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The Severn is cold and Brown

KenL

KenL
Total Posts: 280
Joined: December 27, 2015

Fished the river on Sunday and again today and struggled on both occasions, The river is clear but distinctly tea coloured and several degrees colder than it was a couple of weeks ago.
I'm presuming that this is dam water being released to increase levels for water abstraction but it is clearly upsetting the ecology of the entire river system as well as upsetting the fishing.

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Posted on August 15, 2017 at 10:57 PM

curry

curry
Total Posts: 72
Joined: July 23, 2015

Re: The Severn is cold and Brown

I was fishing today and someone told me there was reservoir water coming through which was why the fishing was poor.

I didn't check the temperature so I can't say if it was true or not but I had a reasonable day and the guy next to me did ok.

Is there a particular site that details when they are adding reservoir water to the river?

Posted on August 16, 2017 at 10:34 AM

Johnny_Care

Johnny_Care
Total Posts: 407
Joined: June 10, 2015

Re: The Severn is cold and Brown

It's an old myth in my opinion that the Clywedog and Vyrnwy releases affect the temperature of the river as a whole. I'd say it affects the Vyrnwy and Clywedog rivers when it's first released, but the effect on the Severn is pretty much negligible. the Severn is far more susceptible to air temperature changes and the what the temperature was when rain fell, we get big rises and falls in water temp in winter without dam releases. The river often fishes poorly with that peaty stain in it, and also when the dreaded foam is on the Middle River after rain. The foam has a much worse effect than any dam water.

Posted on August 16, 2017 at 11:05 AM

KenL

KenL
Total Posts: 280
Joined: December 27, 2015

Re: The Severn is cold and Brown

"Is there a particular site that details when they are adding reservoir water to the river?"
Not really. I know that the EA monitoring stations record both turbidity and temperature but AFAIK they don't publish it. I have used their feedback option to request it but got no reply.
With high levels of abstraction for drinking water and so many unmanned sewage treatment discharging into the Severn system, releases of dam water are pretty regular as there is a maximum bacterial load allowed for abstraction purposes.
It's hard to spot the releases on the gov.uk site but on sites with higher resolution sampling like river ap, you can clearly see the discharges.
I have to disagree about the effect on the fishing. When the damn water goes in, the temperature, dissolved oxygen and PH all drop and the fish and even the fly hatch can turn off like a switch.

Posted on August 16, 2017 at 8:05 PM

Hornet

Hornet
Total Posts: 108
Joined: June 23, 2015

Re: The Severn is cold and Brown

Could the peaty coloured water also come from all the brooks and small tribs after rain? If so this is down to the Himalayan Balsam which makes the banks muddy.

Posted on August 17, 2017 at 8:50 AM

flintthe

flintthe
Total Posts: 25
Joined: September 29, 2015

Re: The Severn is cold and Brown

We fished overnight on the Severn on Sat, It was stained colour when we arrived from all the rain. The air temp dropped with the clear skies overnight and the cold mist rolled in. It fished well all night, but come the morning it was much harder and the bites were few and far between, but saying that I still managed another 4 during the day.

Posted on August 17, 2017 at 4:25 PM

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