Moray environment: Hydro-electric extractions having 'devastating' impact on river, says Spey Fishery Board
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The Spey Fishery Board states the amount of water extracted to generate hydro-electricity is having a "devastating" impact on the river.
A report published today shows 90% of the water taken from the Spey comes from the top 13% of the river.
This water is then diverted to Fort William or the Tay.
The upshot, says the report, is that the natural flow in the Spey can be reduced by up to 24% at Boat o’ Brig, near Fochabers, and by up to a massive 61% at Kingussie.
Roger Knight is the director of the Spey Fishery Board's director, which manages wild salmon and sea trout fishing in the Spey catchment area.
He says: "In the 1940s hydro-electricity was considered to be cutting-edge technology and a crucial source of power, particularly in rural parts of the Scottish Highlands.
"That technology, though, is 80 years old and such impoundments and abstractions would not be permitted under present-day environmental standards.
"Scotland also now has a much wider portfolio of low-carbon energy sources, including onshore and offshore wind, solar and marine energy."
The report published today was produced for the Spey Fishery Board by EnviroCentre Ltd.
It highlights that the Spey valley has extensive sand and gravel deposits which now store far less water than would naturally be expected.
The net result is that the river is less able to cope with the low flow conditions and higher water temperatures now experienced more often due to climate change.
Mr Knight said: "This report makes sobering reading.
"It is now abundantly clear that the scale of water transferred out of the Spey valley to generate hydro-electricity is having a devastating impact on the river.
"It has denuded the groundwater storage supplies and drastically reduced the Spey’s ability to cope with hotter, drier summers which are predicted to occur more frequently under climate change.
"This situation is not sustainable.
"It is crucial that licensed abstraction from our upper tributaries is re-appraised and appropriately regulated to give this iconic river the sustainability it deserves as the reality of the climate emergency becomes apparent."
As well as a reduction in the amount of water taken from the river, the Spey Fishery Board also wants some of the river’s tributaries to be 're-watered'.
The board wants the flow reinstated to the Allt Sluie near the top of the Spey catchment at Dalwhinnie.
This, it says, would offset the amount of water taken at the Dipple wellfield on the lower Spey near Fochabers.
Other measures include the restoration of the River Mashie near Laggan, most of the flow from which is currently diverted to Fort William.
The board is also calling for the re-instatement of flows down the Allt Bhran and down the River Cuaich, both of which are currently diverted into the Tay system.
Mr Knight said: "We need the Scottish Government and Scottish Environment Protection Agency to support and encourage these river restoration opportunities.
"They would provide nature-based solutions to increase groundwater storage.
"This in turn will help top-up the river during periods of drought.
"It will help make the Spey more resilient to the huge challenges we all face now and in the future with regard to the climate emergency."
According to an economic survey in 2003, angling along the length of the River Spey generates in excess of £12 million per annum for the local economy and sustains 367 full-time-equivalent jobs.
Read the EnviroCentre Ltd report HERE
