THE RIVERS RUN WIDE

We’ve all read about it in the news: how our rivers are polluted and failing both us and the vast number of plants and animals that depend on rivers for their very existence. In 2020, the Environment Agency showed that there is not a single English river that has achieved a good chemical status. These problems are caused by urban, agricultural and industrial pollution, sewage, degraded riversides, manmade structures, river redirection and the changing weather.

A great deal of this is due to under-investment by water companies. But the pollution comes from all over: not just car exhaust but the washing of tyre particulates off the road and into the water supply. Electric cars offer some improvement because they require less braking, but it was a sobering thought that just driving down the road can spoil our water.

Two fantastic presentations, by Paige Gallagher of the Bristol and Avon River Trust (BART) explained it all in detail—and with local examples. Who knew that in 2024 the sewer storm overflow in Terrace Wood discharged sewage into Wellow Brook for 180.10 hours?

BART river detectives take monthly samples to see how we’re doing and the Angler’s Riverfly Monitors enlist keen anglers to collect current and accurate information. It’s pretty wonderful to hear how many citizen scientists, river detectives and water guardians are keen to get in on the act of cleaning up the mess.

Everyone can help. Here were some of Paige’s tips:

Check your home for sewer and drainage misconnections.
Don’t pour paint, chemicals or oils down the drain.
Choose eco-friendly detergents and cleaning products.
Get involved: volunteer@bristolavonriverstrust.org

Paige was terrific in getting young and old alike straight to work: testing the water samples alive with bugs and testing for phosphates. It wasn’t hard and it was fun, knowing how much can be done so easily.

Links

Register to be a River Detective
Become a water guardian
Carry out riverfly monitoring

Paige’s second presentation looked at threats of flooding. This has become worse as climate change produces more extreme weather: hotter and drier, colder and wetter. But there are a lot of small things that are contributing to the problem too. Football pitches get compacted and can’t drain easily. The proliferation of Himalayan balsam is lovely but they have such shallow roots they don’t hold the soil together. More roads and more traffic. But BART is on this case too. Creating leaky dams to slow the flow of rivers helps; it’s when the flow is too fast that floods occur. Creating wetlands to store more water helps too; that’s what BART is doing in Pensford. Putting woody berms (big beds of branches) into rivers can slow the flow too. A small weir in Wellow Brook was recently removed, to improve conditions for fish and to stop torrential rainfall from destroying the terrain.

We’re lucky because we don’t live in a flood zone. But that doesn’t mean we won’t ever experience either highly localized flooding or being cut off by floods between us and neighbouring villages. What matters here is having lots of land to soak up water—and we lose more of that every time we pave over gardens. Paige’s advice for homeowners who want to turn their front gardens into parking space was to try to plant bedding areas around the parking area and use gravel, not tarmac. Or you can seed grass between paving stones to help water drain away.

RAIN GARDENS

Have you ever heard of a Rain Garden?

They’re in car parks these days and could be in your garden too.

A rain garden is just a shallow bed specifically designed to capture, absorb, and filter rainwater runoff from impervious surfaces like rooftops, driveways, and patios. It is a form of sustainable drainage that mimics the natural water cycle, allowing water to soak into the ground rather than flow into storm drains. Unlike a pond or a bog garden, a rain garden is designed to hold water only temporarily, typically draining completely within 12 to 48 hours after a rainfall event, which prevents mosquito breeding.

There’s a lot we all can do and watching young and old alike play with Paige’s LEGO models of houses and watching how water flows safely (or not) wasn’t just educational; it was fun!

Thanks to BART for sending Paige and thanks to Paige for giving up her Sunday to Farrington Gurney!

When it comes to water and rivers, we are also lucky to have a local expert. Dave Bury had a table full of information on local rivers, their quality and challenges. That we have so much local expertise is just one of the great things about living in Farrington Gurney—so if you have any more questions about water and rivers, Dave’s your man!

THE RIVERS RUN WIDE

Links

RAIN GARDENS

Next time: Everything apple

FARRINGTON GREEN

green.farrington@gmail.com