Petition to Richard Lochead MSP to Review the water abstraction scheme
introduced on the R Carron (Kyle of Sutherland) in the 1940s by Westminster.
Global warming has arrived giving the Carron catchment substantially increased
and increasing precipitation, not anticipated in design of the scheme which all
adds to Operator profit. The increases may appear as sudden and potentially
dangerous snow melt or cloudburst. The governance of Scotland has changed.
The Right to Roam has introduced an increasing number of itinerant visitors,
many of foreign nationality, whose presence and safety on the banks should
be considered.

Technology has developed enormously, able to offer better control and earlier
warning, but has not been deployed on this scheme which remains unsecured and
manually operated by ad hoc visits.

The Petition asks the Minister to Review the scheme to see what changes would
be appropriate to minimise risk to the Public, their property, their land fences and
stock and compensation rights due to global warming and especially on sudden
release  of large quantities of water into the Carron, when  temporarily unwanted
by Hydro.

A Review can allay fears which have developed within the local community that
insufficient action has been taken to avoid a repeat of the tragic death of a local
man in 2002.

Water abstraction on the R Carron Kyle of Sutherland was part of large scale
development of hydro-electric potential in the Highlands, begun in the 1940s. A
headwater dam in Glen Beag diverts all water, above a fixed compensation
amount, to L.Vaich and from there to the R. Conon via generators. When Conon
is full, abstraction is shut off manually. This is quickly achieved but only after a
long journey to site over un-adopted, gated, dirt roads, often covered in snow or
water, and in inclement conditions. Absence of cell or land lines on site makes
communication of the exact time of cessation difficult. In winter when the Conon
is naturally likely to be full, Carron at Glen Beag, is always artificially low, due
to low compensation water left in Carron, during winter.

When abstraction in Glen Beag abruptly ceases, the contrast in Carron water level
at this point, is huge. In 2002, with Carron water level 20 miles downstream high,
from lower tributary burns, water lapping over the road suddenly rose in depth
(recorded at the nearby SEPA measurement station), a local man was taken by
surprise, his car swept away and he most tragically lost his life. The surprise may
have been induced by the contrast between natural conditions at site and the
sudden arrival of an additional Man made spate peak from Glen Beag. The risk
element of such a state can be reduced easily to-day, tapering in abstraction
cessation by remote control.

Radar, continuous weather and river monitoring allow earlier decisions to be
taken on commencing cessation. It may help if generators draw down L. Vaich
water, creating storage to buffer the impact of heavy rain, before it arrives. Attenuating Man made spate peaks to minimise danger to Public and river
habitat should be a principal objective of an operational review. Records at the
time of the large scale development of hydro-electric potential in the Highlands
acknowledge a need to re-visit sites in the light of operational experience. This
would naturally be so in cases where the Minister chose not to accept all the
advice of his own scientific advisors, as was the case on the Carron. There
has been no public government review of the Carron scheme, despite the
unanticipated arrival of global warming yielding significant long-term increase
in precipitation, as measured at nearby Lairg. This trend swells hydro
profitability as compensation water has not changed.

The destructive nature of global warming cloudburst was seen at the recent
Scottish Open golf at Castle Stuart where parts of the course were washed away
in minutes while people a short distance away were dry. But radar allowed
accurate forecasting of the downpour and local communications minimised the
numbers turning up to be disappointed. Another characteristic of global warming,
accelerated snow melt through temperature change, was demonstrated earlier this
year. Walking across Carron in the afternoon was safe but overnight temperature
change produced ice flows crashing down the steep gradient of a swollen river by
the following breakfast. The late Willy Macdonald of Amat-na-tua remembered
dead salmon in his fields after inundation.

There is precedent for change at Glen Beag, through public input. In the 1950s,
the nationalised operator acknowledged the inadequacy of his imposed
compensation water regime and agreed increased compensation water release
from April to end September. In the 1990s the public noticed salmon above the
dam when the dam was opened (necessary to dry out the compensation water
channel set slightly higher up the dam wall, allowing operator change of plates
controlling summer/winter compensation flows). This showed Westminster’s
intention to prevent natural species migration had never worked properly.

In the last decade, members of the local community became concerned that
people used a water diversion tunnel for shelter during cloudburst (often dry in
summer yielding no hydro energy, the tunnel fills quickly on cloudburst). Health
and safety concerns lead to alterations. Wear on soft un-armoured Carron banks
allows spates to carry off livestock, crofters and farmers fences, inundate fields,
attack livelihood by removing topsoil, which then smothers redds lower down.

Spate peaks now flood the “old” road on the north bank of Carron, cutting off
hamlets above. Unlike developed countries, many areas in the Glen are not
provided with line of sight TV DAB or cellphone signals. The local PC is the
only person whose cell phone works in these areas. The SEPA measurement
station is below these blind spots. Government’s desire to keep or expand local
highland communities is not helped by lack of reception due to become non
existent if FM, LW & MW transmitters are shut down. The right to roam
produces additional, often foreign visitors, camping beside the river.

Lack of signals makes communication of danger difficult to residents away from
a land line, or, through them, to visitors. In the 1940s, few visited the area.
Today, there is a recognised mountain bothy above Glen Beag and many
nationalities pass the abstraction site on coast to coast walks or visiting Munros.
There may be temptation to fiddle, there being no security, or CCTV. It would
be easy to connect the site to spare landlines at Deanich Lodge to provide CCTV
and link the site to a control centre able to respond quickly to vagaries of global
warming weather patterns. A very small amount of electrical energy would be
needed to adjust position of water diversion doors, slow movement being of the
essence of this Petition.

Hydro operational costs are surely reduced by remote site control. Operator
profitability is increased both by beneficial government rates for small hydro
schemes and by the extra precipitation. The latter increases anxiety, visitor and
community risk. We feel bounties should be accompanied by responsibility in
operational practice. We can argue the toss about release of Wolves or Beavers
but release (or less than ideal control) of large amounts of water is a danger with
us now, created by government and capable of much greater danger and damage.

The weather and governance of Scotland has changed. The Right to Roam
increases itinerant visitor numbers. Respect for Nature has increased since WW2.
The risk factor has enlarged and technology massively moved on. Minister, when
you don’t want the water, can you, as a start, return flow to the Carron early and
gently, not with a bang? Simple mods 1000 feet above Ardgay can minimise risk
of deleterious and frightening results from sudden release of large volumes of
water into a naturally fast flowing river.

There is fibre optic cable capacity at the local Craigs Exchange, in the heart
of the radio blindspot area. Local re-transmission of radio signals from the
Exchange could ensure local people being aware and able to help themselves
and visitors.

A small effort by Scottish government will be much appreciated. It will yield
peace of mind for those living in this glen, add to the attraction of others who
may consider expanding the highland community, will ease the overheads of
those who deliver goods and services in the glen or those tasked to respond to
emergencies. The Community Council would be grateful to be kept in touch
with your decisions in this matter.

Ardgay,  IV24 3BS

2011