Water and the Environment

Environmental Relationships and Issues-

Dear Mr. Tredinick,

I am writing to you as I am disgusted at the state of the rivers in the countryside, I am sure you are unaware of these issues as no action has been taken to try to solve this problem

Here are a few cases of the very many rivers which have suffered:

Site - River Kennet

Problem

Low flows caused by Water Company licensed abstractions. Taking water could lead to the river drying up, killing wildlife such as Water Crowfoot and the Desmoulin Whorl Snail. Low water levels could also prevent vegetation on banks of rivers not to grow.

Solution

This problem could be resolved by monitoring and limiting the amount of water being abstracted from this river. You could also make a change in the contract with the Water Company by limiting the amount of water taken in the summer so the river doesn’t dry up, you could also keep extra water in storage in the winter so you don’t need to abstract in the summer.

Monitoring & limiting water abstraction and buying storage containers would mean hiring new staff or buying new technology, either way money would have to be spent, this means that water rates would have to be increased. The public would have to decide what they wanted, increased rates or things leaving the same. Though a recent poll done by English Nature shows that 95% of customers wouldn’t mind an increase if the money were spent on the environment.

Changing the contract with the Water Company could be tough and the Water Company may not want to cooperate, therefore you would have to wait until the contract expired. Showing them the problems with water abstractions could be helpful as they would want to prevent the river from drying up, as it is in there interests as well as the publics.

Lots of people are affected by water abstraction including:

Farmers, If a river was running next to a farmers land he would more than likely have a pump, used to irrigate land, if the river dried ...

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Lots of people are affected by water abstraction including:

Farmers, If a river was running next to a farmers land he would more than likely have a pump, used to irrigate land, if the river dried out then he would have to get another source of water to irrigate his land causing inconvenience and expense.
Public/wildlife lovers/conservationists, these people would all be affected as they would miss the scenic views and the atmosphere would be lost as there would be no wildlife. The river would completely lose its character.
Anglers, this would ruin their chance of any fishing at all, therefore this would be of no use to local anglers any more.
Business people, if there is a certain tourist attraction on the river such as an SSSI then the river drying out could ruin some businesses, and tourism would suffer.

A meeting could be held in a village hall or other meeting place for all people suffering to discuss matters further.

Site - River Eye

Problem

Water companies disposing factory and public sewage, these contain phosphates. (These phosphates cause algae growth). These phosphates build up in rivers and lakes, which can lead to ‘eutrophication’. This is where algae force flowering plants out. In some severe cases all aquatic wildlife disappears.

Solution

Get special equipment to remove any phosphate from the sewage works so the phosphate separates before it reaches the river.

Equipment can be expensive and again the question would have to be raised increase prices or not. If the equipment is installed then if it for instance leaks oil, it could cause a huge threat to wildlife on the river. Using the equipment which separates phosphates from the sewage, the phosphates could be pumped back into rivers with slower developing flowering rates, you could call it ‘reverse eutrophication’.

This issue could cause conflict with:

Conservationists and other environment protection groups with wildlife such as the white-legged damselfly and the flowering rush at risk.
Anglers would again suffer from this as Aquatic life could be destroyed.
Canoeists and other leisure users, the extensive amount of algae is a potential danger to these people if they swallow the water or get stuck in some algae if they capsize.

Site – Pevensey Levels

Problem

Abstraction and eutrophication (for more info see River Kennet). In dry summers water companies can take up to 10% of the rivers total flow. Flooding of area.

Solution

Don’t let the river fall below the 1.75m O.D, the Minimum Residual Flow (MDF). And if abstraction needs to take place when the river is at this level then you could only take water if the Water Company further augments the flow of the river upstream. Using special equipment, which can be installed at the water works, eutrophication could be stopped. This would separate any phosphates from the water (for more info See River Kennet). Flooding could be prevented by special drainage systems being put in.

Monitoring would have to be precise and staff and equipment would need to be bought. The equipment/machinery could break down causing the river to be exposed to phosphates again, also the machinery would take a while to install, it might already be too late by the time the machinery is installed and the wildlife may have dissappeared.

People affected:

Bird watchers/lovers, The RSPB reported that the amount of birds around the Pevensey levels had dropped dramatically due to the intense flooding.
Public/conservationists/wildlife lovers. If eutrophication continues wildlife such as the silver beetle and the fen raft spider could disappear causing great distress to wildlife lovers.
NFU and Farmers, the flooded land leaves farmers with not as much land as they would like for grazing animals and the water is sometimes too deep for arable farming.

I hope you have took all of these issues into consideration, Mr. Tredinick and that some action can be taken in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Iliffe