What is Water Action?
Water Action is a where local case studies, identified from our own evidence base, are used to shape and enforce water policies to improve the condition of our waters.
Gathering evidence
We have and continue to grow a solid evidence base, thanks to our Riverfly Census and its volunteer arm SmartRivers.
This data paints a true picture of the health of rivers and the problems our wild fish are facing.
Building a case
Using the evidence we find examples of where existing water policies are not fit for purpose and lobby for change.
We also identify areas where good policy is not being enforced.
Our current cases
Chemical Pollution
Our campaign to stop Bakkavor from pouring pesticides from washing imported salad leaves into the headwaters of the Itchen, one of our most protected waters, is poised to set a national precedent.
Agricultural Pollution
Rules exist to prevent farmers polluting our rivers with deadly sediment, phosphate and chemicals. Our Riverfly Census and SmartRivers provides the evidence but there is a near total failure by the Environment Agency in England and NRW in Wales to enforce against farming pollution.
We are determined to change this with your help.
Chalkstreams
All our rivers are managed under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and classified the same way. This generic, one size fits all approach is not protecting chalkstreams and their distinct biological commmunities.
We're calling for ambitious, bespoke regulatory targets for all chalkstreams which recognise and manage them as the unique habitats they are.
Abstraction
Nearly a quarter of English rivers are at serious risk from unsustainable water abstraction.
Major interventions are urgently needed on both the demand and supply sides to tackle the problem.
Latest Water Action News
SmartRivers developments and achievements during lockdown
MoRPh: a tool for assessing river habitats at biological monitoring sites
Persistence pays off in the pursuit of a pesticide problem
Phosphorus, Chickens and the River Wye
Thirty-six toxic pesticides washed into headwaters of SAC chalkstream
Toxic neonicotinoid washed off salad leaves into protected chalkstream
The SAMARCH Project International Salmonid Coastal and Marine Telemetry Workshop
Increase in abundance: A dangerously simplistic view of river health
Milk. A serious environmental threat?
Chalk-Streams First
Agricultural Pollution – Educate, Encourage, Enforce
Environmental Land Management Scheme 2020
Documents Archive
- The impact of excess fine sediment on invertebrates and fish in riverine systems
- The impact of elevated phosphorus inputs on flora and fauna in riverine systems
- The impact of chlorine and chlorinated compounds in freshwater systems
- Effects of flow variation on fish and invertebrates in riverine systems
- Chemical Impacts -The Link Between Freshwater Xenobiotics and Reduced Juvenile Salmonid Marine Survival
- Reintroducing beavers into the UK: S&TC briefing paper
- Fish NGO beaver management strategy policy statement
We rely on your support to protect wild fish and the places they live.
By donating or joining as a member you will be making a huge contribution to the fight to protect the UK's waters and ensure a sustainable future for wild fish.