UK Rivers Network

You are here: Home page Home page | About us [about.html] | Network | Campaigns | News | Education | Contact us Welcome to our website! Helping communities to help rivers across the UK and Ireland The world's rivers have never been under such stress. Even in the UK and Ireland, rivers are under huge pressure from human activities. The UK Rivers Network brings people together to create a better future for rivers and inland waters in the UK and Ireland. River picture by Ian Britton from FreeFoto.com Network news GREAT NEWS: Future of the UK Rivers Network : In January 2005, we reported here that, after five years of hard work supporting river groups and campaigns across Britain, the UK Rivers Network had run out of money and was no longer actively campaigning. However, the good news is that, in spring 2006, we are exploring some new funding options and hope we may may be able to relaunch the Network again soon. Either way, we have secured indefinite funding to keep our website online as an educational resource and it has been entirely revamped and updated during Spring 2006. What's new on our website? By popular demand, we have some new pages online in spring 2006: Need to find out about water pollution? Check out our new Introduction to water pollution . Want to find out how air pollution affects rivers and seas? Try our new guide to Finding out about air pollution . Help eat our rivers cleaner! Take a look at our new guide to Finding out about organic food and farming . Want to use the law to challenge an environmentally destructive development or a grant of planning permission? Take a look at the legal briefing by Charlie Hopkins of EarthRights Solicitors. These older pages are still popular favourites: Interested in setting up your own river group, campaign, or project? Check out our new guide: Adopting a river: How to get out, get dirty, and make a difference . Want to get involved with local river conservation projects? Take a look at our ever-popular Network page . Latest news from the riverbanks Picture by Ian Britton from FreeFoto.com . Our river news is updated roughly once a week (sometimes more often). If you use RSS (a way of getting news headlines delivered automatically to your web browser), why not try our new RSS feed . We hope you find it useful! 19 June 2006 : Indian activist arrested again in dam protest : Medha Patkar has been arrested leading a demonstration outside the house of Sonia Gandhi, chief of India's ruling Congress party, in protest against the Sardar Sarovar Dam. 19 June 2006 : Making water out of thin air : Inspired by a beetle, researchers at MIT have designed a material that can harvest water from the air. 16 June 2006 : The hidden impacts of drought : As the British whinge about hosepipe bans, a timely reminder from Save the Children about what water shortages really mean for much of the world's population: "On the Day of the African Child (16 June), Save the Children is highlighting serious risks to children's safety in drought-affected areas of East Africa. The simple task of collecting water can be extremely dangerous for young children. The average distance a child has to walk every day to collect water is 6km and in times of drought this distance is greatly increased. The average person in the UK will walk 6km in a week. The children must carry the water home in containers weighing up to 20 kilos, which can cause damage to a child's spine and pelvis." 16 June 2006 : Red kites hatch in the North East : Red kite chicks have hatched in the north-east of England for the first time in about 200 years. 16 June 2006 : Greenwash: Bush creates world's largest marine park : According to the Independent: 'President George Bush has announced that he intends to create the world's largest marine conservation area across a broad swath of the Pacific, surprising and delighting his environmentalist critics who have had little but withering criticism of the "toxic Texan" over the past five and a half years.' 16 June 2006 : MSP backs controversial hydropower plan : Plans for a hydroelectric power plant on one of the country's top white water rivers (the River Braan in Perthshire) are being opposed by canoeists, but backed by the local MSP. 16 June 2006 : 25-year flood and water resource plan for London's marshes : Seven public organisations have signed up to a new 25-year plan to ensure the Inner Thames Marshes become a major part of a proposed Conservation Park in the highly controversial Thames Gateway development. 15 June 2006 : Volunteers clean up the Thames : A 100-strong team has been clearing litter from the River Thames. At least 1,000 tonnes of rubbish is removed from the river every year. 15 June 2006 : Groundwater directive to keep some of its teeth : Euro MEPs have blocked attempts to make the EU groundwater directive non-binding. 15 June 2006 : Arctic pollution getting worse : A new study by WWF reports an increase in toxic pollution in polar bears and other Arctic creatures. 15 June 2006 : Anglian Water fined £10,000 : An ageing sewage system and ignorance of the extent of the surface water system by Anglian Water staff may have contributed to serious pollution. 15 June 2006 : Anglers urged to report fish deaths in hot weather : Thousands of fish have died in waterways across England over past few days in the lead up to tomorrow's opening day of the coarse fishing season, with freshwater species failing to cope with plunging oxygen levels in the hot weather. The Environment Agency is appealing for help. 14 June 2006 : Anglers - Our Climate's Watchdogs : With thousands of miles of waterways in England and Wales, who better to monitor our waterways than anglers? The Environment Agency and the Anglers Conservation Association have paid tribute to a quiet army of conservationists. 12 June 2006 : Worldwide litter found on remote beach in St Kilda : According to a BBC news report, pieces of litter from around the world have been found on the Scottish island of St Kilda: "A clean-up of Village Bay collected 520 pieces of rubbish including a Brazilian mustard container, Japanese washing up liquid bottle and Canadian oil drum". 10 June 2006 : New shark species discovered in US waters : A new type of hammerhead shark has been discovered in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, marine scientists say. 9 June 2006 : 150 fish killed in river incident : One hundred and fifty-two adult and juvenile brown trout were killed along a half mile stretch of the Ballymoney river in Northern Ireland. 9 June 2006 : China's Yellow River estuary "cleanest in years"? : There are conflicting claims about pollution in China's Yellow River delta estuary, according to Reuters. 8 June 2006 : Working together boosts wild fish numbers : Anglers and fish farmers are reaping the benefits of working together to help wild salmon and fish, it is claimed. 8 June 2006 : Herring catches should be halved, say scientists : The Herald reports that fish processors could face a battle for survival after European scientists revealed they are suggesting that the amount of herring which the fleet can catch should be halved. 8 June 2006 : Swans more flighty than thought : Anglers and fish farmers are reaping the benefits of working together to help wild salmon and fish, it is claimed. 8 June 2006 : Welsh pupils learn about rivers : Rhydfelin school pupils recently had learned about the life cycle of the Atlantic salmon and how cleaner rivers help us all to live in a better environment. 6 June 2006 : Water: Government must rethink housing strategy : Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to review its plans to allow hundreds of thousands of new homes to be built in the South East and East of England. The call follows today's report by a House of Lords committee which criticizes the Government for failing to consider the water management implications of their house-building plans at an early enough stage, saying "their belated estimates of the growth in demand are wholly unconvincing." Friends of the Earth water campaigner Roger Higman said: "Many parts of the South East and East of England are already facing water shortages. Building hundreds of thousands of new homes, with poor water-efficiency standards, is likely to make the situation even worse. The Government must urgently review its house building plans and bring in mandatory rules to ensure that new homes are built to the highest environmental standards." 6 June 2006 : Water vole survey begins : British Waterways is launching a survey of voles and other wildlife in a bid to arrest their decline. 6 June 2006 : Businesses urge Blair to curb global warming emissions : Thirteen business leaders are set to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair to urge tougher action on climate change. The group, including Shell, Tesco and Vodafone executives, will urge more curbs on emissions. 6 June 2006 : Home plans 'ignore lack of water' : The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been criticized by a House of Lords committee for not considering water shortages in plans for new homes. According to Conservative environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth: "It is deeply irresponsible to build houses unless water efficiency comes as standard, it is as simple as that." 1 June 2006 : New homes 'will not add to water crisis' : Government plans for tens of thousands of new homes in the south-east will not necessarily add to the water crisis in the region, the environment secretary, David Miliband, said today. But Friends of the Earth have vigorously disagreed. 1 June 2006 : Cumbria magistrate guilty of poaching : A Cumbria magistrate found himself on the other side of the bench today when a salmon poaching offence cost him £3,000. Stephen Furniss, from Seascale, was found guilty after a two-day trial. 31 May 2006 : Fishing just for birds : According to The Scotsman, Scotland's top angling loch will no longer be stocked or used for international competitions after protected cormorants devastated stocks of brown trout. 30 May 2006 : Pollution is killing the Yangtze : Chinese experts warn worsening pollution will make the Yangtze unable to sustain life within five years. 30 May 2006 : Kent councillor wages war on river trolleys : A local councillor in Kent is campaigning to stop trolleys being dumped in Kent's River Medway because they can be seen at low tide. 25 May 2006 : Beaches cleaner after dry spell : A record number of UK beaches have been recommended for their excellent water quality, after the driest weather in a decade of sharply reduced storm pollution. Find out more from the Marine Conservation Society's Good Beach Guide . 25 May 2006 : Government authorises more drought orders : The government has granted drought orders to two more water companies in southern England, Mid Kent Water and Southern Water, giving them the power to ban non-essential uses of water. More river news... Book choice The Longshoreman by Richard Shelton. London: Atlantic Books, 2004. Richard Shelton's memoir interweaves a very accessible account of how fisheries science has developed with charming anecdotes from his own life "at the water's edge". Dr Shelton is currently research director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, but was previously head of the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory at Pitlochry. You might like to read a detailed (and very positive) review from The Guardian. The End of the Line by Charles Clover. London: Ebury, 2004/2005. A fine and very readable account of overfishing as a combination of ecological, social, and economic problems. The book is a collection of essays about different aspects of the overfishing crisis, part journalism, part polemic, part travel-book. It's packed full of facts about the state of our oceans. There's plenty of analysis too and Clover even presents his own recipe for a truly sustainable fishery, which largely boils down to giving fishermen property rights over the oceans. Well worth a read for the price of a cod and chips... or two. Nine Miles by Jim Hindle. Brighton: Underhill Books, 2006. In the mid-1990s, thousands of British people decided to make a stand against government plans to build hundreds of new roads. The campaign reached its peak in 1996 with the battle to stop the Newbury bypass, a nine-mile road that threatened two internationally important chalk-stream rivers, the Kennet and Lambourn, as well as archaeological sites and numerous protected habitats and species. Jim Hindle's wonderfully observed personal account of the Newbury campaign (and several other protests) shows how the protesters rediscovered a deeper connection with nature and found the inspiration to defend the landscapes they had learned to love. You can find out more and order copies from the Nine Miles website. Can't find what you want? Search here! Web UK Rivers Network Home page | About us | Network | Campaigns | News | Education | Contact us