Save our Chalk Streams

With 85% of chalk streams in the world found in the south of England, these cool, fresh, oxygen-rich waters provide the perfect habitat for rare British species like water vole, southern chalk stream Atlantic salmon, brown trout, southern damselfly, water crowfoot and white-clawed crayfish. 

With so few chalk streams existing globally they are truly one of the rarest habitats on the planet. They are also incredibly rich in life; home to more species of plants than any other English river and include species found nowhere else. They are England's equivalent to The Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest, a special heritage and our responsibility 

Our rivers are facing multiple pressures from pollution, over-abstraction, invasive species, and climate change. Pollution from agriculture and sewage is causing algal blooms that suffocate life in the water. Over-abstraction reduces the flow and level of water in rivers, affecting wildlife and increasing the risk of droughts. Invasive species can outcompete or harm native species, disrupting the balance of the ecosystem. Climate change can cause more extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, that damage river habitats and wildlife.  

Find out more about pollution 

Find out more about drought and abstraction 

Find out more about the climate crisis 

Currently only 11 out of 220 British chalk streams have any legal protections as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). These are the Hampshire Test, the Somerset Frome, Dorset Bere Stream, Wiltshire and Berkshire's Kennet, the Norfolk Nar, Yorkshire’s Hull headwaters and Greater London's Crane. 

Worse still, only 4 are protected fully at the highest level as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). These are the Wiltshire Avon, Hampshire Itchen, Norfolk Wensum and Berkshire Lambourn.  

None of our UK Rivers, including chalk streams, are in good ecological health. Despite even these very limited protections, our chalk streams suffer from chronic pollution issues like all other rivers in the UK. Status as an SSSI or SAC does not provide the bespoke, catchment-wide protection that chalk streams need to truly recover as these fragile habitats are heavily influenced by activities across their catchments, meaning any protection needs to be wide-reaching and specific to chalk streams. 

This patchwork of limited protections show we need a bespoke protection specifically designed to ensure the health of all our chalk streams across the country.  

We are demanding a new protections in planning to give chalk streams a chance to recover.  These must protect them from the direct harms associated with new development, as well as indirect pressures like wastewater pollution. We are calling for bespoke protection for our chalk streams, as outlined by the CaBA Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy. 

This protection must: 

• Introduce a 50-100 metre buffer as recommended by Natural England. 

• Add specific protections for chalk streams and their catchments more clearly and consistently as ‘irreplaceable habitats’, alongside ancient woodland, with stronger wording to specially protect chalk streams throughout national planning policy guidelines. 

• Encourage parallel investment in water supply and treatment infrastructure as a condition of planning approval. 

We need nature more than ever. At the Trust we work with nature to help restore and replenish our local environments and provide benefits to people.  

In a changing climate, drought and flood events are becoming an increasing occurrence, and are exacerbated by ageing water infrastructure and increased population. When implemented well, nature-based solutions can be used alongside more carbon-intensive and expensive grey infrastructure not just to reduce the risk and impact of floods and drought, but to generate additional benefits including improved water quality, biodiversity, and community health and wellbeing. One example of a nature-based solution to tackle flood events is Natural Flood Management which uses nature, including wetlands, beaver dams or woodlands, to slow the flow of water, reducing the chance of flash flooding, as well as increasing water storage throughout the landscape. We believe that nature-based solutions can be a cost-effective way to build resilience to key challenges we are facing, such as flooding or droughts. Nature-based solutions also provide numerous other benefits to people and nature in the process, such as carbon storage, cleaner water and health and wellbeing benefits.  

Water and sewage utilities are the single largest players in the UK water sector. They have some of the largest impacts on the quantity and quality of water in rivers through the abstraction and discharge of treated and untreated wastewater. They control important engineered infrastructure impacting rivers, and (almost) every household and business are connected to them as paying customers for water supply and/or sewage.  

Given the scale of operation and impact of water companies on rivers, The Trust needs to work with them at a strategic level to accelerate the recovery of our rivers, including our chalk streams. Any system for solving the complex problems facing our rivers will have to involve water companies as part of the solution.  

Currently, the Trust works directly with water companies in the following ways:  

• We manage land that water companies own, delivering amazing places for people and nature.  

• We work in partnership with them on projects, such as our flagship rivers programme Watercress and Winterbournes which brings together 16 partners including Southern Water.  

• We are funded by them to deliver nature-based solutions to improve our rivers and their catchments.  

• We are part of boards and partnerships alongside water companies, including Catchment Partnerships and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Local Nature Partnership. 

But we also play a role in holding water companies to account for their impacts. We engage with them at a strategic level to push for change and respond to their consultations, including the recent Draft Water Resource Management Plans and Water Resources South East Regional Plans. We campaign against water companies’ poor decisions, for example, the previous plans for a desalination plant on the Solent. We also support people and our Team Wilder groups to take action to revive our rivers, including taking action to hold water companies accountable.