Love your River - the Herefordshire Yazor Brooks Restoration Project
The Yazor Brook runs from a rural catchment into the city of Hereford. As it winds its way through the city the same brook becomes the Widemarsh brook just above Plough Lane and the Eign Brook just below Commercial Road. This pretty stream provides an important refuge for wildlife in the heart of the City and creates valuable natural spaces for us all to enjoy.
Local people are now working with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Bugs and Beasties and the Wye and Usk Foundation to help protect and improve the environment of the Yazor Brook making it a watercourse that flows naturally, causes fewer problems when it floods, and supports more wildlife...its too valuable to ignore.
Project Aims
The Yazor can be a safe wildlife corridor through the City. A place for us all to enjoy as we cycle, walk or explore along its banks. Local people would like it to be free of litter and pollution and experience nature first hand, learn about its history and have the opportunity to help look after it.
Local communities are helping to conserve the Yazor through litter picking, wildlife surveys, managing habitats and hosting events. Businesses are looking at ways that they can help by creating more wildlife friendly spaces such as green roofs or what they do with waste water along the Yazor. We are working with Herefordshire Council and the Environment Agency to address any problems associated with over abstraction and development .
Upstream of Hereford farmers are looking at ways to change the way they manage the land to hold back water in the soils and streams and create new habitats such as ponds and wetlands. ‘Leaky dams’ made of logs help to slow water flow on tributaries, reducing pollution and flooding downstream.
Contact Us
For more information about the project please contact:
Claire Spicer, Head of Conservation, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust: 07341736183 Email: c.spicer@herefordshirewt.co.uk
If you would like to volunteer with the project, please contact:
enquiries@herefordshirewt.co.uk
If you are a landowner or farmer in the catchment please contact:
Holly Thompson, Nature Recovery Officer: Tel: 07535655483 Email: Holly Thompson h.thompson@herefordshirewt.co.uk
If you are a business owner wanting advice and support relating to the project then contact:
Richard Fishbourne, Yazor Brooks Project Officer, Bugs and Beasties: Tel: 01432 860323 Email: richard@bugsandbeasties.co.uk
Useful Links
Invertebrate monitoring data:
Find data from previous monitoring surveys on the City Brooks (choose Yazor, Widemarsh or Eign from the second drop down menu on this link and also set your date range). http://www.riverflies.org/open-data
Live flow level data for the Yazor Brook at Three Elms:
Find data on the present level and fluctuations over the preceding 5 days. https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/station/4033
History of flows on the Yazor Brook at Three Elms:
Records going back over 40 years since the gauging station was established; there’s also a link to download rainfall data up to 2015: https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/data/station/meanflow/55031
History of weather recordings for Hereford:
Provides present and historical data, including temperature and precipitation from the weather station at Credenhill in the Brooks’ catchment area. On the link type Hereford into the City box and choose History from the top right options box: https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city
Flooding information: ditch & drainage responsibilities, Herefordshire Council
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/info/200196/roads/345/flooding/6
This project is a partnership project with the Wye & Usk Foundation and Bugs & Beasties, supported by funding from the Environment Agency and a Hereford City Council Community Grant.