Removing Broom Caul

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Galloway River Trust has secured funding from the European Open Rivers Programme for work to remove the Broom Caul. As part of our work to restore the river habitats of the River Annan catchment, the removal of this caul, or weir, has been identified as a priority action.

Located about one mile upstream of the Water of Milk’s confluence with the River Annan near Ecclefechan, the Broom Caul is the first of two man made obstructions on this tributary.

GRT is working to remove both obstructions for the purposes of significantly enhancing fish migration, as well as natural river processes.  The easing of fish passage resulting from the removal of these barriers is expected to reduce delays to upstream migration that can lead to increased fish mortality due to predation.  Likewise, the removal of these barriers will restore important natural river processes.  Amongst these include the transportation of deposition of gravels, which are crucial to the creation of salmonid spawning beds.

On the removal of the Broom Caul, Alexander Bell-Irving of Whitehill commented ‘As the landowner, I recognise my duty of care to the health and wellbeing of the river and its wildlife, so I fully support the removal of the Broom Weir to restore the free movement of fish up and down the river.  The weir has deteriorated to the point where it is now becoming impassable, and its removal is an important step towards restoring natural fish passage and improving the health of the river ecosystem’.

The European Open Rivers Programme, from which GRT has secured funding for the first phase of this work, is a Dutch grant giving organization dedicated to restoring rivers.  The programme offers grants to support projects that lead to the removal of small dams and the restoration of river flow and biodiversity.  The programme is funded by Arcadia.

Working in partnership with the Wild Trout Trust and the Annan District Salmon Fishery Board, GRT will carry out the first phase of this work to design the removal process for Broom Weir.  Our main expert contractor is CBEC.  We expect this will be followed up by the delivery phase in summer 2027.

The work is being delivered under the 'Flowing Forward - Restoring Galloway's Rivers' exemplar programme.
More information can be found on the European Open Rivers Programme at:http://www.openriver.eu

 

Further Information

• Dee Eel Project