17-Aug-2006
- A number of west country streams and rivers
have improved in quality over the past five years
according to an Environment Agency report published
today.
The Agency’s 2005 river biology
survey shows that 72% of rivers in England and
Wales, or 27,700 km, are in good condition. This
is up from 69% in 2000. This survey is a key indicator
of environmental health and is based on the range
of insects and creatures such as shrimps and snails
that live on river beds.
Some 68% of rivers, or 27,500km,
have a chemistry rating of ‘good’, which measures
ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand and dissolved
oxygen. This is the same as in 2000.
More species that can only live
in clean rivers, such as caddis-flies and mayflies,
have been found in many parts of the country over
the past five years. These insects are important
as food for fish.
West country rivers recording
the biggest improvements include the River Axe
in East Devon where the stretch between Oathill
Farm and Bow Bridge has increased from Grade C
in 2000 to Grade A in 2005 and the Strings Watercourse
near Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire that has gone
from Grade E to B.
Improvements have also been
recorded on the River Torridge between Fordmill
Farm and Putford Bridge (Grade C to A) and the
Nunnery and Mells watercourse in the Mendips,
Somerset. In Cornwall improvements on the Fal
and Gwindra have seen salmon spawning again on
both rivers for the first time in a number of
years.
In South Wessex there has been
a decline in Grade A (very good) rivers, largely
as a result of low summer flows in 2003 and 2005.
However, the reduction in streams and rivers meeting
the highest grade has been partly offset by a
long-term increase in the number of watercourses
meeting the ‘good’ quality category (Grade B).
‘There has been massive investment
by the water industry over the past five years
in addressing sewage treatment works, unsatisfactory
storm overflows and pollution control, and it
is beginning to pay off,’ said Neil Davies for
the Environment Agency.
‘Our top two indicators (chemical
and biological monitoring) show that our water
environment is improving, and there has been great
progress over the past 10 years.’
‘However, the current drought
is affecting water quality, where very low river
flows have caused oxygen levels to plummet and
increased pollution. This has left fish struggling
to breathe and insects unable to breed as they
are stranded in dried up river beds.’
More needs to be done to tackle
run-off from urban and agricultural land – known
as diffuse pollution. This is the most widespread
pollution risk across England and Wales and we
face a major challenge in addressing these to
meet new EU standards.
‘Diffuse pollution is still
a problem and measures need to be taken to tackle
it. Reducing pollution by designing and building
better drainage for housing and roads, treating
contaminated land and encouraging good agricultural
practices will all help improve the quality of
water.
Neil Davies said new quality
standards to be set under the EU Water Framework
Directive would define targets for future environmental
water quality across Europe and would require
more comprehensive assessment of the ecological
health of rivers.
‘The Water Framework Directive
establishes new and better ways of protecting
and improving rivers, lakes, groundwater, estuaries
and coastal waters, and sets a target to achieve
good ecological status for all rivers by 2015.
The Environment Agency's latest
General Quality Assessment of rivers in England
and Wales can be found on this website.
Note to Editors:
The River Axe improvements are
largely due to work carried out under the Axe
and Char Cycleau Project – a European Union funded
programme that aims to improve water quality on
the Axe and Char catchments.
The upgrade on the Strings Watercourse in Wiltshire
is due to capital investment by Wessex Water at
Lyneham sewage treatment works that has resulted
in an improvement in water quality.
The improvements on the Fal and Gwindra are down
to improved site management and pollution control
by the china clay industry plus fishery and habitat
improvements carried out by the Environment Agency.
About £500 million has been invested by
the water industry over the past five years in
improving sewage treatment and improvements to
sewers. Another £200 million has been spent
on phosphate removal under the Urban Waste Waters
Treatment Directive.
Biological quality is based on insect life and
other creatures such as snails, shrimps and worms
that live on the river bed. They respond to everything
in the water and to physical changes in their
habitat. They can be affected by pollutants that
occur only occasionally or in very low concentrations
that might be missed by chemical sampling. But
if they are damaged, populations can take time
to recover.
Mike Dunning
