Call for action after 90% of national park’s rivers fail to reach ‘good’ status

A call to action to improve the health of rivers and lakes has been made by the South Downs National Park after a new report found that 90% failed to meet good ecological standards.

Sewage discharges, nitrate and phosphate pollution, pesticides, physical barriers on watercourses, invasive species and urban pollution from roads are all being blamed for the worsening state.

The Water In The Park report also found that 75% of estuaries and coastal waters were not up to the benchmark set under the Water Framework Directive with 55% of groundwaters also not achieving good status, with the state of waters in the national park declining between 2014 and 2022.

Sion McGeever, chief executive of the national park authority, said: “Water is fundamental to the biodiversity, landscape, and wellbeing of communities in and around the South Downs National Park.

“We also know that improving the water environment is really important to people as they’ve told us in our recent consultation for the Partnership Management Plan.

“Therefore, we want the National Park to play a leading role in improving water courses so they can be healthier and richer in wildlife.

“This is a commitment we’re making knowing that there are a huge number of complex challenges ahead, from individual behaviour, to climate change and national policy.

“But we know this amazing landscape that’s been designated for the nation deserves to have cleaner, healthier water.”

The report covered six areas across Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex and found that 82% of licences for sewage discharges were for individual landowners and not water companies.

And data from 2021 to 2023 showed that there were 400 storm overflows of which 341 spilled for a total of 169,000 hours in 2023.

The study also found that up to 14% of businesses were not connected to the mains sewer and an increasing number of “forever chemicals” and pharmaceuticals were being found in rivers and streams.

Calling on landowners, residents and other local organisations to join in its strategy to improve river health, Mr McGeever said: “Our powers and resources as a national park are actually quite limited, so we want to bring everyone together, from water companies to landowners and river trusts, to use our collective strength to tackle this issue.

“Work to improve our water is already under way across the region as part of many different projects and partnerships, but we need more of them and with greater resources.

“This won’t be an overnight fix and recovery will happen over many, many years.

“We’ve set our ambitious goal for more nature everywhere for everyone and this can only happen by prioritising water in the landscape.

“We’ve already seen how nature can bounce back due to better river management in places like the River Meon and Cockshut Stream, so that’s hugely encouraging moving forward.”