Just a quick update on the recent discolouration on the lower stretches. As you may have seen on the news there was a fairly serious incident in the Maryhill/Bearsden area involving a burst water main. Several houses had to be evacuated as a result and I believe part of the road next to the main has collapsed. The Fire Brigade were involved and SEPA attended. Given the seriousness of the situation the Fire Brigade were authorised to pump water directly into the Kelvin. This resulted in a lot of silt in the river from the run off and from the pumps. SEPA dispatched an ecologist to check for any effect to the river and we are awaiting the report, however the initial word is that insect life appears unaffected and there were no signs of distressed fish.
The water main is now under control so the water should be starting to clear. The Committee will continue to liaise with SEPA to monitor for any lasting effect.
This is exactly the type of event where the effect could be monitored through the Clyde Riverfly Monitoring Partnership, so the sooner we get this up and running the sooner we will have base line data for any future incidents.
Kind regards
Paul