The South East Rivers Trust is pleased to announce a new natural flood management (NFM) project with funding provided by London Gatwick.
The upper River Mole is characterised by its flashy nature. As a clay-based catchment, an impermeable geology, the river is prone to both flooding during wet periods and drying up during dry periods. Climate change is expected to only exacerbate these issues. The river also faces pressure from pollution and a lack of adequate habitats for river wildlife.
This project aims to address these challenges through a series of NFM measures. These techniques, including tree planting, leaky woody structures, and wetland creation, work to slow the flow of water through the landscape, increasing the its natural retention of water, to both reduce the risk of flooding downstream during times of heavy rainfall and maintain river flows during drought periods.
A key component of the project is the implementation of a “stage zero” restoration, which involves reconnecting the river’s headwaters with their floodplain. In other words, turning back the clock to a time before human intervention. This approach not only enhances natural flood protection but also improves resilience during low flow periods, reduces diffuse pollution, and creates habitats to increase biodiversity.
Dr Chris Gardner, Head of Science and Partnerships at SERT, said: “Natural flood management is a crucial technique for us at SERT, as it harnesses and restores the natural processes our rivers depend on. We’re delighted to have London Gatwick support for this project and are eager to see the positive impact we can achieve on the ground.”
The funding from London Gatwick comes from the airport’s efforts under their sustainability policy, Decade of Change, and remains focused on what matters: increasing the emphasis on people and reducing emissions. London Gatwick is working to support and invest in local communities, continue transition to net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and reduce impact on the local environment and waste.
Ian Waghorn, Principal Environmental Water Engineer at London Gatwick, said: “We are thrilled to be working with SERT, this collaboration will provide real improvements to the Upper Mole catchment. Working with our partners is just one aspect of our ambitious water targets for this decade.
“We are making significant investments in our own water systems at London Gatwick. In our first Decade of Change we reduced water consumption from 30 litres per passenger to 15, we are now aiming to halve this figure again to 7.5 litres. This will be achieved by harnessing the capabilities of our existing infrastructure to produce a non-potable water source for toilet flushing.”
The first year of the project will focus on conducting scoping work to generate feasibility studies, engaging with local landowners, and establishing baseline surveys across the sub-catchment to pave the way for delivery in future years of the collaboration. We’re excited to get to work on this project, so watch this space!
Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 and has now grown into an international movement that is embedded on the social calendar annually, with the simple idea of doing good.
What better way is there to do that than make a donation on Giving Tuesday (28th November 2023) or instead of a physical present this festive season, to help protect rivers – our very lifeblood?
While there are many great causes, one that underpins our very existence – water – is hard to ignore.
Much of our drinking water is abstracted from rivers, supplementing what is stored in reservoirs to supply the needs of our homes and businesses.
However, in the South East we live in an area that is classed as water-stressed. This means that we are already facing a water shortage because of a growing population and climate change, which brings with it erratic weather patterns, from sudden storms from which we can’t capture all the water to drought.
All this puts huge pressure on the wildlife that thrives in rivers. Your rivers. Rivers that have been straightened, boxed in by concrete or boarding along the edges thwarting animal movement between water and land, or restricted by weirs and other barriers – all in the name of convenience for people at various times in our history.
But this has left our rivers unable to function as they should, to allow fish to migrate (some as far as the sea) to better habitats, to allow flowers to flourish to attract pollinators, or to give creatures that move between water and land the chance to do so.
The very habitats that support the wildlife that supports our existence needs help – and we’re on a mission to make that happen.
However, we can’t install fish passes or ‘rewiggle’ rivers to make them places where aquatic life can truly thrive without funding.
By the end of November, many people are already making decisions about gifts for the festive season. Many of you might be tempted by offers on Black Friday weekend (23rd to 27th November). But many of you might be thinking that a gift to nature might be better for your recipients for Christmas-time festivities this year – a year in which we have made inroads in many areas.
Some highlights from this year include:
encouraging people in the Medway to take a first step to caring for their local river by addressing their reliance on single-use plastic – 70 people signed up to become official Medway River Guardians with many of them becoming River Champions.
working with landowners in the Beult to install nature-based solutions to retain back water in the landscape for the benefit of wildlife and people. We’re now building up similar work on the Darent
creating new fish passes, from a baffle weir to improving the wish stream so fish can access better habitats
training citizen scientists to map out invasive non-native species on the Wandle and continued our volunteering events at Morden Hall Park
starting to create a new wetland at Chamber Mead on the Hogsmill
introducing rivers to dozens of schools and hundreds of children through our education programmes
Hosting Loddon Rivers Week and contributing sessions to London Rivers Week
Advising the UK’s largest greenhouse salad crop grower on water resilience
We couldn’t do it without funding.
Please consider making a one off donation to the South East Rivers Trust this Giving Tuesday, or signing up to make a regular donation. Visit our donate page for details.
A new online tool has been launched this week to help tackle road runoff pollution in London’s rivers by highlighting the best places to install nature-based solutions such as wetlands.
The development of the first-of-its-kind tool by Thames21 builds on years of research by the environmental charity and its partners Middlesex University and the South East Rivers Trust, which contributed with mapping, scoping and reporting.
Pollution from our roads adds to a number of problems for our rivers coming from sewer overflows, litter and misconnected drains. However it is often the Cinderella of pollution topics, because it receives far less public attention than sewage or agricultural causes.
Research from the Rivers Trust shows that the UK’s 1,600 rivers are affected by a cocktail of chemicals that are speeding up aquatic nature-loss, affecting insects, birds and mammals.
Road runoff goes straight to rivers
Road runoff can contain residue from oil spills, as well as tyre and brake wear from vehicles. These build up during dry weather and are then washed into rivers and streams when it rains.
The new tool will help decision makers prioritise the right water quality improvements:
in greenspaces that lie between the road and the river
at road locations in Outer London where surface water drains to the rivers; and
on London’s main strategic road network (includes Transport for London’s roads and some sections of National Highways’ and local authority roads)
Thames21 started its initial road runoff project identifying key polluting roads in 2019, with funding from the Mayor of London, Transport for London, and the Environment Agency. The British Geological Survey built the online decision support tool ‘Road Pollution Solutions’ and provided some additional support through the UKRI NERC-funded CAMELLIA project.
The South East Rivers Trust contributed research on sites in South London, including Surbiton, using its GIS mapping technology and catchment-based approach, identifying places where solutions such as wetlands could be built to counter the pollutants. By providing a natural barrier and filter using nature-based solutions, some of this road runoff pollution can be captured and prevented from entering rivers in the first place.
Users of the tool can search different boroughs, pinpoint particular areas and see just how polluting they are. This will help to prioritise where solutions could be put in place as mitigation. The tool shows the location of rivers, sewage outfalls and areas that drain into waterways.
An example of how the road runoff solutions user guide works
Modelling has shown that 2,415 road sections covering a total of 451.43km of London’s roads assessed pose a high risk of causing road runoff and are therefore a priority. Roads where heavy goods vehicles regularly apply their brakes are often the worst affected.
Community groups can also easily see pollution hotspots and help to suggest solutions by working for example with the authorities or through catchment partnerships.
The tool – which extends to all outer London boroughs – allows uses to access data by boroughs or river catchment and includes the Wandle, Beverley Brook, Hogsmill, Upper Darent, Lower Cray and Upper Cray.
Working in partnership, authorities responsible for these roads could intervene by providing nature-based solutions in these areas to help make runoff cleaner, and improve water quality in local rivers and watercourses.
Find out how the tool works by reading the user guide.
On 2nd October water company business plans for 2025-2030 were submitted to Ofwat, who will scrutinise them to determine whether they represent value for money for water bill payers.
Earlier in the year, we asked you to have your say about water companies’ draft Water Resources Management plans. Six months on, these have been updated to final plans, alongside ‘Drainage and Wastewater Management’ plans – which focus on the dirty side of the water equation. These two plans form the basis for how water companies will manage water and sewage for the next five years and underpin the just-released business plans.
Below, we assesses the updated plans from Affinity Water, South East Water, Southern Water, SES Water and Thames Water – the companies operating across the South East Rivers Trust’s (SERT) area.
You can still have your say
We’re urging you to take further action to ensure these plans leave our rivers and the environment in a better state.
Now that plans have been submitted, Ofwat is encouraging you to continue to have your say and question the companies about the details.
This autumn, the companies will host Your Water, Your Say sessions (listed at the bottom of this blog). You will be able to speak to water company representatives, in groups and online, about their plans.
Alternatively, you can write to the Secretary of State for the Environment with your comments at water.resources@defra.gov.uk or fill in a survey about the plans, by 1st December.
What are these plans and why do we care?
Over abstraction from rivers for our water supplies affects wildlife
Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs) set out how water of sufficient quantity and quality will be supplied to the population for the next 50 years.
This is a massive challenge in the south east, where we face a shortfall of 2.6 billion litres if nothing is done.
The WRMPs include plans to build new ‘supply schemes’ such as reservoirs, water recycling plants and water transfers from other regions, as well as ‘demand measures’ – for example by fixing leaks and encouraging wise water use – to reduce water use per person.
At SERT, we care about these plans because ultimately water for use in our homes and businesses is pumped from rivers and groundwater aquifers, which also feed many waterways and their habitats. As climate change bites and the population grows, demand for water is increasing; if water resources are not managed appropriately, rivers and wetland environments will suffer.
Meanwhile, Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs) set out how sewer and drainage systems will be upgraded to cope with population growth and peaks in surface water as rainstorms become more frequent and intense with climate change.
Clearly, the current sewage treatment system isn’t fit for purpose, with raw sewage spilling into rivers and coastal areas on a near daily basis. SERT wants the DWMPs to ensure sewage systems are upgraded at pace and measures are implemented to slow the flow of stormwater into sewers and prevent sewer overflows. This is the first time that water companies have been obliged to develop DWMPs and we welcome their existence.
Do the updated plans respond to our calls for change?
Earlier in the year, we responded to consultations on the WRMPs, and a year ago to consultations on the DWMPs.
Leakage – some improved promises made
SERT, along with many customers and stakeholders, have urged the water companies to do more to tackle leakage.
Water companies in the region are aiming for the government’s target of 50% leakage reduction by 2050, but now with additional interim targets: 20% by 2027 and 30% by 2032.
Thames Water loses around a quarter of the water it puts into supply through leakage; it is particularly encouraging to see an increase in ambition since their draft plan, which only aimed for a 16% reduction by 2030.
We challenged SES Water to roll out ‘smart’ water meters to all customers, household and non-household, by 2030.
We are delighted the company has committed to doing so. Smart meters will help to quickly identify leaks in homes, schools and other buildings.
Leaks from plumbing in homes and buildings, including ‘leaky loos’, currently account for about a third of leakage. Meters will also help customers use water more wisely.
Per person targets for water standardised
Many respondents to the WRMP consultations, including SERT, urged water companies to have stronger targets for personal consumption of water use. We said that Thames Water’s aim that people should use only 123 litres per person per day lacked ambition, particularly when other water companies in the region were going further.
Therefore we are pleased that all water company plans now meet the Government target of 110 litres per person per day – and with new interim targets.
All water companies have adjusted ‘per person’ water use targets to align with Government aims
For non-household water users – such as businesses, schools, hospitals – water companies are now aligning with the government’s new Environment Improvement Plan target of a 15% reduction in water use by 2050. South East Water, for example, is aiming to achieve this through smart metering for business customers, alongside water efficiency audits and measures to support reductions in water use.
This is welcome given the significant number of ‘thirsty’ businesses in their area, including fruit farms and golf courses.
While it is positive that water companies have stepped up their demand management strategies in response to customer and stakeholder pressure, companies are admitting that the new targets are challenging. Meeting them will require ‘fresh thinking’ and innovative approaches and will rely heavily on the pace of government-led interventions, such as introducing water efficiency labelling on showers and toilets.
Improved positions on reducing unsustainable abstraction
Drought scenes like these will become common without proper plans to supply sufficient water
SERT, alongside many others, supported the most ambitious reductions in water abstraction, particularly from sensitive rivers and aquifers that feed rare chalk streams. We also challenged water companies to increase the pace of abstraction reductions and ensure a robust approach to prioritising them.
So, we are pleased to see that the regional water resources plan looks to deliver reductions more quickly and that further work on prioritisation will be carried out with stakeholders such as ourselves.
In Thames Water’s plan, while we are supportive of abstraction reductions in the Darent valley, we would like to see abstraction reductions in the upper Darent advanced more quickly – this river has been over-abstracted for decades. In the Hogsmill, an over-abstracted chalk stream in south east London, SES Water and Thames Water have been undertaking investigations to establish the effect of abstraction reductions on stream flow.
It is clear there would be a flow benefit of reducing abstraction from the Hogsmill, and we welcome Thames Water’s proposal to reduce abstraction by 10.2 megalitres per day. We urge that this is implemented as soon as possible. We recognise that the shortfall in supply needs to be met but hope that the companies will consider the extra water that would be delivered to London via the Hogsmill itself if flows were increased.
Water supply schemes – big projects going ahead, but…
Improving the size or reservoirs or building more is one solution to water management
While curbing leakage and encouraging wise use of water will be crucial for addressing our water scarcity challenge, the deficit cannot be met entirely with these ‘demand measures’ – water supply solutions will also be needed.
For this reason, we are supportive of reservoir schemes being progressed in the next water company business plans. These include South East Water’s Broad Oak reservoir in Kent and extending Arlington reservoir in Sussex – provided that they are built on the basis of beneficial or negligible impacts to local freshwater habitats.
The long-proposed reservoir near Abingdon in Oxfordshire (Thames Water) is also being progressed, at the larger size of 150 million cubic meters. Despite local opposition, many customers and stakeholders recognise its importance in securing the south east’s water supplies for future generations. From SERT’s perspective, it will also facilitate reducing unsustainable abstraction from sensitive freshwater habitats such as chalk stream headwaters.
We do have concerns about some of the other water resources schemes being proposed, including the Teddington Direct River Abstraction on the Thames, where there are still questions about the impact on the river ecology.
Thames Water insists that the scheme meets the ‘required level of protection set out by the Environment Agency’ and say that the company is conducting more detailed studies and working with the community to understand and address concerns.
Value of nature-based solutions has been recognised
Nature-based solutions help retain water in the landscape for longer and increase biodiversity
Catchment and nature-based solutions are approaches that work with the landscape to retain more water in soils and wetlands.
They allow rainwater to infiltrate into soils and aquifers, replenishing water sources rather than rainwater rushing off the land to cause pollution and flooding.
These approaches offer additional benefits, including increasing habitat for wildlife and carbon sequestration, as well as better value compared to ‘grey’, engineered solutions such as storage tanks and drains.
Encouragingly, after the draft WRMPs only contained one such catchment scheme between them – which was hugely disappointing – last-minute changes to guidance enabled 73 schemes across 24 catchments to be entered into the revised plans.
We welcome the existence of Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs) for the first time.
The targets in the individual DWMPs from each company reflect what has been set out in the Government’s Storm (sewage) Overflow Reduction Plan and in the Defra Plan for Water, published in April this year.
The Government’s plans – if met – mean that 52% of such sewage overflows would be improved by 2040 and all by 2050.
We feel these timelines are too slow. We want cleaner rivers to enjoy now, not in 25 years.
These timelines are also off track to achieve the Water Framework Directive, which requires all rivers to reach Good Ecological Status by 2027 – sewage overflows currently account for 12% of rivers not achieving Good Ecological Status.
We welcome the accelerated rate of tackling sewage overflows in the Thames Water DWMP – with 51% of overflows being improved by 2035. The plan also includes upgrades to 30 sewage treatment works across the Thames Valley by 2030, and the investigation of options for a new sewage treatment plant in the London area.
Southern Water’s DWMP will reduce the use of all their 979 sewer overflows to less than 10 times per year, but only by 2050. However, by 2030 they have committed to reducing the number of spills from sewer overflows by 80%. They say they will start by tackling the overflows that release close to high priority sites, such as shellfish waters, between 2025 and 2030, and bathing sites by 2035.
We welcome the drive in the DWMPs towards nature-based solutions. Southern Water is prioritising the use of these solutions over ‘grey’, engineered solutions to address sewer overflows. There are wildlife, amenity and carbon benefits to these approaches, as well as cost savings: Thames Water says that its plan, which also prioritises nature-based solutions, is two-thirds the cost of a ‘grey-only’ plan.
Verdict
Overall, while we still think some elements of the plans could be fast-tracked, we welcome the increase in ambition since the draft plans.
The business plans amount to £96 billion of investment across England, which is desperately needed to keep our rivers clean and flowing and to ensure plentiful water supplies.
It’s important that customer money is used transparently, responsibly and cost effectively. This is why we urge water companies and government to prioritise nature-based solutions, which offer good value for money, as well as improved resilience to floods and droughts – and benefits for nature.
These should be delivered in partnership with local environmental NGOs that have the expertise and local connection to rivers.
What YOU can still do
Water companies have to demonstrate customer support for their business plans. To enhance and maintain the environmental ambition of these plans in the face of government push back, it’s important that you, as water customers, make your voice heard.
The five-year Business Plans were sent to Ofwat on 2nd October.
Here are the links to the 2025-2030 plan for the five companies in SERT’s area.
The health of the UK’s rivers is increasingly at the forefront of the public consciousness. It is therefore vital that organisations working to protect and restore our rivers communicate openly and effectively with the public through innovative channels. It is also vital that all organisations working on a river network combine their efforts in a collective approach. What happens upstream affects the downstream.
We are delighted to launch the latest in our series of catchment ArcGIS Storymaps, on behalf of the wider River Mole catchment partnership. This partnership brings together about 45 organisations and individuals who are committed to protecting and enhancing the health of the watercourses across the entire river network. The South East Rivers Trust (SERT) co-hosts the partnership with the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
Through the River Mole Storymap anyone interested in the multiple threats to the river’s health, and the activities of the Catchment Partnership which aim to mitigate those threats, will be able to access detailed information, beautifully mapped for context and understanding.
Below, Dr Lewis Campbell, the Catchment Manager, provides a brief introduction to the Mole catchment, and highlights the work some of the organisations involved in its care and restoration.
Clay and chalk bring different issues
The River Mole at Leatherhead
The catchment of the River Mole covers an area of just over 500km², spread across Surrey and West Sussex. The catchment is largely rural pasture and farmland, but is home to some significant urban areas including Crawley, Reigate, Dorking, and Leatherhead.
The catchment’s main watercourse, the River Mole, rises to the west of the town of Crawley, before flowing for 80km until it joins the River Thames opposite Hampton Court Palace.
Differences in the natural characteristics of the catchment in its upper and lower reaches provide a division into two sub-catchments. The area from the town of Leatherhead down to the confluence with the Thames forms the Lower Mole and Rythe sub-catchment, whereas the area above Leatherhead forms the Upper Mole sub-catchment.
Across its watercourse, the River Mole is joined by numerous tributaries, including the Gatwick Stream, Tilgate Brook, and Baldhorns Brook, to name a few. Although the river largely flows over clay, it carves out spectacular cliffs in the chalk bedrock in the area between Leatherhead and Dorking, also known as the Mole gap.
Challenges include pollution, weirs, flood and drought
A weir at Tilgate is one of many barriers to fish passing along the river
The water bodies that make up the Mole catchment vary in their Water Framework Directive (WFD) classification status from Moderate to Poor, and this reflects the numerous and varied challenges facing the catchment.
The major issue impacting the catchment at large is pollution from waste water sources. The catchment is home to several relatively large towns, so there are a number of sewage treatment facilities present which discharge treated effluent directly into the river, and occasionally also untreated sewage in times of higher than usual rainfall.
The Storymap allows residents to see Thames Water’s live sewage release data. These discharges carry with them excessive nutrients, such as phosphates and nitrates and micro-organisms, which can have a negative impact on the quality of the habitat available for aquatic life such as fish and plants.
The catchment runs primarily over clay. Couple this with the relatively large urban areas and the presence of the UK’s second largest airport (Gatwick) and rain that falls on the catchment very quickly makes its way into the water course, directly from hard surfaces such as roads and runways, or from fields.
This run-off carries with it numerous chemicals and other pollutants which can also degrade the quality of the river habitats available for wildlife. In rural areas, run-off will also carry significant amounts of soil and sediments from fields which can clog up the valuable gravel areas in which aquatic invertebrates like to reside, reducing the food availability for larger organisms such as fish.
Another issue is that fish are also negatively affected by the numerous barriers within the catchment. These barriers are often types of weir – solid structures placed into rivers to alter their level and flow. These physically stop fish from navigating the full extent of the water course. This prevents them from accessing the variety of habitat types that they require to thrive, something particularly harmful to those species such as salmonids and the critically endangered European eel which have complex life cycles that involve migration to and from the ocean.
Parts of the River Mole are prone to low flows
Interestingly, the catchment is prone to both flooding and problematic low flows. Many of the catchment’s waterways have been historically altered to make them more navigable, or to make way for development. This often involves straightening and re-enforcing the river channels, which disconnects the river from their adjacent flood plain.
Disconnection from the flood plain means that during periods of heavy rainfall the water which quickly runs over the catchments clay and concrete into the rivers has no way of escaping the channels, resulting in excessively high water levels and flooding. Conversely, in times of low rainfall, connected flood plains can retain water which slowly makes its way into the watercourses, maintaining flow. A lack of connected floodplains in the catchment means that the Mole and its tributaries often experience low flows during the height of summer, again negatively impacting aquatic life.
Water quality work under way
As the climate becomes more unpredictable it is likely that these issues will occur more frequently or with increased severity. Fortunately, there are steps that we can take to try to avoid this situation, or help the catchment cope.
Partnership members work either individually or together on projects to improve the catchment, but meet on a regular basis to share expertise and experience. The idea is that by working together, groups can pull their knowledge and resources together and agree actions that are right for the whole river (a holistic approach) rather than act in isolation on small sections.
One of the partners, the River Mole River Watch, which is spearheading catchment wide water quality monitoring efforts through their network of volunteers. This initiative will allow the partnership to identify locations which are being particularly impacted by pollution and poor water quality. Armed with this knowledge, catchment partners will then be able to design and implement measures to prevent pollution, or reduce its impact.
Learn more about our eels project and Crawley focus
European eel image Photo by Darryl Clifton-Day
SERT also works with communities and landowners to identify ways to reduce run-off pollution in urban and rural environments, such as changes in land management practices.
Where reduction of pollution is not possible, SERT is involved in projects to improve river habitat, create backwater refuges and remove barriers so that fish and other aquatic organisms can move into less polluted areas. SERT is also leading on projects to reconnect the waterways of the Mole catchment with their flood plains, providing natural flood management and low flow resilience.
Our work at SERT on the Mole already, among many listed on the Storymap, has included a project to promote and help the critically endangered European eel. During the Thames Catchment Community Eels project – part of wider work on several rivers across the south east – we found twice the number of barriers to eel migration, such as weirs, as had been recorded previously. We also ran workshops and assemblies for 1,136 children and put on other public education sessions, to highlight how this species of fish needs to be able to reach the ocean to complete its life cycle.
We are currently working up our Caring for Crawley’s Rivers project, which will combine river restoration with community engagement such as education in schools and with other groups.
With our newly launched catchment Storymap, you can take a deeper dive into River Mole catchment and the actions that our catchment partners are taking to protect it. You can also find information on opportunities for you to get involved.
Visit our River Mole Storymap, find out about the work to protect and enhance the river and how to get involved!
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a Catchment Officer? What is it exactly they do? The South East Rivers Trust’s catchment officer for the Loddon River catchment, Lou Sykes, takes us through a typical week; from admin tasks to going out and assessing the state of sections of rivers with partners, to plan improvements.
Lou says: “My job in its simplest form? I host Catchment Partnerships, meaning I chair meetings of different stakeholders with a geographical common interest in a particular collection of rivers which make up one named network. In my case, one of these is the River Loddon and another the Cuckmere & Pevensey Levels.
“The external partners in a partnership could be water companies, the Environment Agency and Natural England, environmental NGOs, community flood groups, local councils, fishing groups. All of them have an interest in improving the health of the river. Collectively, we want to improve and maintain the health of the river network as a whole, not just treat sections in isolation.
“As detailed on our Catchment Partnerships page, this method is guided by the national Catchment Based Approach (CaBA). Every catchment partnership is different, and this is why they work so well: you can tailor them to your patch and work on the specific needs of that river system.”
Monday
Typically, this is a working from home day. I start with a morning catch up with the Science and Partnerships team before going through my emails. I complete admin tasks such as writing minutes from a Catchment Partnership meeting I hosted recently, then send off a few emails for events and activities planned for later in the week.
Tuesday
Assessing water quality on the River Lyde
Today I was involved producing a statement piece that provides a holistic view on the water quality of the river.
This included information gathering on legal and illegal discharges into rivers, drinking water standard breaches and citizen scientist data collection.
We have been working with local MPs who have a keen interest in their local river and want to work with citizen scientists – members of the public who volunteer for tasks in their spare time.
Through them we want to understand the current state of the water quality and investigate ways that we can monitor and make improvements.
Wednesday
Meeting the catchment partnership members out on site
Catchment Partnership meeting day! These happen quarterly and it was exciting to have our first one in-person, post-COVID. Typically, our meetings have themes – this one focused on looking at emerging water company plans as they go through their next phase of business planning for both their Water Industry National Environment Programme (known as WINEPs) and their Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs).
Other topics at meetings can vary from looking at biodiversity and wildlife (both native and invasive species) to investigating ideas for tearing up a weir that is acting as a barrier to fish who need to move between different sections of river to find the best feeding and breeding grounds.
By engaging many different parties in this collaborative format, we are providing the opportunity for community groups, government bodies and water companies to come together and form common goals to help rivers thrive. This is particularly important as it allows us to look at the area in a ‘big picture’ format because in every river system, what happens upstream impacts the downstream area.
Thursday
Thursday was spent exploring funding for a potential backwater
This was a strategic day of investigating new funding opportunities that could be available for research, project development and delivery – the on-the-ground restoration work that will improve rivers for wildlife and as places people can enjoy. Being a project-funded organisation means we are constantly looking for funding opportunities. We might be looking to “rewiggle” – or remeander – a straightened river. We might want to help fish connect to different parts of a river network by removing man-made, historical objects such as weirs, as we have done at Acacia Hall, Dartford, or by installing eel or fish passes, like we have done further along the Darent. We might be wanting to look to create backwaters to increase biodiversity and mitigate against potential flooding. For one such example, read about Charvil Meadows, on our Loddon Storymap (in the “Action plan” section under “case studies”).
All this work requires funding, and the co-operation of landowners and other interested groups to make it happen, so the over-riding strategy has to look at prioritisation to improve the whole catchment. On this particular week, I also got out to meet and continue to develop a relationship with one of the key stakeholders on my patch. These meetings are some of the most vital parts of my job. Time and resource in every environmental job is a stretch and collaborative working is the key to keeping everything on track.
I finished off the day with a catch up of our Catchment Officers team at SERT. We are constantly evolving and working out ways that we can work more efficiently, working together so that we are not reinventing the wheel every time something new crops up.
Friday
A large part of my job also involves putting on a pair of wellies, getting out on site and identifying opportunities in the catchment for improving stretches of river or their surrounding land.
A scene from the Lyde tributary
On this particular Friday, I walked three miles up the River Lyde – one of the tributaries of the River Loddon – with members of a local fishing club. They were looking at how they could possibly manage the river for both their fishing club members and to keep the waterway as healthy as possible. This stretch of river is a chalk stream, so we would like the water to be clear, with clean gravel, plenty of underwater plants and a decent buffer of green on the banks. Chalk streams are globally rare habitat with only about 200 of them left in the world, 160 of which are in the UK.
Pleasingly on this day, on this river, a healthy amount of aquatic plant growth was evident and there was a good amount of shade and light getting to the channel. However, it could do with some habitat or restoration work to help mitigate erosions on some stretches.
Not every week looks exactly like this, but this is an average one. There will be weeks where there is more home working, the odd day in our HQ office in Leatherhead in Surrey, or you could end up hosting a week of volunteer events that put you in a pair of waders all week, such as during Loddon Rivers Week held annually in September.
This is the beauty of being a catchment officer or manager – it’s varied nature keeps you on your toes and gives very little opportunity for burn out from doing the same thing over and over again.
To paraphrase Monty Python’s Life of Brian, what have sea trout ever done for us? They haven’t built any aqueducts, roads or made any wine…. but scientific research has demonstrated just how important they are in maintaining freshwater resident brown trout populations.
Enabling migratory sea trout to return to their spawning areas is just one reason freshwater conservationists work to improve fish passage and the ecological connectivity of rivers.
The South East Rivers Trust’s head of Science and Partnerships, Dr Chris Gardner, illustrates below an example of the trout to underline the importance of overcoming barriers to fish migration.
The South East Rivers Trust has launched a Chalk Streams Review, to ensure that all rivers and streams which qualify across our catchments are identified and mapped. Dr Chris Gardner, our Head of Science and Partnerships, sets out the plan and how the public can help.
The recent and prolonged dry spell has brought water scarcity in the UK into sharp focus. Several water companies in the south of England have triggered restrictions, including hosepipe bans.
On 12th August the Environment Agency declared drought in eight out of 14 water areas. Unfortunately, this is likely to be the future. We can’t just pray for rain. We need to regenerate river catchments and plan for the climate crisis.
Robyn Shaw, Assistant Education and Engagement Officer at the South East Rivers Trust, looks at the factors around water scarcity and introduces our Water Saving Tips page, which emphasises that the issue is one we must all take responsibility for and think about all year round.
The South East Rivers Trust has been tackling pollution in rivers ever since it was formed – as the Wandle Trust – 20 years ago.
Becoming involved with the Preventing Plastic Pollution project, on the River Medway, seemed a natural step. Plastic pollution affects all rivers, however. Therefore we want to develop our work beyond one area by engaging with a wider public as well as including the issue in our catchment action plans.
A year’s worth of cleanups give us the perfect evidence to shape behaviour change across our whole area – and the annual Plastic Free July campaign presents an appropriate moment to raise awareness of the issues and strive to change our habits. Set up in 2011, the annual campaign aims to help people reduce their reliance on single-use plastic and live by more sustainable methods. Below, we’ve come up with several suggestions for you to try in July – and hopefully continue with well after one month.
Bringing landowners together through a series of workshops and site visits has opened inspiring conversations about what the future of nature-based solutions at catchment scale could look like.
Kathi Bauer, our Natural Capital Co-ordinator, writes an update on the South East Rivers Trust’s work on a national trial, funded by DEFRA, for the new agricultural subsidies programme – Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS).
The South East Rivers Trust is using satellite image processing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to target measures to improve soil management and water quality, writes Dr Alastair Pearson, one of our GIS analysts.
Methods of soil management include the introduction of cover crops to promote better nutrient balance and soil structure, improve weed control and biodiversity, and the reduction of erosion.
The Hogsmill Community Newsletter summarises the results of River Monitoring Initiative (RMI) sampling on the Hogsmill, together with other pollution monitoring and river-related activities and events.
The RMI is a national scheme for monitoring the health of rivers. Volunteers undertake regular surveys using a standard net sampling technique to count the number of certain “water quality sensitive” invertebrates.
An overall “score” is then calculated. A sharp fall or a drop below a “trigger” level could indicate pollution. This can then be reported to the Environment Agency (EA) to enable further investigation.
Raw sewage is entering UK rivers on a horrifyingly regular basis, damaging our river ecosystems and putting public health at risk. In 2019 alone, untreated sewage poured into England’s rivers for an astounding 1.5 million hours, over the course of 200,000 separate incidents.
What’s really shocking is that, much of the time, this practice is completely legal.
Across the UK is a network of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). These are essentially Victorian-era relief valves on the sewage treatment infrastructure. If sewage piping, or even a sewage treatment works, is becoming overwhelmed with sewage and rainwater, it is diverted and discharged into a nearby watercourse instead of backing up into homes.
By 2050, the South East of England will need to find at least an additional one billion litres of water per day to meet demand in the region. That is about a fifth of the water used in the region today, and equivalent to the water use of seven million people per day. Demand for water will exceed supply by 2030.
This is because of a combination of different factors. Some of it is because of the expected growth in population (even if personal water consumption is reduced). Some because water companies are trying to ensure that they have enough water available to continue supply even during more significant drought periods.
Finally, climate change will affect when water is available, and how much. Unsustainable abstractions need to be reduced in order to avoid our rivers and wetlands being damaged beyond repair.
Earthworms are probably not the first iconic species you think of in the context of river health. It’s easy to laugh at the notion that the wriggly pink strings that hide underneath your compost bin are a key part of a functioning hydrological system – and yet they, and the soil they live in, are.
Soil stores, purifies, retains and drains water – regulating its flow to groundwater bodies and rivers alike, and playing a key role in water quality by taking up nutrients or releasing sediment. Like any ecosystem, soil relies on a complex network of interactions between organisms of all sizes, as well as physical and chemical processes, and much more, but earthworms in particular tell us a lot about how our soil is functioning and in turn influence how it behaves.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, there are still an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 UK homes with misconnected drains. Dodgy pipework or old houses with out of date plumbing can cause wastewater to end up in our rivers and seas, creating serious problems for wildlife. So what are drain misconnections, what causes them and how do they affect our environment?
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Much of our drinking water is abstracted from rivers, supplementing what is stored in reservoirs to supply the needs of our homes and businesses.
