The Ythan is a river in the north-east of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

rising at Wells of Ythan near the village of Ythanwells and flowing south-eastwards through the towns of

Fyvie Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Geography Fyvie lies alongside the River Ythan and is on the A947 road. Architecture What in 1990, at least, was a Clydesdale Bank was built in 1866 by James Matthews. The ...

Methlick Methlick ( Gaelic: ''Maothulach'') is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the River Ythan north-west of Ellon. Services Methlick is served by a parish church, a general store, a garage and hardware store, ...

and

Ellon Ellon may refer to: *Ellon, Aberdeenshire Ellon ( gd, Eilean) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotla ...

before flowing into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

near Newburgh, in

Formartine Formartine ( gd, Fearann Mhàrtainn meaning "Martin's land") is a committee area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the River Ythan. It has a population of 36,478 (2001 Census). The committee area wa ...

. The lower reach of the river is known as the

Ythan Estuary The Ythan Estuary (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Eithein) is the tidal component of the Ythan River, emptying into the North Sea north of Aberdeen, Scotland. The estuary’s tidal action extends a inland and has characteristic widths of between ...

, is a part of the River Ythan,

Sands of Forvie The Forvie National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve owned and managed by NatureScot. It is located north of Newburgh in Aberdeenshire, in the northeast of Scotland. The reserve includes the Sands of Forvie, which are the fifth larg ...

and

Meikle Loch Meikle Loch is an inland loch some miles north of Collieston, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is designated as part of the Ythan Estuary complex, along with the Sands of Forvie, as a Special Protection Area for wildlife conservation purposes. Meikl ...

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

for conservation, particularly the breeding ground of three tern species (

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrator ...

little tern The little tern (''Sternula albifrons'') is a seabird of the family Laridae. It was formerly placed into the genus ''Sterna'', which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of '' Sterna'', "tern". The specific ' ...

and

Sandwich tern The Sandwich tern (''Thalasseus sandvicensis'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern (''T. bengalensis''), Chinese crested tern (''T. bernsteini''), Cabot's tern (''T. acuflavidus''), and elega ...

) (Lumina, 2004). The River Ythan has a length of and a catchment area of . As figures of the discharge, /s are given or /s.Elaine McAlister, Nelleke Domburg, Tony Edwards, Bob Ferrier, ''Hydrological Modelling of the River Ythan using ArcInfo GRID''
/ref>

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

The Scottish Government has designated the River Ythan catchment as a

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone A nitrate vulnerable zone is a conservation designation of the Environment Agency for areas of land that drain into nitrate polluted waters, or waterways that could become polluted by nitrates due to environmental and health threats. A nitrate ...

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, 90% of the land in the catchment area is used for agriculture. However, the designation and subsequent actions to solve the issue under the European Union's LIFE Fund's Ythan Project have led to improvements in water quality as an increasing number of farmers used techniques such as the creation of buffer strips between their fields and the river and nutrient budgeting. Both the increase in agri-environment schemes in the area and the individual river restoration work undertaken under the auspices of the Ythan Project have led to an increase in wildlife habitat in the Ythan's catchment.

Etymology

The name ''Ythan'' may be derived from a

Brittonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

source, cognate with Old Welsh ''eith'' meaning "gorse" (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''eithin'') or else, from an early ''*Iectona'' meaning "talkative one" (Welsh ''iaith''; c.f.

River Ithon A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Fishing

The area of the Ythan is part of a protected region, in order to preserve Atlantic salmon and sea trout.

References

* Lumina Technologies, ''Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire'', Aberdeen Library archives, June, 2004 {{authority control Special Protection Areas in Scotland Ythan Ramsar sites in Scotland

Nitrate Vulnerable Zone

Etymology

Fishing

See also

References