South Downs National Park strengthens commitment to water as new report is published

The South Downs National Park is making a renewed call to action to improve the health of our rivers, streams and seas as a major new report is published today.

The “Water In The Park” report is the first of its kind for the National Park and shines a stark spotlight on the state of waterways across the South Downs region.

The key finding is that most bodies of water are failing to meet good ecological standards, with an overall decline from 2014 to 2022. The study covers six river catchment partnerships across a vast swathe of Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey, revealing that 90 per cent of rivers and lakes are not achieving good status (under the Water Framework Directive).

Meanwhile, 75 per cent of estuaries and coastal waters are not meeting good ecological status – which is a benchmark for a healthy ecosystem that can support a balanced range of plants and animals. Some 55 per cent of groundwaters are also not achieving good status.

The reasons are many and complex and mirror a broader national picture, including sewage discharges, nitrates and phosphates, pesticides, physical barriers on watercourses, invasive species and urban pollution from roads.

The National Park Authority is now calling on partners, landowners, businesses, local councils and communities to come together to find long-term solutions that will help improve water quality and management, kickstarting nature recovery and bringing benefits to all.

The call to action comes as the National Park Authority is finalising its Partnership Management Plan (PMP) – which lays out priorities for the National Park for the next five years – and further strengthening its commitment to water.

Siôn McGeever, Chief Executive of the National Park Authority, said: “Water is fundamental to the biodiversity, landscape, and wellbeing of communities in and around the South Downs National Park.

“We also know that improving the water environment is really important to people as they’ve told us in our recent consultation for the Partnership Management Plan.

“Therefore we want the National Park to play a leading role in improving water courses so they can be healthier and richer in wildlife.

“This is a commitment we’re making knowing that there are a huge number of complex challenges ahead, from individual behaviour, to climate change and national policy. But we know this amazing landscape that’s been designated for the nation deserves to have cleaner, healthier water.”

And Siôn added: “Our powers and resources as a National Park are actually quite limited, so we want to bring everyone together, from water companies to landowners and river trusts, to use our collective strength to tackle this issue.

“Work to improve our water is already under way across the region as part of many different projects and partnerships, but we need more of them and with greater resources.

“This won’t be an overnight fix and recovery will happen over many, many years. Under our ReNature initiative and emerging PMP, we’ve set our ambitious goal for more nature everywhere for everyone and this can only happen by prioritising water in the landscape.

“We’ve already seen how nature can bounce back due to better river management in places like the River Meon and Cockshut Stream, so that’s hugely encouraging moving forward.”

The Water In the Park report covers six catchment partnerships across the South Downs region: Test and Itchen, East Hampshire, Wey Landscape, Arun and Western Streams, Adur and Ouse, and the Cuckmere and Pevensey. Across these partnerships are 83 different organisations, including 19 local authorities, five water companies. The detailed report identifies key challenges, gaps, and opportunities to build upon the existing achievements of these partnerships.

The report, compiled by river ecologists Dr Rowenna Baker and Sandra Manning-Jones and supported by the National Park’s Nature Lead Cath Jackson, reveals a number of facts and statistics:

• The data shows that 82 per cent of consented licences for sewage discharges are not from water companies, indicating there is more work needed with individual landowners.
• Data from 2021 to 2023 shows there were more than 400 storm overflows across the survey area – of which 341 spilled for a total of 169,000 hours in 2023 (equating to over 7,000 days).
• Up to 14 per cent of businesses are not connected to the mains sewer.
• An increasing number of “forever chemicals” and pharmaceuticals are being found in rivers and streams. A 2024 study (University of York and Rivers Trust) sampled sites in the South Downs National Park on the Western River Rother, River Arun, River Ouse and River All the rivers showed high levels of Metformin, antihistamines including Fexofenadine and Cetirizine, along with caffeine. These substances pose a serious threat to fish and aquatic health, with some leading to morphological changes, increased stress levels and changes in population. A recent study by the University of Brighton found microplastics in the headwaters of the River Itchen.

While the report does not make recommendations, it identifies gaps and opportunities including:

• More funding and resources are needed to help the catchment partnerships improve watercourses.
• Greater collaboration between partners could help identify and take advantage of a wider range of funding mechanisms.
• More partnership working is needed on a mass-scale. The Ouse and Adur and all their tributaries, for instance, flow through over 2,000 landholdings.
• Lots of monitoring and citizen science is under way to gather data about water, but even more is needed to build up an accurate picture of what help is needed and where.
• Addressing sources of sewage discharges from private treatment works.
• Greater collaboration and monitoring around invasive non-native species, such as the parrot’s feather, and the protection of rare chalk streams.
• More collaboration between freshwater and marine partners.

The National Park is currently leading on a number of water-based projects alongside partners, including Downs to the Sea, Pounds for Ponds and Ouse Valley Climate Action.  As Local Planning Authority for the National Park, it also has planning powers to ensure that future applications conserve and enhance the water environment. The National Park Authority is proud of the ongoing work done by its partners to improve the water environment, including river and wildlife trusts and the many organisations and individuals across the South Downs. Projects include the Weald to Waves’ Adur River Recovery Project, the Watercress and Winterbournes project and The Aquifer Partnership.

The Partnership Management Plan, which is set to include a priority around water, is due to be published and adopted by the National Park Authority as part of its five-year strategy before the end of 2025.

Read the “Water in the Park” report here.

• The study showed that almost 40 per cent of all water bodies in the region are in “poor” or “bad” condition, while around 50 per cent are of “moderate” status. Just 10 per cent are in “good” ecological status.
• Nature does not recognise administrative boundaries, so the study area for the report covered 6,500km², encompassing nine major rivers and a total of 11,000km of watercourse, and 234 distinct waterbody areas.
• The chalk aquifer of the South Downs supplies water to 1.2m on the south coast around the Brighton and Portsmouth areas.
• The study identified there are over 2,500 obstacles in rivers which may reduce ecological health for wildlife.
• There are more than 430 miles (700km) of chalk rivers, streams, rivulets and springs in the region, together with over 1,000 lakes and 126 ponds that are important for wildlife.
• Last year a detailed ecological report showed that water voles and many other species such as hazel dormice, hedgehog, harvest mice, brown hare, badger, grass snake, common lizard, kingfisher, lapwing, marsh harrier and brown trout are flourishing on the River Meon. There was also the potential presence of a key species, Hildenbrandia rivularis, a red algae that is typically found in healthy chalk river systems. The turnaround for the river has been made possible by the Meon Valley Partnership, which was formed in 2008 to help introduce projects to restore the waterway to good health as a functioning river and ecosystem. Decades of habitat loss, pollution and invasive species had taken their toll on the river and reduced its biodiversity. The partnership has worked with landowners to restore natural features of the river, re-introduce water voles, control American Mink populations, and improve water quality.