Article by William Webb, Dartington Parish Councillor
The Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) or perhaps more descriptively, the Bidwell Brook ‘Catchment’ Partnership, is a collaboration between the two parish councils of Dartington and Rattery, local organisations, farmers, land owners and individuals with the aim of helping to protect and enhance the natural environment of the brook and its valley and so support the mental and physical well-being of the inhabitants of the area.
One key aim is working towards returning the Bidwell Brook and its tributaries to a pristine aquatic environment and ecosystem, naturally resilient to drought and flooding, by the prevention of sewage and run-off pollutants from neighbouring land. It’s not just about the 6-mile long section of the river, it is about the entire catchment area including any roof, field, road or surface that rain falls upon along with all the unnamed springs, ditches, gullies and underground systems and tributaries that enter the course of the Bidwell.
Partners in Upstream Thinking
Bidwell Brook has been included in South West Water’s catchment management scheme, ‘Upstream Thinking’. The water company employs advisors from Devon Wildlife Trust and Westcountry Rivers Trust to work with farmers to implement environmental measures which need not prove burdensome to their businesses but rather make them environmental pillars of our catchment community. If you are in the Bidwell catchment area, we would be grateful for any comments that you may like to make and perhaps share your knowledge of your land and its challenges. What you may take for granted is common knowledge, will most likely be important news to the rest of us! Visit the BBP website for contact details.
A Living Laboratory
Twenty-two BBP Citizen Science Investigators have been collecting water quality data at different points along the brook and its tributaries for over a year. The results show that the Bidwell is good or excellent in terms of most measures. The exception is in terms of bacterial contamination.
Testing for bacterial contamination is expensive and time consuming so the BBP is working with Plymouth University on a ground-breaking new project which aims to develop and validate a portable test device that can be used by scientists, water companies and the general public to conduct rapid on-site water bacterial analysis. Any results can also, in turn, be linked to other monitoring data to predict levels of risk to river users.
The project is led by Plymouth University’s Professor of Catchment Science, Will Blake and Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Molendotech, Professor Simon Jackson.
Richard Haigh, Chairman of the Bidwell Brook Partnership, said “the BBP is delighted to be playing an important part in the development of a game-changing means of pollution testing that will have national and international significance”.
Natural Solutions and Engineering Solutions
Simple fencing, in areas particularly vulnerable to soil and deoxygenating nutrient runoff (eutrophication) allows for natural regeneration that then has multiple benefits such as allowing runoffs to soak away into the soil. This regeneration provides for shade, which then slows the deoxygenating effect of warming and creates a canopy that slows rain from falling to ground, but also keeps the ground moist and permeable.
Improving invertebrate habitat. When we’re talking biodiversity invertebrates are foundational as food for fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals as well as being pollinators, soil creators and conditioners and waste processors.
Field re-engineering. Many field gateways are in the most vulnerable places regarding run-off tending to be at the bottom of the hill. The wall of earth that is the Devon bank and hedge is excellent at preventing runoff.
Ponds and wetlands. A gift that keeps on giving – children love an insect or amphibian hunt so why not try building one!? Buckham’s (Queen’s) Marsh is a good example of a wetland.
