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River Ythan

River in Scotland

Summary

River in Scotland

Field	Value
name	River Ythan
image	River Ythan 2024.jpg
image_caption	The mouth of the River Ythan, draining into the North Sea near Newburgh
source1	Wells of Ythan
source1_location	Near Ythanwells, Aberdeenshire
mouth	North Sea
mouth_location	Near Newburgh
length	60 km
basin_size	680 km2
discharge1_avg	6 m3/s
country	Scotland

The Ythan is a river in the north-east of Scotland rising at Wells of Ythan near the village of Ythanwells and flowing south-eastwards through the towns of Fyvie, Methlick and Ellon before flowing into the North Sea near Newburgh, in Formartine.

The lower reach of the river is known as the Ythan Estuary and forms part of the River Ythan, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch Special Protection Area for conservation, particularly as a breeding ground for three tern species (common tern, little tern and Sandwich tern) (Lumina, 2004).

The River Ythan has a catchment area of 680 km2. or 7.2 m3/s.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

The Scottish Government has designated the River Ythan catchment as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone following concerns about the spread of algal mats in the river during the 1990s. The resulting restrictions on the use of fertilisers in the catchment were criticised by many farmers, as around 90% of the land in the catchment area is used for agriculture. However, the designation and subsequent actions to address the issue under the European Union's LIFE Fund Ythan Project have led to improvements in water quality, as an increasing number of farmers adopted techniques such as creating buffer strips between fields and the river, along with nutrient budgeting. Both the expansion of agri-environment schemes in the area and individual river restoration work undertaken under the auspices of the Ythan Project have contributed to an increase in wildlife habitat across the catchment.

Etymology

The name Ythan may be derived from a Brittonic source, cognate with Old Welsh eith meaning "gorse" (Welsh eithin) or from an early *Iectona meaning "talkative one" (Welsh iaith; cf. River Ithon).

Fishing

Fishing on the River Ythan is subject to conservation measures intended to protect populations of Atlantic salmon and sea trout.

References

Lumina Technologies, Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen Library archives, June, 2004

References

"Natural History of the River Ythan". River Ythan Trust.
"Ythan Estuary, Sands of Forvie and Meikle Loch Special Protection Area proposed marine extension Advice to support management". Scottish Natural Heritage.
Reported average discharge figures vary, with estimates of {{convert. 6. m3/s. link. (29 April 2014)
[http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc96/to150/pap107/p107.htm Elaine McAlister, Nelleke Domburg, Tony Edwards, Bob Ferrier, ''Hydrological Modelling of the River Ythan using ArcInfo GRID'']
"River of LIFE A report on the actions of the Ythan Project 2001-2005". The Ythan Project.
(1931). "Scottish Place Names". K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company.
(2011). "The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland". Birlinn LTD.
"Ythan District Fishery Board". Ythan District Fishery Board.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

special-protection-areas-in-scotland rivers-of-aberdeenshire ramsar-sites-in-scotland

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