I've been looking around online without much success for information about re-planting river beds with natural plants like water crow-foot ect.

I have seen some video on YT of Dave Mason talking about his work on the teme and restoring natural habitat but unfortunately dave is a little bit to poorly to be helping out.

Thanks

Glenn

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Interesting subject: but I wonder whether on the Goyt, you could ever be very successful. The high spates we often get are a problem, but the amount of debris, trees, branches, gravel, bricks etc moving downstream would probably wipe out much of any efforts made to stimulate weed growths.
You would probably have to choose planting areas very carefully, restricting them to those areas without masses of gravel transit during floods.

I think also that the tree-lined nature of much of the Goyt inhibits most streamer weed growth. Not enough light?

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Yes very true, I have located 4 possible sites a good few miles apart that offer suitable environments, mainly broad shallow stretches.

I've been told to find plants that are already in the same water course as they will have the best chance of getting established.

I just find it odd on how the tame can have an abundant amount of healthy plants with the same environmental factors as the almost weedless goyt.

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An excellent project. If you are successful it will benefit all the river's wildlife. Keep me informed?

Not sure about the use of existing species being best. If the species were suitable to the stretches you have chosen, would they not already have estabhlished themselves in those areas? It seems possible that totally new species might have a better chance of filling those niches?

The water quality in the Goyt is certainly good enough: look at the prolific streamer weed growth just above where the river meets the Tame. The Tame water quality is probably less good than the Goyt, but the Tame has more areas where the combination of shallow water, gravel and sunshine combine to form a suitable environment. And it does not have the high levels of gravel transit that the Goyt carries in spate. You don't see significant remodelling of the riverbed contours on the Tame. Less moving rocks to rip up established weeds.

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Quote:

Not sure about the use of existing species being best. If the species were suitable to the stretches you have chosen, would they not already have estabhlished themselves in those areas? It seems possible that totally new species might have a better chance of filling those niches?

The are found in upper parts of the goyt in the places they should be, maybe once in a while nature needs a helping hand, just like the otters have with there artificial reintroduction in some parts of the country with very little thought on the state of natural habitat their prey lives in.

At least the jobs will be safe at the EA fish farm.

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the goyt used to be full of streamer weed from otterspool down, not sure about higher, it vanished around 1998 if memory serves not long after the crayfish infestation, around this time there numbers were terrible, whether they were to blame or not is another matter but if streamer weed was successfully replanted it can and does withstand floods, i suppose depending on the flood you might lose some but you have to keep on top of it, once it is established it should be fine but it needs lots of light to flourish
cheers
jerry

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Yes Jerry, I don't know what sort of floods the Goyt experienced between 1998 and about 2007, but since then there have been a few absolute crackers. Streamer weed usually uses a stone/rock as a holdfast. But if a flood moved that stone, maybe helped by the water pressure on the weed, the future of that clump of weed is doubtful. As you know rocks as big as, and larger than bricks are tossed around so easily by local spates. If a weed, attached to such a rock is moved to deeper water, or buried, then that weed is doomed.
FYI: Still plenty of streamer from Marple up to New Mills last time I looked by the way.
I might take a few photos of some of the remaining streamer areas next time the river is low and clear, in a few different spots, so I can compare the remaining or new growth after any subsequent spates.
The Goyt still has streamer weed, but, as far as I can see, it is mostly in shallow sunny areas. But is the water clear enough, over the course of a year, for it to be able to grow in slightly deeper water?

Glenn, I don't think new ( to the river) weed species, but that are natural to the UK are likely to cause any major problems. It only seems to be chalk streams that suffer at times and get too choked up. Foreign species are another matter, and are to be avoided at all costs.

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have you observed weather the areas void of streamer weed are around or below any of the inlet pipes where there seems to be regular discharges of effluence and river pollutants,it might be possible that these discharges may be having a poisoning effect on the weed??? all rivers flood but most streamer weed would appear to survive these floodings and any that get washed out usually regrows,i don't think the tame gets as much pollution as the goyt so there could be something in that.
well that's my two peneth anyway,and probably a load of bol locks !

cheers

kev.

I'd tend to agree with keV regardless of floods streamer weed will regrow but lots of the river are totally devoid where it used to flourish, there used to be loads at otterspool all over the stretch an pearmill an paintmaster, I know there's a bit at watersmeet and there's plenty in the Mersey, as I remember the streamer weed vanished when the cray population was at it's peak, could be coincidence but I believe they were a major factor in it's disappearance, it should be easy enough to get it re established and what with the threat of predation by cormorants and gooseanders it can offer a great deal of protection
Cheers
Jerry

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just read that silting up will stop the streamer weed from growing/regrowing,so if the stretches on the goyt have had large amounts of sand/silt washed down in floods then this could be the cause of the weed not recovering in those areas.i know round pm after flooding there's always lots of new sandy silt everywhere,so replanting it might be futile unfortunately,but it may be worth finding a hardier weed that will grow in silty beds

cheers

kev.