River Leven, Kinlochleven

A proposed hydro scheme at Loch Eilde Mor has potential to impact on the opportunity for canoeing on the River Leven as the Allt na h Eilde is a main tributary of the river and often carries a large percentage of the flow utilised by canoeists. As the scheme still at the scopign stage and the SCA has made a response

The scheme is complex and involves a considerable change to the catchment area to the North of the River Leven. It is unclear at this stage what effect the proposed scheme would have on the opportunity to navigate the river.

The Scottish Canoe Association considers that the likely effect of the proposed scheme on canoeing activity, should be considered in detail in the Environmental Statement.

Looking at the scoping study the initial assessment is that the ‘proposed power house location option 1’ would be the option least likely to impact negatively on canoeing interests. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss with Alcan how this can best be assessed.

One way of mitigating against the loss of canoeing opportunity would be to publish real time flow or level data. This would be a significant mitigation factor as depending on the location of the power house it may be more difficult for canoeist to judge whether the upper sections of this river have sufficient water remaining to be navigable.

Another mitigation measure would be to occasionally allow water to released from the scheme in order to raise the water level in the river to a navigable level. If water was to be made available, even if for only a few days of the year, this would create the opportunity to support organised canoeing events, which could be attractive given the current investment in facilities for adventure tourism at Kinlochleven.