Unlocking the Severn was a huge-scale river project, restoring connectivity for migratory fish on the UK’s longest river and engaging millions of people with the fascinating natural, cultural, and industrial heritage of the Severn.
Powick weir is situated at the junction of the River Teme and the leat to Powick Mills. It was built to divert water to the mills. A weir was originally constructed at the site during the late eighteenth century, but was subsequently moved and rebuilt with none of the original structure surviving. Work was undertaken in the 1990s in response to the poor condition of the weir, including the construction of an Alaskan ‘A’ steep fish pass. However, this pass was suitable only for salmon, so works were needed here to make the weir passable by shad and a wider range of migratory fish species.
Works commenced in June 2018. The central sections of the weir were lowered with the left bank retained for historic, hydraulic and land use purposes. A naturalised rocky bed was placed, and a low flow channel designed and created to ensure a section of water is at the right depth and velocity to assist the twaite shad’s migration upstream. The previous salmon fish pass, now redundant, was removed as part of this project.
This project took place in various locations, please read Unlocking the Severn (Diglis) for the detailed project breakdown.
