COLUMN: Taking action to restore our rivers

By Cllr Colette Blackburn as printed in the Thursday, 22 February 2024, print edition of the West Sussex County Times

At Horsham District Council we are working on the big task of river restoration.  I will not dwell, here, on the poor state of our river water quality except to say that, awful as it is in itself, there is also a deadly knock-on effect on the myriad of life that ought to be living in and along the rivers, as well as a greater danger to communities from flooding and drought caused by inefficient floodplains.  Additionally, and not least, there are greater health risks to the population from pollution. 

Horsham District’s rivers are our heritage and responsibility, and our legacy must be to correct failings and find alternatives to damaging practices. In this way, we might return our rivers to a more natural state so that they can be, once again, a source of life, protection and support in their landscape, as they have been for centuries.

As ever, collaboration is key and we are cooperating with several partners to help enable restoration.  Where the Adur is concerned, the Adur River Recovery Project brings together 27 landowners with Knepp Wildlife Foundation, The Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, the Sussex Wildlife Trust, and Adur District Council.  The project has secured £500,000 of funding from DEFRA to undertake the studies that will help landowners on the floodplain understand the changes they could make to enable improvements to the river and associated biodiversity.

We are grateful to the farmers, land managers and volunteers who are already involved.  There is ongoing exploration of the benefits of changes that could be made but no decisions have been made yet. Options include re-meandering, changes to the floodplains, the removal of barriers and embankments, and new habitat creation. Re-meandering the river and establishing new wetlands will help to slow flood waters in order to protect communities as well as allow the landscape to support climate change adaptation through the capture and storage of carbon. The creation and enhancement of river habitats will give back to the river its status as a thriving wildlife corridor, and also allow the joining up of important wildlife friendly sites. 

The elimination of pollution into the river has key importance too, and many more farmers are adopting regenerative techniques that reflect their commitment to ensuring the good health of the natural world, rivers included.  Slowing the water flow and increasing biodiversity will help by enabling better filtration.  In addition, Southern Water has recently indicated that discharging sewage into our waterways is not the core strategic purpose of the firm (please excuse sarcasm) and that the company will be working to eliminate leaks and spills over the next few years.  We will be watching closely for improvements.

We know the Arun needs help too and Horsham District Council has joined the Arun and Rother Catchment Partnership and is working closely with the Arun and Rother Rivers Trust.  The Council will bring additional expertise, support and commitment to the group’s aims.  The Catchment Partnership gathers together all of the key organisations, including Southern Water and the Environment Agency, with an objective to make the changes necessary to improve the health of the river.  The Rivers Trust is working with landowners to initiate positive change too. One example of this is a landowner who, mirroring planned initiatives on the Adur, is reinstating the natural course of the river on their property in order to alleviate flooding downstream. 

It almost goes without saying that these environmental projects have won the attention and welcome contribution of local residents.  Community engagement is central to success and, along both the Adur and Arun, there are projects to involve local residents in helping to monitor the river.  Citizen Science can provide research and monitoring data and, so far, The Adur River Recovery Project has had more than 100 people volunteer to help, including spreading the word on taking action to restore the river. Leave it to the locals.