The River Brenig (Afon Brenig) is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

river of the

River Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

and runs through the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Tregaron Tregaron ( "town of St Caron") is an ancient market town in Ceredigion, Wales. It is sited astride the River Brenig, a tributary of the River Teifi, and is north-east of Lampeter. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census, the po ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Course

It is formed from the confluence of the Afon Groes and Afon Berwyn in the foothills of the

Cambrian Mountains The Cambrian Mountains (, in a narrower sense: ''Elenydd'') are a series of mountain ranges in Wales. The term ''Cambrian Mountains'' used to apply to most of the upland of Wales, and comes from the country's Latin name . Since the 1950s, it ...

. The Brenig meets the

just below Tregaron.

Hydrology

Between 2008 and 2010, a m development project by

Environment Agency Wales Environment Agency Wales () was a Welsh Government sponsored body that was part of the Environment Agency of England and Wales from 1996 to 2013. Its principal aims were to protect and improve the environment in Wales and to promote sustainabl ...

began in Tregaron to protect the town from the river flooding. This involved lowering the riverbed and building

floodgates Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and ca ...

, as well as implementing improvements to existing

floodwalls A floodwall is a freestanding, permanent, engineered structure designed to prevent encroachment of floodwaters. Floodwalls are mainly used on locations where space is scarce, such as cities or where building levees or dikes (dykes) would int ...

Ecology

The Brenig is home to

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the Rank (zoology), subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic animal, aquatic, or Marine ecology, marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae Family (biology), family, whi ...

, with infrastructure being created for the animals in the 2008 project. The river was once frequented by

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

but their numbers have declined.

Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

are prevalent in the river and larger specimens can be caught in the narrower parts where the water runs deeper. Several fish have been caught along with a local record fish which can be seen mounted in the Talbot Hotel. Recently a fish was caught in the river. Many

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s can also be found.

History

Prior to 1840, sections of the river were

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

ised to safeguard a local turnpike road. The area was used as a special stage during the 2015 Wales Rally GB.

References

Brenig Rally GB {{Wales-river-stub