Dropping water levels effect river wildlife in the “rainforest of Britain”
Rare habitats in Wiltshire and Hampshire are struggling this summer
Rivers and wildlife in South Wiltshire and West Hampshire are struggling to survive during the hot weather and extended dry spell.
Unusual chalk streams across the region are showing “worrying signs” as water levels drop in the prolonged dry spell.
Chalk rivers, such as the Avon and Test which support iconic species like salmon and otters are particular areas of concern.
Mike Blackmore, head of projects for Wessex Rivers Trust which protects rivers in areas like Hampshire, Dorset and New Forest. He tells us what is so unusual about these waterways:
“Depending on how you count them, there are between 200-250 chalk streams in the world. 80 to 85% of those are in England.
“They are ecologically very interesting because the water is coming out of the chalk so it's very clean, very clear and very mineral rich.
“The knock-on impact of that is we have lots of fish, lots of birds and lots of mammals. It’s a very diverse eco system sometimes referred to as the rainforest of Britain.”
The prolonged dry spell is already having effects. Mike said:
“We are starting to see the upper parts of the Tests tributaries drying out.
“I was out earlier in the week walking on a dried riverbed as if it was a gravel foot path. Turning over stones to find dead shrimp and small fish.
“If things don’t change that will only get worse.”
This layer of white limestone is composed of the same material that makes up the white cliffs of Dover and supplies water for rivers and taps in much of the southeast of England.
Millions of liters of water is pumped out of the ground or taken from rivers each day.
Mike explains what we can do to reduce dropping water levels and protect wildlife:
“The water coming out of your tap is from the same source as the water that should be flowing down the river.
“So, every drop that comes out of your tap is a drop that’s not going down the river.
“It's not just about hose pipes and watering your garden.
“Hose pipes are about 1% of household usage of water. Toilets are 30%, showers are about 20%.
“There is much more we can do to conserve water and protect what is a globally important ecosystem and something that’s at the heart of places like Sailsbury.
“Sailsbury’s been built around the river Avon. It’s a massive part of the heritage of the city and if we don’t look after it, we all lose out.”
In July, river flow was so low that Southern Water submitted a formal drought permit application to the Environment Agency.
The application said: “The River Test is a vital source of fresh water for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. For the past eight months we’ve had very little rain – way below average. In fact, we are now experiencing one of the driest years on record (for the past 131 years).”
With water levels dropping Mike said it’s time for a rethink:
“I’d like people to look out their windows and see the British countryside and realise we live in a world build for drainage.
“The same problems that cause droughts cause flooding. The landscape is designed to take water off the land and flush it out to sea as quickly as possible.
“We need to rethink how our landscapes work because a landscape that can soak up water and rehydrate during times of rain fall is a landscape that will pay us back tenfold in reductions of impacts in flooding and drought”