Following this week’s report on the State of Our Rivers, only 15% of waters in England are in good ecological health and none meet chemical standards. Toxic chemical cocktails were found in over 1,600 UK river and groundwater sites last year, with the River Thames and River Avon containing some of the highest concentrations of chemicals.

This was all too familiar in Salisbury last weekend, where chemical pollution in the River Avon has led to strong declines in freshwater invertebrates, despite the Environment Agency stating “the Avon has not deteriorated in water quality in the last five years”. Declines in freshwater invertebrates due to pressure from chemicals has only been recorded thanks to the efforts of local citizen scientists, who are showing that current legislations are not protecting Wiltshire’s rivers and chalk streams as they should be.

Just a few weeks ago, a chemical incident occurred on the River Avon, where 1,000 litres of heating oil spilled into the water near Pewsey. And in Chippenham last weekend, a red diesel spill was spotted in a popular dog walking area.

These pollution incidents don’t just impact the wildlife in the river, but can create further issues for local people. Following the incident in Chippenham, residents experienced headaches and stinging eyes. In Marlborough, a man contracted sepsis after swimming in polluted water, and a school field trip to study river ecosystems had to be cancelled.

Across Wiltshire, we are lucky to have our Water Guardians – volunteers who are keeping an eye on their local rivers and chalk streams to identify pollution incidents and report them immediately, such as father and daughter Alex and Lily below.

In Swindon, training is being provided in April and May 2024 to monitor potential pollution from drains on the banks of local rivers, so that any incidents can be quickly remediated.

Local farmer cluster groups such as the Wylye Valley Farmers are also working together by doing water quality monitoring on their land, aimed at reducing levels of nitrate, phosphate and sediment run-off reaching the River Wylye and the groundwater.

The Wylye Valley Farmers have teamed up with us for the Wylye Chalk Stream Project, aimed at re-establishing the vitality, diversity, and ecological abundance of the Wylye Valley by restoring the river’s natural relationship with its floodplain, and improving its ability to capture and diffuse any harmful excess nutrients and pollutants from the wider landscape.

Generously funded by The Ernest Cook Trust our Blue Influencers Scheme is underway, empowering young people aged 10-14 to take action to look after their local blue spaces.

Previous targets set by the Government to get our rivers to good ecological health by 2015 and 2021 have been missed, and management plans launched in 2022 predict our rivers and streams won’t be back to good ecological health until 2063!

This isn’t good enough. Wiltshire’s chalk streams need better protection. So we’ve joined forces with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to Save Our Chalk Streams. Call for your MP to stand up for chalk streams and be part of the movement pushing for protecting these unique habitats.