Playing our part to protect special areas of conservation: River Clun
The lower part of the River Clun in South Shropshire is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), protected by legislation to preserve the habitat of a freshwater pearl mussel population. Unfortunately, these mussels are vulnerable to changes in river quality and are now endangered across Europe and the UK.
Analysis by Natural England and the EA in 2014 (a nutrient management plan) found that reductions in phosphates, nitrogen and suspended solids and sediment were all needed to restore the river and support the mussel population. Since then, we’ve completed upgrades to our treatment works to reduce phosphates by the entire amount requested of us in the 2014 plan.
Unfortunately, phosphates from our treatment works are just one factor that contributes to the river condition – the 2014 plan found that farming was the predominant factor driving phosphate levels and contributing to nitrogen and sediment – so we know our investment alone won’t be enough to restore the river.
Photo credit: John Savery
The area is also an important rural community with housing development planned to meet its future accommodation needs.
Stakeholders in the planning process, including the EA and Natural England want to be confident that this can be achieved without compromising the river restoration before development can go ahead.
Restoring the river and ensuring the needs of the local community are met requires a coordinated approach, so we’ve been working with the EA, Natural England and Shropshire County Council as part of the Strategic Clun Liaison Group.
The group aims to build on the tree planting and work to encourage sustainable farming practices already undertaken in the catchment, and we have proposals in train for us to go beyond the 75% reduction in phosphates initially assigned to us.
The Clun catchment is one of three SACs in our region that cover sections of river. Like the Clun, we’re also working with stakeholders including the EA and Natural England on plans for the River Mease in Leicestershire, and the Rivers Wye and Dove in the Peak District.
Having already invested significantly in upgrading our treatment works across all three catchments to reduce the impact of phosphates, we’re investing over £70 million to make sure that we’re playing our part in protecting these rivers through network upgrades, as well as initiating a partnership scheme with local farmers to reduce diffuse phosphate loads on the rivers Wye and Dove.