |
River
Channel
The major obstruction identified was the hydro electric dam
and associated tunnels and bed obstructions just below it. Minor
obstructions included four stone built jetties and two gabion,
concrete and wood structures which extend into the river. The
river channel is therefore categorised as moderately obstructed. |
River
Banks
The majority of the river banks are natural bedrock and boulders
with some sections modified by dam related constructions at
the top and a small section of bank concreted on the true left
bank. Whilst quite a small percentage of banks were man-modified,
a high percentage, around 50%, suffered from rhodedendron infestation
to a greater or lesser degree. Overall therefore the banks were
judged to be moderately degraded. |
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Overall
Condition
of River Section
Using
the above measures, this section of the River Garry was found
to be a highly degraded river system although, with a score
of 7, at the lower end of this classification. No evidence
was found of any detrimental effect on the River Garry caused
definitively by canoeing activities.
The picture
illustrates the impact of water flow restrictions on the River
Garry.
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Recommendations
1. Continued liaison with landowners and the power project owners
to negotiate a more useful release regime which can benefit
both anglers and paddlers. For example, a split freshet of say
8 hours on a Sunday and 16 hours on a midweek day might better
address the needs of both paddlers and anglers. |
| 2.
SCA might consider Access Fund use to address the issue of egress
up the bank at the takeout and cleaning up of the small amounts
of litter at the river. |
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3. SCA
ought to support, in principle, the work being done by landowners
to clear rhodedendron infestations. Material support might
be considered here, but it should be pointed out that such
infestations are due to landowner neglect in the past, rather
than accident of nature.
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| 4.
In view of the substantial activity on this section and the
limits imposed by the current flow regime, this audit ought
to be reviewed again in 5 years. It is suggested therefore that
a follow up audit take place in early 2006. |
