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Catrine Dam
A Communities Approach to
Hydro Development
Renewable Energy, Community benefit, Regeneration, Tourism, Employment, Environmental benefit……….
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CATRINE DAM
Built around 1802 to provide hydro power to a cotton mill
David Dale established a model community similar to that at New Lanark.
In 1828, two water wheels were installed, the largest in Scotland
Catrine’s population soared to 1600 as the Mill thrived
Salmon access was prevented to the upper Ayr
The Ayr became so polluted that salmon were almost absent from the catchment (due to the 32 mills existing along its length and the extensive coal mining industry)
THROUGH THE YEARS
Catrine Mill’s survived difficult times during both World Wars until eventually the two giant water wheels were scrapped in 1947. Modern turbines were installed to power a new mill built in 1952. This mill struggled to survive eventually closing in the 1980’s. The only other major source of employment in Catrine was coal mining and this industry also collapsed in the 80’s.
Catrine became an unemployment black spot in Ayrshire and continues to suffer high levels of unemployment and social deprivation.
Despite substantial deterioration, the dam remained as testimony to a rich industrial past.
In 2005 Catrine Community Trust was founded to address many social problems within the village.Their vision to recreate a thriving community relied on investment and promotion of their
Heritage Environment Innovation & sustainable development
Key aspirations included restoration of the weir (a Scheduled Ancient Monument at risk of collapse), the Voes and to develop sustainable income to run Community Education & Visitor Interpretation Centre and support local projects
To achieve this, Catrine Environmental Heritage Partnership was formed (CHEP)(A formal partnership between the East Ayrshire Council and the Community Trust)
The River was the key to past and future prosperity
The weir was central to their plans and due to its Scheduled Ancient Monument Status, this enabled CCT to attract substantial investment.
FundingCCT have been highly effective in securing large awards from
funders such as Heritage Lottery, Big Lottery, Leader, Rural Priorities, Rural Communities Fund, SRDP, People’s Millions, SNH, Community Justice Fund, East Ayrshire Council Grant,
SIS Loan, Minerals Trust, Climate Challenge Fund, etc etc
Problems for migratory fish
3 x 2m drops over a distance of approximately 110m
Poorly designed fish pass that is the target of poachers (location, volume and turbulence + others)
2 Deep holding pools that can hold 100’s of salmon until flow conditions allow upstream migration
CAR License obtained to abstract 4 cumecs per second for hydro generation
800m depleted stretch between penstock and tail race
Consultation process commenced in 2007
Repeated changes in consultants (7 in total?)
ART raised concerns over lack of detail in proposals
ART/DSFB/Consultants advice ignored
Designs supported by DSFB were shelved
Inadequate funding allocated to fish pass improvements
Reluctance to include Anderson’s Pool improvements
3 fish rescues were required; the contractor became proactive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpIQWjcza2Y
Work yet to be completed at weir
Smolt screensFish counterSmolt trap bell mouth entrance requires completionSmolt trapping as a monitoring requirement in 2014 looking doubtfulFurther modifications to improve access to fish passExtending side walls to prevent inundationEel pass to be completed
Elsewhere
Turbine installationGrid capacity for planned output is unavailableTailrace screens