Finally, we’ve been very lucky to have the support of various community groups and the many visitors/dog walkers etc. that our teams have met and spoken with onsite over the summer. The positive comments have been very much appreciated by the teams on site!

We’ve also heard some understandable concerns about the following:

1. The removal of Burn Mill dam was unnecessary as fish were always able to make their way past it.
2. That during flood events fallen trees will become blockages where the Kirkland (Methilhill) rock ramp has been installed.
3. That flood events will wash away the Kirkland (Methilhill) rock ramp.

We’d like to address these concerns as detailed design, planning and experience informed these works and we’d like to reassure community members and other stakeholders.

1. Prior to removal of the Burn Mill dam, salmon could only move upstream under certain high flows and given the size of the dam, fish would use up a significant amount of energy in doing so. With the structure gone, salmon and other fish can now move much more freely upstream and downstream under a far wider range of flow conditions; the teams on the ground have already seen evidence of this as certain species of flat fish have since been recorded further upstream than they have been found before – a direct and immediate benefit from the dam removal. The removal has also re-instated pools and other important bits of more natural habitat in the section of river upstream which was previously impounded and slow flowing because of the dam. These areas are vital for the health of the river and for supporting the wildlife in the river, and they will continue to develop and diversify over time with the reinstatement of more natural flow and sediment movement through this section of the Leven.
2. People often believe fallen trees in a river are an issue, however, the process of wood being washed down a river during flood events is a natural process and is one that was happening on this stretch of the river before the works. This type of natural wood ‘debris’ is actually a benefit to the river environment, as the trunks/logs/branches provide ecological benefits (such as resting places and food) for fish, invertebrates and birds.
3. The Kirkland (Methilhill) dam rock ramp has been very carefully designed, firstly based on previous experience of the design and construction of a similar rock ramp on a comparably large and dynamic river system (a design which has withstood large flood events since construction and is still intact and functioning as intended). Hydraulic modelling has also been used to assess the function and stability of the design, determining the volume and depth of flow passing through the structure under a range of flow events, as well as the minimum size of material required for the base of the structure to ensure that the stones remain stable during large flood events.  That said, the design has been developed to encourage natural processes within the river and, as a result, a certain volume of the finer material within the rock ramp is expected to move within and through the ramp over time, particularly the smaller cobble and gravel sized material. As the material makes its way downstream, over time it will be replaced by material transported in those same flood events, from further upstream.

Our work isn’t finished yet and we expect native trees to be planted throughout the area at Kirkland this coming winter, so watch this space for the reappearance of our teams on site, and we look forward to providing further updates as we watch the site recover and flourish in the months to come!

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