Peter powell
CEO at Welsh Dee Trust.
Our objective: A river Dee free of pollution and full of wildlife.
Farmer at Cefn Ucha Farm.
Objective: food, nature and not going bust
- Reposted by Peter powellI’m always so impressed to see the work done by people like this. People who dedicate their lives to improving our world. When I compare this to the power hungry and the greedy, if it’s hard to believe we are the same species.
- The #CunliffeReview dropped today, proposing a major overhaul of water regulation in the UK. But there's a glaring omission. The review recommends new regional water system planning authorities, several in 🏴, one in 🏴. But what about the Dee, which crosses the border? 👇
- The River Dee starts in Wales (where it's stored in reservoirs), then flows into England (where it's abstracted to supply cities like Liverpool). Under the new plan, two different authorities could be undertaking planning for this system.
- This creates huge risks for misaligned decisions, poor coordination, and further environmental harm especially in a river already under pressure from abstraction. The report includes 88 recommendations, but non mention cross-border river management.
- At Welsh Dee Trust, we believe this is a missed opportunity. The River Dee and other transboundary rivers such as the Severn and Wye) need catchment-based planning.
- Reposted by Peter powellA great thread that shows the value of boots on the ground, a keen eye and being pro-active.
- Reposted by Peter powellCool thread
- This is the Llynor. It's one of the cleanest tributaries on the Dee. No farmyards or sewage treatment works upstream. And it's mostly forest, a big section being restored to ancient woodland. But it has a major problem.
- In the lower sections of the river, Salmon are spawning. You can see a hen and cock fish spawning in the video below. But when we electrofished higher upstream, we found 0 salmon in the tributary. Even though the habitat looked perfect!
- The cause? Several forestry road crossings were probably stopping salmon migrating upstream. The photo shows one of these crossings. Although Salmon can jump 2 meters, they need deep water to get a run up. Downstream of these crossings was very shallow.
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View full threadElectrofishing the following year showed some success with 11 Young salmon above the road crossing. Over the next couple of months we will be back to electrofish again Fingers crossed we see yet another increase in Salmon numbers now they have had access for 2 breeding seasons
- More detail on the 🏴 sustainable farming scheme has been released. This is the Welsh governments biggest investment in nature conservation and food production. 12 universal actions required to receive £70 a hectare.
- The scheme will also include optional actions which receive additional funding. It's these optional actions that will have the largest impact upon river and water quality. First reaction is that the universal actions still feels paperwork heavy, rather than focus on outcomes. 😬
- How's this for nature friendly farming? This is WelshDeeTrust site on the Cheshire plains. The 3D buffer will help protect the watercourse from any pollutants in the field and also provide valuable habitat for 🐛🦋🪶🐦⬛🐀.
- Reposted by Peter powellA big thank you to @peterpowell.bsky.social and @welsh-dee-trust.bsky.social for leading a walk along the banks of the #RiverDee in #Chester for #ChesterHeritageFestival yesterday. We learnt a lot about the challenges facing the river, and what we could do to help.
- Reposted by Peter powellGravel is the unsung hero of healthy rivers. I think it is (almost) as important for river wildlife as the water that flows over the top. The sediments, pebbles rocks and stones are vital to healthy rivers but they are also under threat. Read on to find out why 👇
- Reposted by Peter powellHe fired the black chairman of the joint chiefs for being woke and hired his brother.
- You see they're bringing MERIT back to government. www.defensenews.com/pentagon/202...
- Reposted by Peter powellDead Fish Broke His Holiday - Mr. King, #Dee Fisheries Manager, was recalled from his holiday on #Anglesey in August 1949 - @theguardian.com gem in @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy #FishFriday #RiverDee #Wales #envhist @welsh-dee-trust.bsky.social @peterpowell.bsky.social
- I'm a sheep farmer and lover of nature. So interested to read this article, what's a sheep worth? scotlandbigpicture.com/rewilding-st... But the second paragraph talks about sheep: 'shuffling around ring feeders or staring vacantly into space' which is such an odd turn of phrase....
- It turned me straight off reading the whole article. Such a statement in the 2nd paragraph, indicates the whole is likely to be a work of confirmation bias. And what's the point of reading things based on confirmation bias? Do they help any conservation actions?
- When the rspb and the nfu have the same message you know the government made a mistake.
- Ecological restoration question? This is one of our grassland restoration sites @Cefn_Ucha farm. We have grazed hard this winter and spread hay from another species rich grassland. Do we buy in some more seed? Or wait and see what happens?
- Just read this word salad in an important conservation document. 🤮 'It is a long-term facilitative collaborative strategic partnership' Its no wonder wildlife continues to decline.
- 🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴 Not been this excited for years. #sixnations
- Reposted by Peter powellVery informative #RiverEcology thread.
- Spring is so close I can almost taste it.
- As part of a grassland restoration project at cefn Ucha farm we have been rolling out hay for sheep. This is hay collected from another which is full of wildflowers, hopefully this process will help spread seed to our restoration site.
- 700 trees planted yesterday by @welsh-dee-trust.bsky.social volunteers. Couldn't do it without them. 👏
- Recent woodland shelter we've created on the farm. Expanding what was a hedge and ditch into a corridoor of ponds, woodlands and scrub. Can't wait to see it in a few years when it's grown a bit.
- Reposted by Peter powellAs you say, clean gravels are critical to the survival of many freshwater species. Freshwater pearl mussels, in particular, suffer when the clean gravels required for their young to develop become choked with fine sediment.
- Reposted by Peter powellGreat thread on the importance of gravels in stream systems #willtravelforgravel
- Today I am creating a new woodland. Which is a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Saturday. 😀
- The Dee floodplain goes under water regularly. How much water? Well Chris our programme manager is 5'11 and the high water mark is quite a bit above his head. This regular flooding helps create an area of exceptional biodiversity, couldn't count the number of wading birds we saw this day.
- Reposted by Peter powellOut today with the Wild Trout Trust checking up on another wilding #ChalkStream #RiverRestoration on the iconic Bourne Rivulet, delivered in partnership with Wessex Rivers Trust River adapting well, salmonids spawning. Can’t wait to see it when the plant life returns!🌱🐟
- This is the river Alyn in the Dee catchment. Typical of a lot of Welsh rivers the banks are devoid of any wildflowers or trees under 15 years old. This is because of grazing from livestock particularly sheep. The solution is to fence off the riparian area and remove the grazing pressure.
- Here is a section that has been fenced off. Long grass and lots of young regeneration of trees. + My dog.
- Reposted by Peter powellNot a single penny from sewage fines goes to clean up rivers inews.co.uk/news/not-sin...
- Advertise your account using one (1) Simpson's image.
- We are hiring at Welsh Dee Trust. Head of project delivery. This leadership role will lead the planning and delivery of all the projects at Welsh Dee Trust helping achieve our overall objective of a river dee free of pollution and full of wildlife. www.welshdeetrust.com/we-are-hirin...
- Reposted by Peter powellNo year in the past decade has been cooler than the long-term average, leading the Met Office to say there is “clear evidence” of climate change’s impact. Overall, the UK last year had a mean temperature of 9.74C, meaning that only 2022, 2023 and 2014 were hotter. www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
- Reposted by Peter powellA great opportunity for someone to join a brilliant organisation and make a real difference. #conservation #wildlife #waterquality #projectmanagement #pollution
- A really exciting job opportunity working with me at Welsh Dee Trust. Head of project delivery. This role will have oversight of the delivery of all projects at Welsh Dee Trust and will make a significant impact upon the restoration of the Dee. Please share www.welshdeetrust.com/we-are-hirin...
- Just came across a heavily polluted brook from spread digestate. Full of nutrients this will severely impact the ecology of the brook. This is in England so not technically anything illegal here. In wales this would be illegal due to the new closed season.
- Reposted by Peter powellA lovely job in North East Wales - and a beautiful place to work for someone. Take a look and share.
- A really exciting job opportunity working with me at Welsh Dee Trust. Head of project delivery. This role will have oversight of the delivery of all projects at Welsh Dee Trust and will make a significant impact upon the restoration of the Dee. Please share www.welshdeetrust.com/we-are-hirin...
- A really exciting job opportunity working with me at Welsh Dee Trust. Head of project delivery. This role will have oversight of the delivery of all projects at Welsh Dee Trust and will make a significant impact upon the restoration of the Dee. Please share www.welshdeetrust.com/we-are-hirin...
- Reposted by Peter powellThere's understandably a lot of anger over big increases in water bills. Unfortunately they're necessary. Water infrastructure investment just hasn't kept pace with pressures. BUT, they undoubtedly shouldn't have had to increase as they now have. Short 🧵 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ange...
- Slowly getting my head around how bluesky works. This feed has all sorts of great people working in rivers. Would highly recommend pinning it. If someone could make a farming one that would be great 👍
- 🌊 River people: a #rivers feed is up and running! bsky.app/profile/did:... It draws on a "River people" list that combines +++starting packs on rivers but filters only posts with "rivers" or "#rivers" in the text. In other words: posts from many river communities all in one place! Thx for sharing
