Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
Land-use and Topography
13.3.10 The site is located within the Camilty Plantation which is owned by the Forestry Commission
Scotland (FCS). The Camilty Plantation is used for active commercial forestry.
13.3.11 The site is characterised by low gradient topography with ground level predominantly sloping
in north and eastern direction.
13.3.12 The maximum elevation within the site is approximately 289 mAOD towards the south
eastern boundary. Ground levels fall to 241 mAOD approximately within the Crosswood Burn
valley at the north eastern site boundary.
Surface Water Hydrology
13.3.13 The site is located within the Linhouse Water catchment. The Linhouse Water is a tributary of
the River Almond which ultimately drains into the Firth of Forth near Cramond, Edinburgh.
The majority of the site is drained through the Crosswood Burn, a headwater of the Camilty
Water and its tributary the Powfastle Burn (see Figure 13.1). Areas near the north western
site boundary drain into the Black Burn, a tributary of the Camilty Water.
Flow Regime
13.3.14 River levels and flows are monitored by SEPA along the River Almond and its tributaries at
various locations. The nearest gauging station downstream from the site is along the River
Almond at Almondell (NT 086 686). Another gauging station near the site is downstream of
the Cobbinshaw Reservoir, approximately 3 km west of the site. This station is not within the
catchments draining the site. In the absence of river flow data representative of the
development site, RPS has utilised data from the FEH to analyse the hydrological regime.
13.3.15 The FEH Base Flow Index (BFI) indicates the proportion of runoff that derives from stored
sources. For example, BFI of 0.1 might represent a relatively impermeable clay catchment
whereas BFI of 0.99 might represent a highly permeable chalk catchment. BFI at the
development site is between 0.32 and 0.33 approximately.
13.3.16 The Standard Percentage Runoff (SPR) parameter, also provided by FEH, represents the
typical percentage of precipitation that drains over the surface towards open watercourses
during a storm. SPR at the development site is approximately 47%.
13.3.17 Overall, the FEH parameters suggest that the development area, compared with other
Scottish catchments, will respond quickly to rainfall events. However, annual and storm
rainfall and therefore runoff rates are relatively low compared with other areas in Scotland.
13.3.18 Low flow rates have been estimated for the Black Burn and the Camilty Water at the
confluence with the Black Burn. Table 13.8 below shows the average flow rate as well as the
Q95 low flow rate, being the flow rate (or smaller) occurring on average 5% of the time which
corresponds to 18 days per year.
Table 13.8 Low Flow Estimations
Location
Drainage Average flow Low flow (Q 95 )
area
(km 2 ) (m 3 /day) (l/s) (m 3 /day) (l/s)
Camilty Water at confluence with Black Burn 23.62 33,000 380 3,200 37
Black Burn 2.56 3,300 38 342 4.0
March 2013
13-11
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Hydrology, Hydrogeology and Ground Conditions