Having spent a lifetime working in the Angling industry and more particularly the rivers of north east Scotland, I have witnessed a great change in how water drains from source to sea; rivers rise and fall much more rapidly than in the past.   This has largely come about through changes in the way our uplands are managed.   Changes over the past 50 years in Forestry and to a lesser extent, farming practice, have had a far greater impact than that of GW and have undoubtedly led to the chaos seen in towns listed above. 

Although un-noticed by the general public, industrial drainage has had a profound effect on our up-land environment, the knock on of which is all too evident through the flooding of afore said areas.

For centuries the retention of water in sphagnum moss, blanket bog and deep peat bogs on the uplands of Scotland led to the slow release of water during late spring and summer. This in turn, kept our rivers relatively cool, PH levels steady and ensured good supply of drinking water in reservoirs. In essence, all such areas acted as an enormous sponge, a natural release valve, a barrier which trapped water between upland areas and flood plains below.

Through the 1950s and 60s it became fashionable, largely due to government tax breaks, for the forestry commission and private landowners to plant “wet uplands of low agricultural production” with conifers.   Non native species such as Sitka Spruce and Canadian Lodge-pole Pine were planted across vast swathes of our countryside.   However, it was not the trees themselves, but ploughing/drainage of these areas, pre planting, that led to the huge change in the ecology, and ultimately, a far greater flooding risk to those low lying areas.   A large part of the sponge is no longer there, the barrier is gone, well at least for the foreseeable future!

It is unfortunate, but this industrial drainage, though “deep furrow ploughing”, has changed the ecology of these areas forever.   Rain water, once retained in bogs and moss, now drains quickly to the nearest river with the inevitable consequence.  It must be added that each drain is up to 1 meter deep and less than 2 meters apart. A quick calculation will tell you that every 100 meters has around 50 drains, so every 1km = 500 drains. 

I like to use the word” industrial” because of the scale of this ploughing/drainage.   In the 1940s, less than 1.5% of Scotland had been drained for forestry.   By the 1980s, this figure had risen to 12%, almost 10,000 square kilometres!!   Which is around 5 million drains carrying thousands of millions of gallons into our rivers, and when their banks are breached, our homes.

The change in the way the river rises and falls has been evident to me during my time working on the river.   During my grandfather’s time, he also logged the change.   His diary from the 1940s talks about heavy rain and the river [Spey] slowly rising over a period of 1 - 2 days.   This slow rise gave anglers a longer period where fish would readily take before the river went dirty.

Latterly he noticed this period had become much shorter, which also changed the behaviour of the fish.   What we have now is a river [Spey] which rises and falls in the same day, which it has to be said, in many ways, is detrimental to all of the creatures in it.

Anyone with an interest in flooding in the Elgin/Rothes area should take a walk on the hill between Glenlatterach and Knockando, once a huge area of peat and blanket bog, it is now almost 90% drained, most of this ploughing/drainage took place in the late70s and early 80s and is the main reason for the now violent nature of, in particular, the River Lossie, which, although small, was at one time a very good Sea Trout river.   This particular hill is also fairly acidic by nature, meaning that PH levels, high before ploughing/drainage will, due to the nature of deep ploughing, will now be even higher, something which is scientifically proven to be detrimental to fish from egg to adult.

So why, in these days of scientific advisors and educated land managers, was this allowed to happen? The short answer is greed and apathy.   

Forestry, and the associated info-structure of roads and drains, has done much to ruin the ecology of our wet uplands, and whilst GW is undoubtedly playing its part, the physical reason for flooding can be firmly placed in the hands of the advisory bodies within what was The Forestry Commission. 

As a footnote I would add - In 1988, the tax/grant system for tree planting changed and with this came a much more sensible, environmentally friendly approach to forestry and drainage.   However, for towns such as Elgin and others, this was closing the door after the horse had bolted.   It is true to say that trees retain large amounts of water, which on the face of it, could be seen to be helpful. However, in times of heavy rain it is drainage, caused by ploughing deep into peat that causes the problem. 

“Experts” will be split on the above. Environmental “experts”, for the most, will agree and see the obvious logic, whilst Forestry and land management “experts”, in all probability, will disagree, citing blame on something, or someone else. In taking this approach, all they do is deflect the attentions of the public from the real issues, splitting the public into two different camps, a tactic is used by many experts, as behind each expert is normally a slightly different agenda, which is why time and time again, we see so many arguments between experts. 

A true “expert” is someone who has a great knowledge of a particular subject and will offer an unbiased opinion.   Unfortunately, in all too many cases, this opinion is clouded by hidden agendas, which, more often than not, revolve around money!!

Some of my pictures from the last week of October can be found in the gallery.

Ian Gordon
Speycaster