Oly Lowe

Fluvial Geomorph passionate about sustainable management of the environment. Views Are Mine, but pls borrow 😉 WQ + HydroMorph = 🐟

@olylowe.bsky.social 🦋

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Great messages, conveyed brilliantly; SMNR, NFM, and the importance of restoration & geomorph as delivery mechanisms https://t.co/NiVrDnXpOO

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@CIWEM @RICSnews That's great. I've been calling for a similar colab with @BSG_Geomorph & @RGS_IBG for years for CIWEM to offer CGeog Geomorph.

This'd also retain & boost CIWEM river restoration members in the sector.

Sadly (and weirdly) CIWEM barely covers river restoration anymore @The_RRC

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Great place to visit if you are in the Jasper area. Hinton Beaver Boardwalk, Canada

Beaver and Muskrat come out most evenings. Your learn so much about natural water management simply by observing these amazing animals in their natural habitat.

https://t.co/md26Klub9X

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@EnvAgencyMids @EnvAgency We need to stop calling these manmade drains "rivers".

Trees strengthen (natural) river banks, but they can be a threat to manmade (impounding) embankments such as these.

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

"Crazy that innit" @BBCNews

Yes, its an "avulsion" which can occur when a high energy river is dredged. It's nature's (physics) way of dissipating excess energy caused by the shortening/straightening/steepening of a river and removing its mobile sediment

https://t.co/sf5v5hNGpP

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

📣📣Epic job alert: Specialist River Restoration Advisor £42k-£46k

Leading delivery of large scale, complex and/or sensitive river restoration projects across glorious Wales!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

https://t.co/8KeXTOHpub

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Sorry, timber log weirs are not natural nor do they replicate natural processes... they replicate ecosystem disconnecting & damaging weirs.

Leaky, brashy, beaver analogue, structures do work brilliantly though. Like these...

https://t.co/TN2Xs2KKQY

#BrashIsBest

[Environment Agency @EnvAgency]

Natural Flood Management is one of the many ways we reduce flood risk.

It uses natural processes to slow or store water in a river basin, reducing flood risk downstream.

This project in Surrey used barriers to store and slow water flow, protecting local homes and businesses.

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@EnvAgency Sorry, timber log weirs are not natural nor do they replicate natural processes... they replicate ecosystem disconnecting & damaging weirs.

Leaky, brashy, beaver analogue, structures do work brilliantly though. Like these...

https://t.co/TN2Xs2KKQY

#BrashIsBest

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

More #NFM features installed on this watercourse...

Lots of brash + placed naturally (messy) + wired together &/or upstream of bankside trees = very stable

No timber logs or low flow notch = no excessive scour, but still good low flow, fish & sediment movement

#BrashIsBest

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@swaledalebirds_ @nationaltrust @BBCYorkshire @The_RRC More beaver analogues:

https://t.co/jhvX3IvIUs

To be clear; boulders historically removed should be put back in rivers to support natural geomorph processes and habitats. But walls have no place in a river & would likely need an impounded licence under the Water Resources Act.

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

On #InternationalBeaverDay please note that even if you haven't yet got beavers in your area, you too can create wonderful #NFM analogue beaver features such as my brilliant colleagues built on the Afon Merin

Details: https://t.co/ar0DRoxlzD

Site Visit: https://t.co/wzG7I531Hv

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

No! 🤦🏻

If it doesn't happen naturally it is NOT natural flood management! Please don't FURTHER physically modify our natural headwaters🙏

These barriers will disrupt natural sediment & ecological processes👎

@nationaltrust @BBCYorkshire @The_RRC

#BrashIsBest #ThinkLikeABeaver

[Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith🌳🧬 @AncestralEnq]

Traditional dry stone walling skills are being used in partnership between the National Trust & Yorkshire Water to build 3,500 dams in the South Pennines. 👇
BBC News - Dry stone wallers creating 'leaky dams' to reduce risk of flooding - BBC News
https://t.co/LztJjNQsuP

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@swaledalebirds_ @nationaltrust @BBCYorkshire @The_RRC Yes please. Beaver analogues is what they are called.

Examples are in this thread
https://t.co/J7PMrg4EFH

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

River restorers often worry about in-river #NFM woody debris dams blocking, esp wrt fish passage.

This @WaterNRW project site aggraded its bed from a 3ft deep incised channel, reconnected its floodplain & created this wonderful early stage wet woodland!

@The_RRC @AfonyddCymru

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Provide funding for a nationwide, nature-rich river corridor network

https://t.co/pBTE14ufWg

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@HMRCcustomers Thanks but i can't get through on that number

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@HMRCcustomers Thanks but I've seen that already. The situation outlined doesn't comply as it IS normally kept at employees’ homes

But as a "shared" vehicle the tax bill would be split between 2000 other employees!

Hence the query. Plus is it different if it's a car not a van?

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@HMRCcustomers Feel free to ask any clarifying questions...there's only so much one can write in a Tweet!

[The Dee Trust / Cynefin Dyfrdwy @thedeetrust]

How do we monitor the success of our habitat restoration sites? 🐟

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Recruiting: Senior Geomorphologist post to work on the rivers in stunning North & Mid Wales on offer from @NatResWales

Please share https://t.co/ABAfycWtbz

@BSG_Geomorph @EAGeomorphology @The_RRC @CIWEMRCG @CIWEM @theriverstrust @AfonyddCymru @ScottishEPA

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

@PracBrownLtd just in case you're tracking them...does this win the prize for furthest overlanded water bottle from @The_RRC conference 2025?

Arrived in the Lofoten islands, Norway inside the artic circle, by motorbike from the UK yesterday.

[Oly Lowe @olylowe]

Brilliant video from @NatResWales

Why fish need boulders?/Pam mae angen clogwyni ar bysgod? Pedair Afon LIFE / Four Rivers for LIFE