8. Restoring our becks

Why?

Our Addingham becks are in poor ecological condition, suffering from pollution from agricultural land and from road and surface water runoff. Barriers across Town Beck restrict fish passage and the non-native invasive species, Himalayan balsam, occurs in Town Beck, Lumb Beck and Wine Beck. The American invasive signal crayfish occurs in Back Beck and Town Beck. Our native crayfish, the white clawed crayfish, was last seen in Town Beck in 2007 and brown trout, once abundant in our becks is now rare.

How?

• Call the Environment Agency hotline 0800 80 70 60 to report a pollution incident, for example if a beck becomes unusually discoloured. Take photographs and note exactly when and where the incident occurred
• If a beck, even a small tributary stream, runs through your property, leave at least a two metre well-vegetated buffer zone on either side of the watercourse to protect the water from soil erosion and nutrient pollution (e.g. from garden fertilisers) and to provide shade
• It’s important to retain shrubs and trees growing alongside the becks both outside and inside the village. These shade the becks, slow the flow of floodwater, protect the bed of the becks from erosion, provide leaf litter and insects as food for fish and invertebrates, such as the freshwater shrimp, and providesites for nesting birds, especially grey wagtails and dippers
• If safe to do so, e.g. in low flow conditions, remove litter and other non-natural material, such as lumps of concrete and builders’ rubble. Contact AEG for help if necessary (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• Remove Himalayan balsam by pulling it out and leaving it to dry and die on the bankside and/or, if difficult to access, report the location to AEG (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
• Report sightings of crayfish and trout (date and location) to AEG (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• For more information on village becks including a report on the “4Becks Project” visit: https://addinghamenvironmentgroup.org.uk/index.php/water/village-becks