Ribble Rivers Trust gets the data they need

Last summer, we chose to support the Ribble Rivers Trust by providing monitoring equipment for the organisation’s ‘Ribble Life Together’ Heritage Lottery Fund project.

The project’s aim is to create a healthier water environment for the benefit of everyone within the Ribble Catchment by improving its natural heritage.

Over the past few months, our two level and velocity flow sensors above and below the site in question, together with a rain gauge, have been providing valuable data which has enabled Gareth Jones, Sciences Co-ordinator for the Ribble Rivers Trust, to build a very comprehensive picture of what is happening within the site.

Explains Gareth: “The data provides a good understanding of how water flows through the existing landscape. We wish to quantify what advantages the creation of a new wetland will have in retaining water and to reduce flows.

“The Detectronic team has offered excellent customer support in helping us amass a high resolution data set. We are well placed with regard to our plans to create a wetland near Accrington and assessing its impact.

“The designs are there and the project is due to be drawn down subject to a pending funding decision. We are currently awaiting the outcome of this having submitted our reports following the completion of the Development Phase.

“We are also continuing to develop research links with Universities having held site visits to introduce the technology. Visiting academics from Leeds University were interested in what we are doing, offering their advice and developing new collaborative links.”

Concludes Steve Woods, Managing Director at Detectronic: “It’s great to learn that Gareth and his team are finding the data our monitors are delivering so valuable in relation to their project plans – we knew they would!”

Here is a link to the Ribble Rivers Trust http://ribbletrust.org.uk/

Photography courtesy of Ribble Rivers Trust