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13
Sept
Volunteers to study Oak Beck's recovery from pollution
Volunteers will be testing Oak Beck on Monday to determine how well the watercourse has recovered from pollution two years ago.
Oak Beck, which flows into the River Nidd, is classed as a major river by the Environment Agency and flows across northern Harrogate.
Hundreds of fish were killed in 2022 in an incident investigated by Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency. The Stray Ferret covered the story here and here.
There were further concerns over a fortnight last year, due to what Harrogate conservationist Keith Wilkinson said at the time was “sand and silt from construction work, solids escaping from the open storm drain near The Hydro and a constant stream of what looks like detergent foam from high up near Birk Crag”.
Mr Wilkinson will lead a team of volunteers to gather e-DNA samples from three sites on Monday along with John Branson who will be testing for E-coli and faecal coliforms to assess the overall health of the river.
Previous research confirmed the presence of the following species in the river: brown trout, bullhead (Miller’s thumb), stone loach, minnow, 3-spined stickleback, common eel, water hoglouse (slater), freshwater shrimp, river limpet, wandering snail, may fly, stone fly, and caddis fly.
The samples will then be sent to Nature Metrics in Surrey who are specialists in e-DNA sampling.
Mr Wilkinson said:
Physical observations suggest that free-swimming species like trout and minnows may be recovering, but more vulnerable bottom-dwellers like stone loach and bullheads may not have returned yet.
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