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PRESS RELEASE - 17 March 2011

Issued by RSPB, WWF-UK, the Angling Trust and the Salmon and Trout Association

Consumer water demand is putting Berkshire’s river wildlife at risk

Conservationists and anglers are calling on the Government to take action on the one third of rivers in England and Wales that are threatened by household water demand.

The Government’s upcoming Water White Paper will set out reforms to the water industry. The Our Rivers campaign is urging ministers to seize this opportunity to tackle the issue of over-abstraction for domestic water consumption , which is threatening wildlife across England and Wales by causing low-flowing waterways and dry riverbeds.

The River Kennet, a chalk river that flows through Berkshire and enters the River Thames at Reading, is one of the worst affected in the UK.

Despite receiving some legal protection due to its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the river still suffers greatly from abstraction to meet water demand in Berkshire and other neighbouring counties. In dry summers, this can leave some stretches of the river completely dried up, severely impacting fish and other river wildlife.

Berkshire’s own Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) sets out phased plans to bring chalk rivers such as the River Kennet up to good ecological conditions by 2016. This is expected to benefit a range of wildlife such as Kingfishers, Water Voles, Brown Trout, Brilliant Emerald dragonflies and Great Crested Newts. But success will depend upon there being adequate flow in these rivers.

Steve Gilbert of the RSPB South East said: “Achieving good ecological conditions in Berkshire’s chalk rivers will depend upon a number of measures, one of which is to reduce water abstraction to restore some of the river’s natural flow.

“Water taken from the River Kennet is consumed in a vast number of households, with demand clearly outstripping supply at some times of year, and this problem will only get worse as demand increases.

“The Our Rivers campaign isn’t about blaming one company or user group, but calling on the Government to act quickly on the results of its own research and tackle the issue head-on. It has already identified 148 rivers where over-abstraction is damaging rivers and the wildlife they support, but there has been no action to reduce the amount of water taken.

“The Water White Paper must signal to water companies that it expects solutions to be included in the next round of company business plans.”

The current system of abstraction licensing is outdated, campaigners say. The forthcoming White Paper must set out a clear timetable and strategy for how damaging abstraction will be reduced. More must also be done to reduce the amount of water taken from the natural environment by encouraging greater water efficiency through universal metering and fixing our leaking network of water pipes.

Our Rivers supporters will be taking part in a letter writing campaign to urge environment minister Richard Benyon to set out a clear timetable to restore river flows and end unsustainable levels of abstraction in England and Wales by 2020. The Campaign is also calling for more action to tackle agricultural pollution at its source rather than at treatment works.