I've started this thread to discuss the merits of using freshwater algae to reduce river nutrient levels. If you've been following the UK news recently and Paul Whitehouse's 'Our Troubled Rivers' on the BBC then I'm sure you've heard about the rapid decline in river water ecology due to high nitrate and phosphate levels from agricultural run-off & CSO (Combined Sewer Outflows). This is a global problem due to excessive fertiliser usage and poor waste water treatment (aka lack of investment replacing aging infrastructure). The RePhoKUs study of the Wye Catchment area is of particular interest to me since I used to camp, swim and fish in this river as a child and now in just a few years the ranunculus has all but gone and eutrophication is a real threat every summer, when algae blooms appear. Intensive poultry farming and agri businesses have capitalised on laxed planning requirements and enforcements.
So, what can be done? The Environment Agency and Ofwat are catching up, but could Citizen Science bridge the gap? Environmental campaigning bodies such as Friends of the Upper Wye and River Action are stepping in to provide data that the EA/NRW/DEFRA are lacking. I think we could go further than this and introduce non-point source absorption of nutrients in the river using attached filamentous algae such as horsehair (pithophora), water silk (spirogyra) and cotton algae (cladophora). This could be cultured in a similar way to kelp line seeding and supported in rivers on natural woollen rope, so there is no microplastic pollution risks. Natural rope from Welsh sheep used to clean up the Wye -how local is that!
SO DO YOU have any knowledge on filamentous algae, ranunculus and kelp seeding? If so, please get in touch. I would like to establish a group on UKAPS that can rise to this challenge.
Thank you, Matthew.
So, what can be done? The Environment Agency and Ofwat are catching up, but could Citizen Science bridge the gap? Environmental campaigning bodies such as Friends of the Upper Wye and River Action are stepping in to provide data that the EA/NRW/DEFRA are lacking. I think we could go further than this and introduce non-point source absorption of nutrients in the river using attached filamentous algae such as horsehair (pithophora), water silk (spirogyra) and cotton algae (cladophora). This could be cultured in a similar way to kelp line seeding and supported in rivers on natural woollen rope, so there is no microplastic pollution risks. Natural rope from Welsh sheep used to clean up the Wye -how local is that!
SO DO YOU have any knowledge on filamentous algae, ranunculus and kelp seeding? If so, please get in touch. I would like to establish a group on UKAPS that can rise to this challenge.
Thank you, Matthew.