Environmental effects of drought and abstractions of River Ouse fisheries, summer 1997

This survey was the second year of a three year study to examine fish populations in relation to low flows, drought and abstraction in the River Ouse. To fully evaluate the possible effects on fisheries the study set out to encompass fish population surveys from fry to adult stock, analysis of angler catch data, reports from anglers and river reports from Environment Agency Fisheries staff.

A report on the strategic fisheries stock assessment survey of the River Winster 1995 together with a coarse fish survey in 1994 and reference to the 1995 drought

This is the report on the strategic fisheries stock assessment survey of the River Winster 1995 together with a coarse fish survey in 1994 and reference to the 1995 drought, produced by the Environment Agency North West in 1996. Salmonid production within the Winster catchment was dominated by trout although good densities of salmon juveniles were found on some main river sites. Despite suffering drought conditions for much of 1995, only salmon fry production appeared to have been affected. Coarse fish populations once found in the lower reaches of the Winster appear to have declined to very low levels with no fish sampled. This may be partly due to broken tidal gates allowing saline intrusion. It seems that the lower river was suited to the development of a recreational coarse fishery, now that the gates have been repaired. This report completes the strategic stock assessment surveys planned for the period 1992-1995. It represents the last major catchment that was surveyed to determine the current status of fisheries in the South and South West Cumbria areas.

Reconstructed drought history, north-central Great Basin, 1600-1982 [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Tree-ring chronologies, developed from cores from Pinyon pines growing on climatically sensitive sites in the north-central Great Basin, have been used to reconstruct precipitation and drought histories of the area from A.D. 1600 to 1982. Analysis of these hydrologic time series helps to place current climatic conditions into the perspective of the past 383 years (since 1600). ... The years 1934 and 1959 were the first and fourth driest while 1934 had the lowest July Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) of the reconstructed records. Nevertheless, the decade of the 1930's is only the seventh driest since 1600; the decade 1953-1962 ranks as the second driest. The driest non-overlapping decade since 1600 was 1856-1865. Interestingly, the second wettest decade was 1932-1941. An examination of 30-year mean precipitation data shows that the driest 30-year period was 1871-1900; 1931-1960 ranks as the fourth driest. The current 30-year period (1951-1980) ranks twelfth.