Rivers and streams are the most intensively used semi-natural habitats in the UK. They convey floodwaters; accept discharges from roads, sewage treatment works and industry; provide water for human consumption, agricultural and industrial use; and are used as a recreational resource for popular activities such as angling, boating and walking. They have shaped our landscape and provided the main source of power for industry in the past; they support important archaeological remains and industrial heritage features.

The South West has at least 40,000 km of the most diverse river types in the UK. Amongst these are included an amazing variety of watercourses and river-dependent habitats such as backwaters and oxbows; chalk rivers and winterbournes; tufa springs and spring-fed mires as well as artificial channels, such as rhynes and ditches.

The folowing table lists important examples of rivers and streams in the region.

Wildlife

The following are examples of species that depend on rivers and streams, some of which are of conservation concern:

Problems that face the region's rivers are essentially the same as face most other wetlands. Uppermost is the general decline in water quality that affects all wildlife in the complex food web that comprises watercourses.This decline in water quality is due largely to industrial and agricultural pollution.

Alongside this, groundwater and surface-water abstractions (i.e. taking water from rivers and beneath the ground, mainly for agricultural use) have significantly reduced flows in certain rivers in the region, eg Malmesbury Avon, Kennet, Wylye, and Piddle. Low flows also lead to fish spawning gravels filling with silt and thus becoming unsuitable for laying eggs, reducing fish populations.

And away from the water, inappropriate development and activities along the banks of our rivers also cause problems for wildlife.

Six of our region’s rivers have been given special protection by being declared Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and many other rivers come under other similar protection.

The Environment Agency has statutory powers over activities affecting rivers and their floodplains through Land Drainage consents, Drought Orders, and the issuing of licences to abstract and discharge. Beyond this there are several other Agency initiatives to protect our rivers, including the production of special plans, eg Regional Water Resources Strategy, Statutory Water Quality Objectives and Local Environment Action Plans.

Also all Local Authorities have a statutory duty to have policies which encourage the management of rivers and are including policies in local plans which recognise the importance of rivers and their floodplains to the whole community.

There are several river restoration projects within the region, including the Bristol Frome Action Plan, the Tone Action Plan and the Brinkworth Brook restoration project.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF) is also working to encourage the better management of land next to rivers through special payment schemes to farmers. Restoration and management of water meadows is a principal target in the Salisbury Avon Valley Environmnentally Sensitive Area (ESA).

Rivers are of immense value to, and should be valued by, the whole community. Given the complexity of the issues affecting rivers and streams, and the number of organisations and individuals potentially involved with their conservation and enhancement, there is a real need for groups to work together to better protect our precious rivers and their wildlife.