Pembrokeshire Farmer July 2015 Page 20
The streams such as illustrated in Stackpole Churchyard have a fauna and flora which depends on clear water ,gravel and rock beds.
The illustrated “solutions” are the worst possible,runoff is legally the responsibility of the contractor or farmer.
Agricultural run off is the responsibility and the self interest of the cultivators of the eroding land and must not be displaced to the shared water courses.
There is Legislation in place which controls agricultural run off.
There is legislation to enforce compliance, and specific rules about cultivation, cattle access to water courses, and prevention of surface run off.
Enforce the above.
Before any actiona
Research methods and practice employed by the original canal and drainage engineers of the Seventeen Hundreds .
Part of the catchment area is red sandstone draining to fractured limestone dry valleys.
The fractured limestone aquifer has many outflows at sea level the aquifer can rise and fall seasonally by many feet
The engineers turned a seasonal water flow to the ponds into an impounded system.
Before the valley was damned all the seepage points and springs were identified and puddled with blue clay to seal in a basic level body of water this set a minimum level.
Several were destroyed by recent dredging by NT which should have been stopped at the first sign of the puddled blue clay.
The water to maintain the rare plants and animals has to be managed and cropped regularly to to stop eutrophication The cut vegetation must be removed. .
This ceased in the late fifties, and now is only spasmodic it needs to be planned intense and regular.
The pond above the one arch bridge is now woodland and has always had to be regularly cleared that is no longer feasible and should be allowed to become woodland.
The pond to the Hidden Bridge is open water.
The stretch below was cleared several years ago but dredging clearance and tree felling was overseen by casuals and is an example of how not to do it to introduce people to the ponds, they were cleared to the waters edge leaving intruders in full view no longer a refuge for wildfowl,
A thin margin of vegetation allows wild life to be observed but not driven away.
See Main Pond at the Grassy Bridge,footpath at the waters edge
Main Pond management abandoned
Fallen trees should be left in the pond to shelter fish fry vulnerable in the clear open water
Freshwater Mussels must be conserved.
Visitors only see the semi domesticated species all the migratory water birds no longer use the ponds .
The water quality is the problem.
Occasional sea water improves the fauna and flora.
A base line survey must be made of the rare species in the ponds which are management sensitive to evaluate management.
We have no confidence in the oversight by the designated so called partners with only little superficial scientific knowledge
Their record of scientific conservation is appalling
Ian Campbell 200715
Dated photographs www,loveitorloseit.info