Latest news with #RiversTrust
Agriland
6 days ago
- Politics
- Agriland
Concern that gov proposal lowers protection for rivers and lakes
The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) and the Rivers Trust are raising the alarm over a government plan that would make it easier to damage hundreds of rivers, lakes, and coastal waters across the country. According to the groups, under the proposed plan protections for 466 stretches of water would be weakened by labelling them 'heavily modified water bodies'. The groups believe the label is a 'technical term' that, in practice, means they would no longer have to meet the same high standards for environmental health as other rivers and lakes. They claim this gives the green light for widespread dredging, digging, and clearance works that harm rivers, riverbanks and other wildlife habitats such as salmon pools. Both SWAN and the Rivers Trust claim that the changes would affect 10% of Ireland's waters. Rivers SWAN CEO, Sinéad O'Brien believes that the proposal is 'reckless' and that it shows 'disregard for the public'. She said: 'The government's plan to lower protections for one in 10 of our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters, without evidence or proper explanation, shows disregard for the public. 'People could be forgiven for thinking this is just a way to make our poor water quality stats look better on paper. But it's out of step with EU rules and puts wildlife like kingfishers, otters and trout at risk.' 'This must be stopped until proper assessments of possible restoration measures and of all alternative options are carried out,' she explained. The plan is part of a formal government consultation, but SWAN and the Rivers Trust say the process has been confusing, inaccessible, and difficult for communities to engage with. Both organisations are calling for the current consultation to be redesigned and reopened later when the 'required analysis' has been done, and as part of the development of the 4th Water Action Plan. The deputy director of the Rivers Trust, Dr. Constanze O'Toole said: 'The Rivers Trust has come together with SWAN because we share deep concerns about the lack of transparency and accessibility in this consultation process.' 'Environmental decisions must be based on clear data and local knowledge. Labelling rivers as 'heavily modified' has long-term consequences, so people deserve to see the evidence and understand the impact.' 'If we want strong, fair decisions about our rivers, we need open access to the facts, easier-to-understand consultations, and a real say for local communities in what happens to their water,' she added.
RTÉ News
24-04-2025
- Science
- RTÉ News
Volunteers wanted for annual survey of Irish rivers
The Rivers Trust is urging people from all over the island of Ireland to take part in their annual river survey. The Big River Watch Survey takes place from Friday 25 April to Thursday 1 May. Over that week, the trust is asking people to observe a local river, lough of stream and record their findings on their free app. The app will prompt the user to answer questions about what they can see and observe. No special knowledge is required. Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Joanna Braniff, all-Ireland advocacy and communications manager of The Rivers Trust, said that the survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. "There are loads of data gaps in river and waterbody knowledge throughout Ireland," Ms Braniff said. "We want to get a broader picture of our rivers," she added. Unlike in Britain, where there is live monitoring on many freshwater bodies, this is not the case in Ireland. The biodiversity crisis, as well as increased blue-green algae blooms and pollution incidents, means that the need for data on freshwater bodies is increasing, Ms Braniff has said. "There is a gap in the story right now and we're asking the public to step-up," Ms Braniff said. People can complete as many surveys as they like in the app in as many places along the same freshwater body or a different body. "You never step in the same river twice," Ms Braniff said. "A small pollution incident could only be visible for 15 minutes, so there is no upper limit on how many times even the one area could be surveyed." This is the third year the Big River Watch Survey is running in Ireland. The Rivers Trust is hoping for 250 data points to come from Ireland in this year's survey. Last year, there were around 200 from the island of Ireland and around 3,000 from Britain. The Big River Watch app can be downloaded on both Android and iOS. The app itself is always live so people can submit data to it year-round and all the data gathered from the survey is publicly available for anyone to use.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Humber records more than 400 sewage spills in year
Sewage was discharged into the Humber for the equivalent of more than 200 days in 2024, according to data from the Rivers Trust. The total number of sewage spills into waterways across England and Wales were down slightly from 2023, the figures showed. A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said the discharges were happening more than they would like, but said they were making progress on "reducing storm overflow activity" in the region. Water companies are allowed to spill sewage into waterways during heavy rainfall in order to prevent overflows and flooding. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the figures for sewage spills into the Humber were 474 in 2024: Hull Waste Water Treatment Works had 194 spills in 2024 lasting a total of 2,499 hours (the equivalent of 104 days) Melton works had 154 spills lasting a total of 1,868 hours (the equivalent of 78 days) North Ferriby works had 126 spills lasting a total of 669 hours (the equivalent of 28 days) Yorkshire Water said it had invested £3.4m to upgrade storm overflows in Brough and North Ferriby to reduce discharges into the River Humber. The upgrades there were part of the firm's £180m investment in the wider region. Nicola Shaw, CEO of Yorkshire Water, said: "We know overflows are operating more than we, or our customers, would like, but we're pleased to begin to show progress on reducing storm overflow activity in our region. "The reductions in discharges in 2024 resulted from both a drier year than 2023 and the hard work of our teams to deliver our £180m investment programme." In total, there were 563,730 spills across England and Wales in 2024, according to the figures from the Rivers Trust, which is an average of 1,544 a day. That figure is down slightly from 1,588 per day in 2023. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, said the figures were "disgraceful" and were as a result of years of underinvestment. "We've already placed water companies under tough special measures through the landmark Water Act, banning unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses and introducing criminal charges for lawbreakers," he said. "But we will go further and faster. That's why this government has secured over £100bn of private sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure and not only clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good, but also help deliver economic growth across the country as part of our Plan for Change." Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Water works upgrade to reduce storm sewage spills Water firm announces investment to cut discharges Sewage discharges spark coastal pollution alerts Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
11-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Stockton river work aims to boost wildlife
Work has begun to improve a stream to encourage more wildlife and migrating fish to return to the Beck in Stockton, Teesside, has been heavily modified over the years, resulting in the loss of habitats and restricting fish Rivers Trust chief executive Ben Lamb said on the surface it seemed "devoid of life" but actually contained shrimp, the endangered European eel, otters, kingfishers and water Environment Agency (EA) said it hoped the work would encourage nature to flourish. The project is part of the £30m Tees Tidelands Programme, which aims to help the River Tees estuaries and tributaries adapt to climate change and improve habitats. The work will span just under a mile (1.5km) of the river and includes lowering embankments to connect the beck to riverside ponds. Mr Lamb said: "There is a huge amount of work to be done to improve the beck and this project will create more habitat and flow diversity within the channel which will provide more opportunity for a range of species to thrive."Shallow dips, called scrapes, will also be created to collect water and provide habitats for wildlife such as wading organisation's project executive Paul Eckersley said the work would "bring a welcome boost to biodiversity in the heart of Stockton after decades of modification". Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Floating islands built in Middlesbrough dock as wildlife habitats
Floating islands have been installed in a dock to provide new habitats for three artificial islands have been created in Middlehaven Dock in Middlesbrough, where few natural habitats platforms have been pre-seeded with native plants and it is hoped they will provide a haven for insects, birds, molluscs and Rivers Trust CEO Ben Lamb said the scheme would provide a "great new habitat for animals and plants in, on and around the river to colonise". The islands have been built from modular units that can be configured into different have a total surface area of 600sq ft (180sq m) and it is hoped they will provide shelter for juvenile and migrating rivers trust is also planning to install artificial rock pools along the walls of the dock to create even more places for wildlife to thrive. The project was designed in partnership with the Environment Agency (EA), Middlesbrough Development Corporation, Middlesbrough Council and BP. EA project manager Liz Walters said creating artificial habitats was an "innovative solution which provides an opportunity for nature to thrive"."This work is a great example of local partners joining forces to bring shelter and food for fish and wildlife and support improvements to water quality and biodiversity," she said. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
