Attendance: Colin Beattie MSP, Rob Munn (MSP Office), Jenny Gray (MSP Office), Steven Boon (Scottish Water), Matt Bingham (Scottish Water), Ann Stewart-Kmicha (Dalkeith & District Community Council), Barbara Mackie (Eskbank Newbattle Community Council), Rachael Langfield (Mining Remediation Authority), John Batty (Mining Remediation Authority), Peter Finnie (SEPA), Paul Butler (SEPA), Rob Mitchell (SEPA), Conor Price (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Rachel Warrington (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Rebecca Lewis (Riverfly on the Esk/Buglife), Ross Hughes (Forth River Trust), Edel Ryan (Midlothian Council), Alan Heatley (Midlothian Council), Jen Newcombe (East Lothian Council), Kristian Purchase (East Lothian Council), Roddy Henry (Newbattle Abbey College).
Apologies: Rory Sandison (NatureScot), Scott Fraser (Scottish Water), Roger Croft (Esk Valley Trust), Anne Hyatt (Roslin and Bilston Community Council), Shona Grant (East Lothian Council), Katrina Wilson (SEPA), David Ogilvie (SEPA), Wayne Clark (Midlothian Council) Joy Godfrey (Esk & Newbattle CC).
 

Welcome
CB welcomed everyone to the meeting. The previous minutes were approved.
Scottish Water – Steven Boon
SB updated on,

• Lord Ancrum wood project update going out
• Esk pumping station will be completed this year
• Storm Eowyn update that SW prioritised keeping wastewater treatment operational
• The event duration monitor installation continues and 1.5k are now in place and are live on the system and teams will react to those as overflow events occur and issues are escalated if there is a bigger issue. The information is available on the SW website

CB asked about the Ironmills CSO which had been overflowing
SB can’t update but can come back after the meeting
RH It has overflowed since 2023 and has been reported – there is a sheared off length of overflow pipe – is there a better way of reporting more detail opposed to a CSO discharging?
SB I can see that a team have been out regarding the broken outfall pipe so I’ll check and report back.
 
Coal Authority (Mining Remediation Authority) – Rachael Langfield John Batty
RL Updated that the organisation has changed its name to the Mining Remediation Authority. This is because a lot of work we do now has increased focus on remediating coal but also metal mines. We are still waiting for approval for the Dalkeith Water Treatment Works which has taken longer than we hoped for due to spending reviews. Expecting to hear in the next couple of weeks. Design work progressing.
JB gave a slide presentation on the plans explaining the need to fully identify the adit and to identify and fill any voids with grout He described how they plan to manage the ochre slop at the bottom of the chamber removing that for disposal to minimise any getting into the river. They have been working with SEPA on methodology to alleviate any discharges to the river but can’t rule out some discolouration of the river while this work is ongoing. Will use vacuums to suck out the dense deposits with this taken away by tanker.
There will be a newsletter to inform locals what is happening and have a media strategy in place to deal with any interest.
CB Asked about the use if sonar or similar to assess how the adit is configured and whether the residual discolouration is new?
JB The adit from the river falls back toward the mine workings. We estimate its’s 15-20 metres deep so it’s too deep for radar to pick up we can pick up 5-6 metres but this is deeper and the adit seems to shelve off sharply. On the discolouration – this will occur during the preparations for construction but once construction is completed, there will not be discolouration. 
RH asked about the impact on sediment in the river and on breeding fish as this is time for spawning fish.
JB Impact on the riverbed should be minimal as higher flows should carry the ochre through and we are not expecting any degree of settlement, just discolouration.
ASK Regarding the funding have you been in touch with the local MP Kirsty McNeill? And thank you for forewarning the community.
RL We haven’t contacted the local MP about the funding as we are expecting positive news, just waiting on the final signature.
RH Where is the best place to get updates on the projecting including costings and changes over the period the project has been planned.
RL A summary could be pulled together from the business case and can share with you and the wider group.
RH that would be useful for the final reports for my project.
CB offered to circulate that summary and the slides about the project to the group    
 
 
SEPA
PF There is nothing specific to ERIG to report at this meeting
 
East Lothian Council
Jen Newcombe (Biodiversity Officer) and Kristian Purchase (Countryside Ranger)
KP updated on the work on dealing with invasive vegetation mainly Himalayan Balsam with regular Friday sessions along the Esk. Outlined the bacterial testing between April and October. Work around storm Eowyn to remove fallen trees along the Esk path. Supporting beach cleans at Fisherrow. Working with the public to give space for feeding shore birds to minimise disturbance of these birds. Liaison with Police Scotland’s wildlife crime officer regarding shellfish collection at the mouth of the Esk. Also supporting oyster reintroduction.
Midlothian Council
ER My colleague Alan Heatley is going to give you an update.
AH Updated on flood risk response. MLC have appointed a consultant to help navigate the obligations of the Flood Risk Management Act. MLC are recruiting a permanent flood officer who will take that work forward. We are aware of any fluvial flood risk from the Esk that causes concern. We have had questions about flood protection schemes and can confirm MLC are not considering any flood protection schemes on the Esk at present.
CB asked about high-risk areas such as Lasswade.
AH Last serious flood there was in 2000. Do get debris collection at the bridge which is cleared quickly to reduce flood risk. Have been approached by East Lothian about putting a water level monitor at the bridge, that would be something we could monitor on a regular basis.  Once we have the flood study completed, we’ll have a better picture of what prevention measures are required. Another area would be the Newbattle Bridge on the South Esk where there can be an issue of debris build-up at the old bridge, again this is monitored to prevent build-up.   
CB opened for questions.
RH Asked if there had been contact with Andrew Tabas and Dr Ian Patterson from Heriot Watt University?
AH haven’t had any dealings with them but aware they are working on a project
RH They are working on community involvement, community capacity, citizen science, surveying floods, flood risk etc. Opportunities to partner and learn from their work.
Forth River Trust
RH Updated the meeting that he was now in the last 3 months of the Citizen Esk project delivery. A final report will be written. Currently delivering a seasonal project called Fish in the Classroom delivering trout eggs to schools. The Citizen Esk project has developed from a point where people didn’t know much to people now having specific knowledge and understanding. Looking for opportunities for legacy projects and engaging with other agencies delivering community involvement. Will be attending the Green Futures Festival in Musselburgh (QMU) on 22nd March.
We’ve got litter picking days tying in with Scotland’s Beautiful.
The new Esk River Partnership will bring together a number of groups and organisations to decide how to manage the river together. 
CB Thanked Ross for his input to ERIG and hoped we’d still see him in some guise or other
Riverfly on the Esk/Buglife
RL The project has carried out 270 surveys from the monitoring sites on the ESK and are in the 6th year of Riverfly and out Esk science project and each year we get more volunteers. We’ve got eight new volunteers going through training this year. We monitor the Esk looking for freshwater macro invertebrates and enter this data into an open-source database which is available to everybody. We also do nitrate and water testing as part of that citizen science project. Carry out benchmarking of full species level assessment of the site. It’s a good way of looking further into the pressures that are on our rivers. The results were presented to the Scottish Freshwater Group and will be written up into a paper which we can share with you. That amounts to 1260 hours of volunteer time. Each survey takes about a couple of hours, and we carried out training about looking at species level data from macro invertebrates.
I now work for BugLife as Scotland & Ireland manager and as part of a wider project River Fly on the Esk was a really successful pilot in Scotland. We’re now delivering this as part of a project called Guardians of a River across Scotland. We’re now delivering River Woods a large-scale project across Scotland looking at whole river catchments and we are one of the delivery partners and have flagged up the Midlothian Esk as one of the rivers to work on and hope to update you at the next meeting. We’re looking to do habitat monitoring to add to both the biological and chemical monitoring. We currently have 40 volunteer groups and scientists across Scotland monitoring the health of the rivers. We are presenting our results at an international conference in Holland as well as Liverpool.
We appreciate all of the support we’ve had from SEPA recently working in partnership with them to develop this programme.
I’m currently doing a PhD at St Andrews University, and I am going to be writing up a lot of this data into a report and will be able to share that with the group.
CB commented that Rebecca had been very busy. There were no questions.
Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme – Conor Price
CP gave a high-level update on the project. Review of the correspondence in response to the formal consultation on the scheme in spring 2024. ELC invited each of the 470 objectors to an individual meeting. Invites went out in Sept/October with a deadline to take up the invite of end of October. Just less than 100 people responded. From November on Legal Services have been meeting with each individual. That process is ongoing through February. Legal services and the project team have been writing up those sessions before proceeding to a meeting of the Council. Expecting that a meeting will consider the scheme before the summer recess. As it is in this legal process at present there is little more, I can report.
CB Asked about the funding and whether the project team were satisfied it would go ahead.
CP When the scheme was first published the cost was determined to be £106m. The Scottish Government’s flood programme had committed 80% of that with East Lothian committing 20%. What will be the final cost be? The scheme cost was based on the design then developed. The process of objections could lead to modification of the scheme and almost certainly a public local inquiry which would have an unknown timescale of perhaps 2 years. Until the design is settled and legally approved, we don’t know definitively what the cost will be and that will have to be determined at the end of the process and include inflation.
AOCB
ASK raised the Esk weir removal scheme. It’s been delayed a bit due to the two that are on the North Esk to check what will happen with the viaduct. On the South Esk they’re waiting to find out what happens about the weir at Lothian Bridge as that would affect the one further down at Dalkeith New Mills Road.
 
Summary of Actions to be updated
Scottish Water

• Ironmills outfall pipe repair update

Coal Authority

• Provide an update on ministerial approval
• Summary of the Dalkeith Waste Water Treatment Works project
• Share slides of presentation with group members (RM to action)

Attendance: Colin Beattie MSP, Rob Munn (MSP Office), Laura Boyce (Scottish Water), Steven Boon (Scottish Water), Ann Stewart-Kmicha (Dalkeith & District Community Council), Barbara Mackie (Eskbank Newbattle Community Council), Rachael Langfield (Coal Authority), John Batty (Coal Authority), Peter Finnie (SEPA), Katrina Wilson (SEPA), Rob Mitchell (SEPA), Conor Price (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme), Rachel Warrington (Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme, Ross Hughes (Forth River Trust), Paul Butler (SEPA), Philip Duncan (Musselburgh Racecourse).
Apologies: Rory Sandison (NatureScot), Scott Fraser (Scottish Water), Claire Tochel (Fisherrow Harbour & Seafront Association), Joy Godfrey (Eskbank Newbattle Shona Grant (East Lothian Council), Rachael Langfield (Coal Authority), Roger Croft (Esk Valley Trust), Rebecca Lewis (Riverfly on the Esk/Buglife), Roddy Henry (Newbattle Abbey College), Anne Hyatt (Roslin and Bilston Community Council), Anne Hyatt (Roslin and Bilston Community Council), Jenny Gray (MSP Office), Shona Grant (East Lothian Council), Edel Ryan (Midlothian Council).
 

Welcome
CB welcomed everyone to the meeting. The previous minutes were approved following a correction raised by ASK.

1. Scottish Water – Steven Boon/Laura Boyce

SB updated on,

• Esk Wastewater pumping station – work is continuing with more work needed, completion is now expected next year due to the extra work. The temporary pumping arrangements are working well and contractors are continuing on site.
• Eastfield pumping station upgrade work has been carried out and it is performing well
• Joppa pumping station – there has been some seawater ingress there where the outflow pipes have valves to stop seawater coming in – those valves have failed. Work is ongoing to replace those with a temporary system in place.
• Bathing season - no asset issues
• McDonald Road pumping station – work to replace the second Archimedes screw has started aiming to have it replaced before the next bathing season or sooner.

LB gave an update on the improving urban waters route map. SW is investing £500m in monitoring and improvements to improve the environment by transforming the wastewater infrastructure. 1000 new monitors and 3 intelligent wastewater network catchments in place by the end of 2024 with plans to reach 1500 during 2025. In December there will be a live data map available on the SW website giving information on the CSOs giving transparent data about overflows.
Update on Lord Ancrum’s wood project began in March 2024 and due to be completed in the next two weeks which will improve the environment of the Mary Burn after £2.1m investment.
CB how many monitors will be on the ESK?
SB between 6 and 10 and the team have capability to install more if needed
ASK referring to the previous minutes there was talk of 19 monitors with plans for a further 16 monitors within the catchment area. Is that the same kind of monitor or a different type?
SB There are two kinds – an intelligent network monitor and an event and duration monitors which go on the outfalls. So, a mix of both. The numbers seem high but Scott reported them so that will be right.
RH Do you know the location data of your CSOs? We’ve been doing outfall surveys using data SW have provided and some of the CSOs are really far away from the locations we’ve been given. Have we identified the CSO Scottish Water knows about or is it an outfall that belongs to someone else?
SB We’re going to represent the CSOs on two different systems – internal and public (customer map) so we have to make sure they are accurate so we will improve the location information. We need to so we can send teams out to respond to real time monitoring.
PF regarding the pumping station there has been some public disquiet is there a plan to update the local community to keep them appraised of the timeline for the finalised work?
SB SW were due to go the two separate events that were cancelled at the last minute. The information is available and we’ve provided it separately. We’ll see if there is anything else we can do including putting an update on our website.
ASK The new CSO at May Burn bearing in mind the new East Houses Primary School opened in August, has there been any problems or conflicts in that area?
LB Don’t believe so. When we are in communities, we do try to engage with the community to keep them in the loop.
SB No issues – we’ve had good engagement with the school and had involvement with pupils. Also what you see now is not what you’ll end up with. It’ll all be underground and not intrusive. Would add that it was ERIG pushing that made these works happen and made them happen faster.
CB Some of these projects move quickly and that is appreciated. I’m sure the local residents will see the benefit over the coming period.
 
 

1. Coal Authority – Rachael Langfield John Batty

RL Updated on the Coal Authority project the Dalkeith Water Treatment scheme. At the last meeting I reported that we had commercial approval and we were waiting on sponsor department approval. We continue to await departmental approval. This is due to the change of government. The project will span two spending reviews. We expect single year approval for the year ahead and then three-year approval for the following year. We need to have a conversation with the Treasury to give them confidence and clarity of our budget. We are waiting on a meeting between our CFO and the Treasury. Once we gain approval we can move into the construction phase. We are keeping the pressure on and making them aware of the importance of this project. 2024 has been very wet so we’ve seen a lot of dilution in the river, however it is still looking very orange. Thanks to Colin for sending through constituents comments around that. We are aware and continue to monitor the chemistry and iron within it. The deterioration is ongoing but at a slower rate than seen in 2020-2021. We continue to work with SEPA around those levels and the water quality. At previous meetings we’ve discussed the ochre recycling and are currently investigating opportunities with a Scottish distilling business as part of a circular economy recycling and not sending to landfill. It’s not finalised yet but certainly a good news story when it is.
CB Everyone is concerned to ensure that the funding is in place and will stay in place.
RL This is why we need to have the conversation with the Treasury, we’ve allowed for it in our forward budget and need the final Treasury approval. I’ll inform this group as soon as we get sign off.
ASK The new MP for Midlothian, Kirsty McNeil has a remit in the Scottish Office so it might be worth speaking to her?
RL Thank you support from all quarters is helpful.
JB Updated on Coal Authority works. There was a stakeholder event in early September. Regarding the site works the demolition is completed and the contractors are getting on with preparatory works, boreholes etc. We’ve applied for permissions with Midlothian Council for tree felling and entrance works. The design is progressing and evolving so we end up with a robust plan by the time we get approval.
 

1. SEPA

RMi updated on the Esk fish barriers project. The concept design phase for the three weirs is complete and outputs have been shared with stakeholders. Happy to share these with members of this group. On the North Esk Montague Bridge weir which can’t be removed the design is for a fish pass. Iron Mills has a concept design for full removal at the moment, with more work needed to understand the upstream effects on riverbed if the weir is removed around impact on the railway viaduct and on landowners before detailed design work commences. There are important reasons for rolling the works at Montague Bridge and Iron Mills together into a single contract so works at these weirs has been postponed until at least summer 2026. On the South Esk investigations are being carried out the Lothian Bridge weir a short distance upstream of the weir at New Mills Road to understand if it is eligible for the Water Environment Fund. Until that work is complete we won’t have a time frame for the works and again the proposal is for full removal. Due to challenges with funding, we’re carrying out a prioritisation exercise focusing on delivery of project stages already committed to. Those that SEPA have issued grant funds or where grant awards or directly commissioned contract awards are in place. As the ESK fish barriers project is not one of those it needs to pause now until funding is authorised. The majority of water environment fund projects are in the same position. While it is not a retraction of existing funding SEPA can’t commit to any future funding currently.
CB opened for questions.
RH Asked if there was anything the community could do.
RMi Contact your local MSP, lobbying on behalf of the fund.
CB As the local MSP I’m happy to lobby.
There were no more questions for SEPA.
 

1. East Lothian Council - no update

 

1. Midlothian Council

RM read a written report submitted prior to the meeting.
Midlothian Council have appointed a consultant to assist with obligations under the Flood Risk Management Act. Undertaking undertaking flood studies and preparing a surface water management plan. Currently recruiting a flood officer. Tree debris has been removed at the weirviaduct by Network Rail. There has been no reported fluvial flooding on either river in the last few years. Midlothian Council are now a partner in the Lothian Esk Catchment Partnership under the lead of East Lothian Council and the Forth River Trust. The partnership is looking at biodiversity and natural flood management potentials on the upper catchment.
CB closed with suggestion that questions could be put in the chat box and passed to MLC for response.  
 
 
 
 
 

1. Forth River Trust

RH the biggest news is the Lothian Esk Catchment Partnership. It’s mostly larger bodies that are involved but I’d like to see more community engagement. I hope that Citizen Esk can be a focus for people to put questions to the group and also to bring forward project proposals.
Citizen Esk has continued to carry out safari surveys. Surveying invasive species and mapping those across the catchment. We’ve got a partnership with the giant hogweed eradication group identifying plant locations they may have missed. We have found examples like Japanese knotweed. We’ve been able to find some funding to get those plants treated. Citizen Esk was funded for three years and next May is the end of that funding, so we are looking for some extra funding to keep an environmental project going partnership growing and implementing practical operations. We’ve been taking to landowners about greening the river, riparian planting environmental improvements. The project has raised awareness of the issues and how to raise those. Also identifying the source of discharges into the river and who is responsible. Looking to link in online training and make available on our website.
There were no questions and RH asked if any arose after the meeting to email him.

1. Riverfly on the Esk/Buglife no report

CB Rebecca has sent a report which can be circulated.
Raised a point from the report about reviewing the trigger levels with SEPA for each site and that they have two triggered level breaches from invertebrate surveys and four state 4 alerts of poor ecological from water sampling to date. Are SEPA aware of this and have comment?
PF If that can be forwarded to me I can get it checked with ecology.

1. Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme – Conor Price

CB Followed up on an action point from the last meeting regarding SG funding. Reported that the response had been circulated and summarised the SG response to the meeting as encouraging but uncertain on final funding.
CP Stated that he could provide no further update. There is a wider flood protection programme and MFPS is part of that. The challenge is there are funding pressures in the programme.
CP moved onto an update on the MFPS. The scheme is in the formal process under the Flood Risk Management Act. The latest newsletter is on the MFPS website – reminded attendees that they can sign up for the newsletter to be emailed. The formal legal process is managed by the ELC legal services. Outlined the comment/objection process. If an objection is deemed valid it progresses forward. If it is not valid it is put to one side. The statistics show that 7% of correspondence was invalid. In order to be valid the metrics were Name, Address, nature of objection, submitted in writing. Objections can be withdrawn. In due course ELC elected representatives will consider these valid objections. Thereafter, if required, it will proceed to a public local inquiry. There are three choices available 1) confirm the scheme as published unmodified, 2) confirm the scheme with some modification and 3) reject the scheme. One of these must be taken at the preliminary stage. Once that decision is made it may or may not travel forward to a public local inquiry.
CP updated on the invasive species management work. Outlined that each year the steering draws up a plan for the coming year. The programme this year has focused on treatment of giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam. As outlined in the newsletter more has been done in 2024 than any previous year. There has been great progress with the number of organisations now involved and the number of volunteers. As the seeds travel downstream, we have reached out further in the catchment with treatments – example the corridor to Edinburgh along the old rail line to Leith working with Transport Scotland, Network Rail and Scottish Water etc to target across the network. The 2025 plan will be discussed in February. Mentioned the work of James Wiley in his work on this programme and the end of year barbeque. Suggested that invites to events are circulated to this group so there is an opportunity to meet the volunteers and learn more about the work they do.
Moving forward it is hoped that Lothian Esk Catchment Partnership can continue to lead on this work.
Updated on the other work going on with MFPS – work on an assessment under the habitat regulations is ongoing in the background working with NatureScot and others. This work is need due to the Firth of Forth Special Protection Area. Connected to that there is work ongoing with ELC and Dynamic Coast to understand the risks of coastal erosion due to climate change. ELC’s coastal change adaptation plan will stretch along the full coastline of East Lothian. The MFPS is responsible for some 5-6km of that coast and is the location of the greatest understood risk from coastal erosion.
Outlined the emergent Lothian Esk Catchment Partnership which will bring together 7 to 8 organisations who are responsible for flood risk management, biodiversity and environment within the catchment area. It is hoped it will be formally established by the end of the year.
Updated on a severe weather event in May that saw river levels rise quickly and were fortunate that it did not coincide with a high tide – a couple more hours of rain or alignment with a high tide would have seen a flood event. There has been engagement with businesses in South Mills and ELC’s emergency planning team and there has been ongoing work since with temporary flood barriers being sourced so the businesses can protect themselves should another event occur. Once I have the full analysis of what occurred there, I’ll share it with the group.
CB invited questions – there were none.
CB Thanked everyone and closed the meeting.
 
Meeting ends at 10:55
 
Summary of Actions to be updated Oct 7th
 
 
Coal Authority

• Provide an update on ministerial approval