Graham Marsden
Editor Emeritus
This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Call for Action After New Report Reveals Worrying State of UK Rivers
Call for Action After New Report Reveals Worrying State of UK Rivers
- Thread starter Graham Marsden
- Start date
MarkTheSpark
Senior Member
From the previous thread....
The biggest problem facing our rivers isn't pollution but abstraction, which is throttling them. Rivers should flood from time to time - successive and ill-advised straightening coupled with pumping schemes like those which fill Grafham and Rutland reservoirs have ensured that even when it rains, the floodwater never reaches the lower parts of the river.
The result is a Nene choked with weed and the River Welland - around which I have spend 30 years of my life - is a weed-choked, shallow ditch. No doubt other rivers are the same.
The EA needs to press government to make money available for retrospective rainwater harvesting and surface water flood abatement to reduce consumption and feed the aquifer. I can see no reason whatsoever not to make all current housing plans incorporate a 'grey water' main from harvested rainwater.
The biggest problem facing our rivers isn't pollution but abstraction, which is throttling them. Rivers should flood from time to time - successive and ill-advised straightening coupled with pumping schemes like those which fill Grafham and Rutland reservoirs have ensured that even when it rains, the floodwater never reaches the lower parts of the river.
The result is a Nene choked with weed and the River Welland - around which I have spend 30 years of my life - is a weed-choked, shallow ditch. No doubt other rivers are the same.
The EA needs to press government to make money available for retrospective rainwater harvesting and surface water flood abatement to reduce consumption and feed the aquifer. I can see no reason whatsoever not to make all current housing plans incorporate a 'grey water' main from harvested rainwater.
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
Two problems to recruitment, one that abstraction causes in that small fry are sucked into the grills and killed, the other (on the middle Thames particularly) is that the bed of the river is choked with willow weed and filamentous algae that is present throughout the year and preventing those species that like gravel to spawn on (barbel etc.) from laying their eggs. It won't be long before the only recruitment in rivers is done artificially from fish farms, but I can't see them ever keeping up unless we have two dozen or more Calvertons.
richiekelly
Well-known member
i watched this on the bbc this morning, a representative of the angling trust was interviewed but what amazed me was the EA saying that abstraction is one of the causes of low river levels, have they only just realised this, they are the ones who are supposed to control abstraction arnt they,anglers have known the bad effects of over abstraction for years but dont get listened to, money always comes first im afraid.
Jeff Woodhouse
Moaning Marlow Meldrew
That was Mark Lloyd, top man!
Trouble with the EA, you're dealing with different departments, Fisheries and Abstractions. Then there's Water Levels, Pollutions (water), Navigations, Estates, Recreation. That's before you even start dealing with land based departments like Waste Management, Mineral Extractions, Land fill, and a dozen others. It's the biggest disorganisation in the country!
Ray Roberts
Well-known member
Look on the bright side chaps, at least all that dirty water will poison the bl*ody Otters.
The bad one
Well-known member
Otters..... where's Greg?
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
There was an aricle on the news about the Chestnut Centre in Derbyshire.
It has taken in some GIANT otters - native to South America. These things grow up to 6ft in length.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.....
It has taken in some GIANT otters - native to South America. These things grow up to 6ft in length.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.....
The bad one
Well-known member
Saw it! No need to be afraid, Wildlife and Countryside Act Cites and various other regs has them covered!
But I did hear on the grapevine they were looking to do some trial releases in a captive environment somewhere in Bretton in Peterborough.
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
hahahahaha.
Even Stevie Wonder should be a ble to get a good shot (photo) of one that big with his pocket camera....
Even Stevie Wonder should be a ble to get a good shot (photo) of one that big with his pocket camera....
The bad one
Well-known member
Stevie's just phoned and said we're being unfair to him. Greg takes all his wildlife photos and then discribes the shot to him to see in his mindseye!
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
It's a good job we don't get big beavers over here then.
The bad one
Well-known member
Em I think I saw a few when when I was at Uni with Monk!
A
alan whittington
Guest
This subject was mentioned(not Greg's otters)on radio 2's Jeremy Vine show also,no talk of the release of untreated sewage during times of high water,i think a proportion of the British public would sitting over the toilet with clenched buttocks if they knew and it was raining(if it ever happens again in the south),but the rest would carry on littering and 'dumping' without a care in the world.
Interesting criticism. 10,000+ employees all covering different aspects of umpteen bits of environmental regulation and enforcement. Makes sense to me to have it split into departments that deal with each of the relevant issues.
How would you like it to be organised Woody?
geoffmaynard
Content Editor
Perhaps have yet another dept which coordinates all the others.
Greg Whitehead
Well-known member
Rivers are cleaner than they were only five years ago and yet according to the nationals our rivers are a mess. Rubbish, lazy journalism - writing stories off of press releases without doing any research.
We wrote about it months ago.
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............
We wrote about it months ago.
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............
The bad one
Well-known member
So you were coming out to play then Greg? Both me and Matt believed you'd got the hump with us. :0)
Greg in the past the EA only sampled the water quality to make a classification. The WFD now makes them do ecological assessments (not done before) and those assessments show the vast majority of rivers not in the best condition.
Hence the outrage by the 3 organisations Atrust WWF and RSPB.
Whether what was wrote by the Nt Press was lazy or not is not of great importance, what it did was move them up the political agenda and the public consciousness.
12 months ago when talking to members of the non-angling public I'd have to give a long explanation to them why the rivers were in a bad state. Since the Nt media feeding on the issue, people are starting to quote the figures back at me.
That from an angling campaigning viewpoint for change has to be a good thing!
Greg in the past the EA only sampled the water quality to make a classification. The WFD now makes them do ecological assessments (not done before) and those assessments show the vast majority of rivers not in the best condition.
Hence the outrage by the 3 organisations Atrust WWF and RSPB.
Whether what was wrote by the Nt Press was lazy or not is not of great importance, what it did was move them up the political agenda and the public consciousness.
12 months ago when talking to members of the non-angling public I'd have to give a long explanation to them why the rivers were in a bad state. Since the Nt media feeding on the issue, people are starting to quote the figures back at me.
That from an angling campaigning viewpoint for change has to be a good thing!
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