WRSE Catchment Reporter

Water Resources South East (WRSE) is developing a multi-sector regional resilience plan which will be used as the blueprint for water supply investment by the six water companies in the South East region. WRSE would like to identify current, planned and potential future opportunities to improve catchment resilience to both current pressures and future climate change risks

This website contains maps showing the character and status of the catchments in the South East region. Users can share information with WRSE about issues within catchments and water resource and catchment schemes which could help to increase resilience. These will be considered as part of the development of the regional plan and could present future funding opportunities.

Our objective is to ensure there is sufficient water available during dry periods for different sectors' needs and improve the quality of our rivers and groundwater. This is a critical part of increasing the overall resilience of the region’s water supplies and improving the environment.

For more information about WRSE visit  wrse.org.uk 

1. Read the information on this page (keep scrolling down)
2. Use tabs 1 to 4 across the top of the page to view information about catchments in the South East and understand the available data which characterises the water resources in the catchment, both quantity and quality.
3. Input any issues on the Report Issues and Opportunities tab. Justify the issue if it is not identified by the characterisation data, probably based on local knowledge.
4. Input any opportunities on the Report Issues and Opportunities tab. Justify the opportunity by the characterisation data and or local knowledge. If you identify opportunities that are not supported by the characterisation data it will be more difficult to gain funding unless there is very good local data.
5. On the Catchment Data Dashboard tab you can see the data that has already been inputted

Activities to support river flows including licence trading and augmentation, particularly during low flow periods. Demand management could be a key part of reducing abstraction, for example improving the efficiency of irrigation. A more flexible approach to abstraction management could maximise the availability of water while minimising the impact on the environment. Examples include: two year rolling licences; abstracting during short term flood events, use of existing boreholes or new purpose-drilled boreholes to pump groundwater to the watercourse, redirection of effluent discharges to augment flows and trading licences. It may also be possible to identify locations where abstractors may be willing to work collaboratively with each other to manage water resources more sustainably.

The creation and/or management of terrestrial habitat (e.g. woodland, chalk grassland and downland), likely at a landscape scale, may be used to address multiple water quality concerns or promote recharge in source catchments in addition to providing wider environmental and social benefits. Crop choice in agricultural land will have a significant impact on the water available for recharge to groundwater systems and runoff to surface water. In general there should be a move towards high value/low yield cropping in water stressed catchments to minimise 

Natural water retention measures can be used to slow and intercept surface runoff or sub-surface flow to a surface-water body, providing additional storage and managing flow pathways. It can be implemented at various scales and can provide new habitat. Natural Flood Management (NFM) can be defined as any method by which flood risk is managed using techniques that accommodate the natural features and processes of catchments. Measures can also include those to create and manage flood storage, rural sustainable drainage systems, wetland habitat, or water level management to retain water in catchments. These measures may contribute to groundwater recharge or regulate flows during dry periods and can also be effective for water quality treatment as a secondary benefit.

Measures that focus on improving the quality or management of a wild, or managed fishery. For example, this could include providing localised habitat for salmon migration, engaging with fishery users (specifically anglers) to identify otherwise unknown impacts on fisheries caused by abstraction and consideration of the operation of water supply to fish farms which may be having an adverse impact on flows or water quality.

Rivers which have a more natural function can better support ecosystems and are more resilient to low flows and the impacts of climate change. River restoration schemes may include modifying flows, in-river water quality mitigation measures, improving connectivity (such as through the removal of structures or improving fish passage), improving river morphology, assessing and implementing riparian management, or re-engineering channel features such as reprofiling and re-meandering.

SUDS refer to measures that manipulate and manage surface water in urban areas in ways that mimic natural flow pathways and seek to reduce the quantity of water entering the drainage network and improve water quality, biodiversity and amenity. These can take the form of a range of interventions in the built environment and for example can alleviate capacity issues in drainage networks, improve the quality of surface runoff and increase groundwater infiltration and thus aquifer recharge.

Elevated concentrations of nutrients and sediment (particularly nitrate) can affect our ability to abstract water from rivers and aquifers. Catchment- and local-level nutrient or sediment reduction measures can range from education and awareness, local scale farm management measures (such as manure storage management), land management (such as cover crops and nutrient management). Often mechanisms will include education and incentivisation schemes, to solutions requiring significant capital funding. Although typically focused on agriculture, engagement with other landowners and the public can be beneficial (for example the management of septic tanks).

Elevated concentrations of pesticides (such as metaldehyde) can affect our ability to abstract water from rivers and aquifers. Catchment- and local-level pesticide reduction measures can range from education and awareness, local scale farm management measures (such as wash-down areas), land management (such as product usage and precision application). Often mechanisms will include education and incentivisation schemes, to solutions requiring significant capital funding. Although typically focused on agriculture, engagement with other landowners and the public can be beneficial (for example the use of products in the domestic setting).

To overcome water quality issues such as elevated nutrient and pesticide concentrations in catchments, new approaches to land management such as paying land owners to reduce soil loss and increase habitat can be considered. A significant benefit is the opportunity to provide landowners with an alternative funding stream. This type of invention is reliant upon EU policy (or national policy, post Brexit) to continue as a driver, which could change in the future, however if this remains a feasible option, there should be a consideration across the WRSE operational catchment.

With a changing climate, policy landscape and changes in agricultural communities there will be an increasing pressure on water resources and the water environment. These measures seek less to fund discrete measures and rather encourage land managers to change practices and move towards farming which is more water efficient and can deliver water quality and environmental benefits. These measures would often seek to support an overall aim of improving catchment health and building more resilient environmental and social systems.

We are moving towards a more systems orientated perspective for the management of the water environment that promotes more holistic and resilient management. In these cases, a combination of catchment interventions could be implemented under one joint plan owned by catchment stakeholders to improve catchment health, including addressing water quality and/or water resource issues. For example, river restoration, natural flood management, wetland creation, tackling invasive species and changing agricultural activity may be used together under an integrated approach. This could consider ecosystem services, being the diverse benefits that we derive from the natural environment. Payment for ecosystem service approaches could be used to incentivise farmers and landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide an ecological service e.g. by reducing soil loss and creating habitat. Funding for this could come from multiple sources and in the future could align with the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme.

Water quality (clean water): This is where potable water for drinking is potentially unsuitable due to water quality issues. In general this will be captured by the SgZs, however, there may be areas which have private water supplies where WQ is limiting the value of the water resource

Water quality (wastewater): CSOs not working properly; poorly functioning treatment works; agricultural pollution from slurries and manures can all impact water resources by increasing treatment costs or rendering the resource unusable. In general this data will be captured by the Consented discharge and NIRS data however, there may be additional local issues where sources of pollution are not picked up by this data.

Low flows (environmental protection/resilience/improvement): Streams with low flows due to abstraction should be captured by the RFNAGS data. However, you may have identified other sub-catchments which also have low flow issues which are not captured.

Water Resources (new water availability/supply/resilience): This is where ‘new sources’ of potable water for drinking is potentially unsuitable due to water quality issues. For existing water resources this will be captured by the SgZs, however, there may be areas which could provide additional water resources but where WQ is limiting the value of the water resource.

Flood risk: This is where water resources are potentially at risk due to flooding which could either comprise the quality of the water or the infrastructure for abstraction; treatment or supply.

Biodiversity: These are areas where water abstraction is potentially limiting the biodiversity. Examples where wetlands or streams are being impacted by abstraction should be captured by the national data, however, you may be aware of local examples which this data has missed. 

Customer/community engagement: These are communities where the abstraction of water resources is a local issue not captured on the RFNAGS.