A Community Guide to Your Water Environment This Guide Has Been Produced with Support from Defra and the Catchment Based Approach

Community Guide

A Community Guide to Your Water Environment This guide has been produced with support from Defra and the Catchment Based Approach. Your community will be in one of England’s river management catchments, where organisations are working in partnership with communities to help deliver a better water environment.

For further information on catchment partnerships in your area, please visit www.catchmentbasedapproach.org

Contents

3 Introduction 10 Case Study 3 – Hills to Levels 4 Who has a say on the water in your community? 11 Case Study 4 – Stroud Rural Sustainable Drainage 5 Developing a community project to Project manage your water 13 Getting your own house in order 8 Resources 14 Further information 9 Case Study 1 – Water with Integrated Local Delivery 14 Sponsors

10 Case Study 2 15 Contributors – Honeydale Farm Community Guide Water Environment

Introduction Water is something we tend to take for granted. This guide Why is managing water important? aims to help you understand the importance of the water Managing the water environment in your local environment. It offers advice on how you can means managing the coast, estuaries, reservoirs, lakes, rivers, run-off, take action to become more prepared for extreme weather groundwater, highways and sewers. events of flood and drought while protecting the purity and Natural weather patterns and biodiversity of your waterways. events are unpredictable. Extreme rainfall can result in flooding in Our natural water systems have environmental aspects, such as different ways from all these been affected and changed by rivers, lakes, ponds and streams. elements, and all of which can be human activity and infrastructure, devastating for local communities. such as the building of houses and Flooding, water quality, soil However, infrastructure and systems roads. biology and biodiversity are intrinsically linked and building can be designed to manage their However, if we begin to your knowledge of how one effects safely, and these need to be understand how water impacts affects the other will help you to based on a good understanding of on our local community we are develop understanding, resilience local conditions and should involve better able to take targeted action and preparedness, and deliver the systems put in place locally by to reduce risks from flooding and a wider range of benefits to the communities on the ground. drought and protect important local environment and community.

What’s involved?

This guide aims to help you carry out projects with the local A very useful approach is known understand how your actions farming community, who are often as Integrated Local Delivery can protect this vital resource by pivotal in the management of water (see Integrated Local Delivery helping you identify and record in the area. By building up soil (ILD) pull out section). This local issues, understand the health, farmers can better manage was developed to enable local shared governance of the water water for the community as well knowledge to lead local solutions, environment and help you develop as producing healthy food with with all organisations working in a the preparedness and resilience of a high mineral content, and VALUE LOCAL coordinated way in support. your community. supporting biodiversity. KNOWLEDGE AND It is a simple framework, that Here you will find practical help The principles of community SHARE IT WITHIN works at parish or ward level, for communities to carry out planning will be used and THE COMMUNITY which enables communication local projects that identify local communities which have with all the people who live within pressures and opportunities in the prepared Parish Plans or that area. This ensures that anyone water environment. It is designed community-led plans will recognise who wants to can offer knowledge, to help you understand who has the key principles involved: local resource and observations responsibility and capacity to act that can be included in the plan. to address local issues and what n Addressing local issues at the actions you can take yourself. right scale, most often at parish You can also find out who the or ward level. partner organisations are that have Importantly, this guide also provides n Valuing local knowledge an interest in the area that could information to help communities and sharing this within the come together in a coordinated community way to help the community with expertise, funding and resources. n Mapping resources, The principles of This is done through a simple responsibilities, assets, exercise to create the local team community planning opportunities and risks that relevant to your area. exist locally. will be used

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Who has a say on the water in your community? Knowing who owns and manages land is the starting point for involving everyone in a community project. There are many bodies that regulate and manage the water environment and on occasion there can be a conflict between groups where they have differing objectives. In order to pull together the wide range of national and local bodies, the Government has called for the adoption of the Catchment Based Approach. This approach aims to ensure that action to safeguard and improve the water environment should bring ‘multiple benefits’ to ecology, communities and the economy.

River or stream bank ownership The Highways Agency – are Emergency Services and (riparian owners) – You are responsible for managing road Multi-Agency Emergency known as a riparian owner if you drainage from the trunk road Planning – Resilience Forums, own land or property adjacent to network in England, including the which include representatives from a watercourse or a watercourse slip roads to and from trunk roads. the emergency services, Local runs through your land. There are Authorities and the Environment a wide range of responsibilities Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) - Agency, should ensure that risks associated with being a riparian are independent bodies created to from flooding are fully considered, owner including; the responsibility manage land drainage in areas of including the resilience of emergen- to pass on flow without obstruction, special drainage need. These areas cy infrastructure that will have to pollution or diversion; accept flood include agricultural land but also operate during floods. flows through your land; responsible large urban areas. for maintaining the bed, bank and Who can help join all this biodiversity of the watercourse and The Environment Agency – is the together? for clearing any debris, while not principal flood defence operating Managing the environment so that causing any obstructions to the free authority, and has permissive it delivers multiple benefits and passage of fish. powers for the management INVOLVE meets the necessary national of flood risk arising from EVERYONE IN and international targets is a Local Authorities – are responsible designated main rivers and A COMMUNITY complex task, involving the for managing flood risk and land the sea. They are also respon- PROJECT joining up of a wide number of drainage in ordinary watercourse sible for water quality, ecology different people, funding streams i.e. those which have not been and pollution incidents in all and objectives. As such, where designated as main rivers and which water courses. The flood defence possible each community should are not within Internal Drainage functions of the Environment have access to a trusted specialist Board areas. Agency are overseen by Regional facilitator. This person will need to Flood Defence Committees. bring together different partners The Highway Authorities – are in order to join up the international responsible for effective drainage Sewerage Undertakers – are and UK environmental strategies of roads on the local road network, responsible for surface water drain- and directives that are locally in so far as ensuring that drains, age from development via adopted relevant. A good facilitator will have culverts and gullies which are their sewers which are indicated on the exceptional interpersonal skills, responsibility are maintained. public sewer record maps, copies valuing all types of knowledge, and of which are held by the local an in depth knowledge of environ- authority. Sewerage undertakers mental management and roles and are not, in many cases, responsible responsibilities of all organisations. for domestic household drains. For help finding a facilitator, contact your local catchment partnership or your local national flood forum.

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Developing a community project to manage your water Choosing where to start your community project is an important decision. The following pages outline a step by step approach that has been successfully used to assess the water environment in relation to community led plans and neighbourhood development plans. The process is based in a framework called Integrated Local Delivery (see pullout section), which was designed specifically for community environmental projects. Further guidance is available from FWAG, ACRE Network members (Rural Community Councils) and the Catchment Based Approach.

Step 1 – What geographic area will your project cover?

Communities know most about their local area and have a clear sense of where they feel boundaries lie.

However, it is very useful to consider how the area is understood by others, such as Local Authorities and Government agencies. For this reason, it is generally best to conduct the project within a Parish boundary.

As the water environment does not respect boundaries, it is often useful for parishes to work together along waterbodies. For this reason, a scalable project template has been developed that allows the framework to be scaled up across the catchment, and help you manage water in a more joined up way. This may also help with accessing resources and sharing the work.

Communities know most about their local area and have a clear sense of where they feel boundaries lie.

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STEP 2 - Engage with all of the community to begin assessing knowledge and collecting data

Communities often have all the Know what assets you have – Every patch of land is owned by 2a knowledge and resource that start by taking note of and someone and every national, regional is needed to protect the local mapping where water is stored and and local agency of Government will environment, so start by giving flows. Organised walks across the have someone who is responsible for all the people that live within parish can also be a useful exercise to some aspect of the local environment the chosen area the chance make a note of features and identify in each locality. Understanding this to contribute. By talking with local issues. This can involve land ownership and the management local people it is possible to working with people who have responsibilities is a first step to bring together the community’s local knowledge – local creating dialogue and build a ORGANISED collective knowledge of the water farmers, local council officials, team with the right people. environment on a large-scale other experts who may be WALKS ARE A map. Making contact with your living in the community. USEFUL WAY TO How do we collect the data 2b local Rural Community Council NOTE FEATURES and in what form? This is or Farming and Wildlife Advisory As far as is possible, the very much up to you, but a simple Group member, will ensure you mapping process should also way is to collect the information in a have the right advice on what look to note wildlife in the area, central place held by the parish or ward processes you can use. including habitats and important council. Information can be stored in a woodlands and meadows. These simple document, with notes ecological assets are important in their identifying possible actions and people Every national, own right and as part of the water or organisations that you might need to regional and local environment. contact. A photographic record can also be valuable for documenting all the agency of Government It is often a good idea to talk to people issues in a Parish. If possible, the photos will have someone who who have lived in the community the should be kept within grid references is responsible for some longest – their knowledge of how using an Ordnance Survey mapping things work, or used to work, could be website. XY coordinates can also be aspect of the local invaluable. This way a wealth of local useful for uploading issues/actions onto environment in every knowledge is captured, which should mapping systems. locality. be mapped at large scale for ease of reference.

STEP 3 – Put your locality in context

Every piece of land and its management step. No one should have to act against the support for partnership projects has a potential role to play in improving their own interests, but a key challenge being developed at a catchment scale. the environment, supporting is for participants to recognise others’ communities and driving the economy. priorities and to have some flexibility in Other organisations will have priorities Looked at the right way, the things a how they carry forward their objectives. that may align with yours. Check what community decides to do can deliver Skilled specialist facilitation support can they are and get in contact with them to important Government policies locally; be important. see if they can help. this can unlock Government money not otherwise available. Understanding How do we connect with 3b For example, Natural England might have where local actions contribute more ‘Government’? It is an important an interest in improving biodiversity, the widely can help community plans gain early step to find out who has the duty Local Authority might be interested in support and resources for local projects. for managing rivers, ditches, drains, and drainage onto land from their highway, water supply in your area. The or it could be a developer who wants Establish common ground - Government’s Catchment Based 3a to develop land. These interests also Establishing common ground Approach (CaBA) was developed to need to be mapped possibly as part of a between different bodies and help the Environment Agency, Water neighbourhood plan. Further information community and private interests is a key Companies and Local Authorities get about your parish/ward can be found in useful links section.

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STEP 4 – Think creatively in problem solving

The water environment is intrinsically people back to the management of linked with the surrounding the water environment, for example landscape. As such it is often by linking land management possible to provide multiple for water with diversified and benefits through land management ecologically sound farming practices designed to protect water. practices; by improving recreational Investment in local schemes could access to land; by establishing new be designed to provide multiple ‘buyers’ for ecosystem services, environmental benefits, and relevant such as water companies interested agencies can be approached in natural solutions to polluted for support and resource. Wider water; through outdoor community economic and social benefits could volunteer opportunities. be gained by connecting local

STEP 5 – Prioritising actions and opportunities STEP 6 – Find project

The most important job, having or Local Authority to fund works. sponsor and mapped everyone’s knowledge Funding constraints might make Catchment Host and interests, is to prioritise actions this a difficult thing to achieve. and opportunities, and find a way However, local community Finding capable project sponsors of tackling them. Imagination and knowledge may be able to pinpoint is an important task and the aim creativity are required to identify a novel solution; for example, a should be to spread respon- perhaps novel solutions, and local farmer might reduce surface flow sibility amongst key partners. communities tend to be better by rotating with deep rooting These can be in the community, equipped for this than anyone. For grasses in sloped fields. This may the Parish Authorities or other example, a traditional response to open other funding opportunities bodies, and your facilitator can a local flooding problem might be from different sources. help you coordinate them. to ask the Environment Agency

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Resources There are a wide range of resources available that will help you to develop a good understanding of your area and build a picture of the water resources. There is an additional document produced that sets out in more detail how to access the following resources. Please visit www.acre.org.uk

Parish Maps England and Wales. Find out if you live in minimise the impact of farms on To obtain a map and information on an area that is at risk from flooding. water quality in your local area. your area you can visit the GOV.UK Farmers can use the tool ‘What’s Catchment Mapping Portal website and access www.magic. In My Back Yard (WIMBY) A new mapping portal has been gov.uk which provides authoritative for farmers’ which has been created specifically to support the geographic information about the created to help farmers VISIT Catchment Based Approach. natural environment from across find out if the land they MAGIC.GOV.UK Government. Local record centres The tool provides quick access farm drains to water and the Environmental Agency TO OBTAIN A to environmental information bodies (groundwater, may also hold detailed information MAP OF YOUR in an interactive Geographic streams, rivers, lakes and on the water environment and Information System (GIS), including estuaries) that are thought AREA biodiversity in your area. help and how to videos and an to be affected by agricultural interactive layer summarising local pollutants. Interactive maps: Environment CaBA activity. Follow the link below Agency ‘What’s in your You can click on the map to view infor- in order to register as a user. backyard? mation about each area and follow the www.catchmentbasedapproach.net For up-to-date, interactive maps on-screen instructions to read guidance and environmental information for on what actions would improve or

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Case study 1: Water with Water flow map The creation of detailed water Integrated Local Delivery flow maps for farmers has been an innovative tool for targeting land The Water with Integrated Local As a result of partnership collaboration, management actions so that they Delivery (WILD) project the following activities were successfully protect the water environment and undertaken by members of the community in deliver multiple other benefits. WILD is a demonstration project for the Upper Fairford: Thames Catchment Partnership, working with 20 parishes and towns to improve the water n Working with farmers and villagers to environment through integrated local delivery. map the Coln and Dudgrove Brook It aims to demonstrate how a specialist water bodies and their interaction with facilitator can inspire and enable farmers, agricultural land, woodlands, wetlands and communities, businesses and partners to work meadow habitats. Water bodies within together to integrate water management the town were also mapped, as well as the with other environmental and development general condition of rivers, brooks, ditches, imperatives, in this way building resilience and streams, road verges, natural and human helping deliver sustainable growth. infrastructure. n Research was carried out into the historic Fairford is a small market town, situated in WILD across the management of water through the town. Upper Thames on the River Coln. It has been Catchment Many historic meadows, brooks, culverts developing a Neighbourhood Development and ditches were found from as far back as Plan to accommodate a large number of new n 298 farm visits over 3 years the 17th century, offering an opportunity to proposed developments. covering 22,692 hectares slow and divert the flow. n 461 farmers now engaged The Gloucestershire Rural Community Council n All flood-risk areas in the town were in sustainable pesticide (GRCC) offered the Town Council the support identified and solutions that could be management through of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group linked to planning mitigations proposed work with Thames Water South West (FWAG SW) the Cotswold Water and put into action. n 5000 ha of countryside Park Trust and the Countryside and Community stewardship agreements Research Institute, through the Water The project has re-engaged landowners, facilitated under WILD Integrated Local Delivery project (WILD). farmers and residents with the good management of their water environment. The n 21,600 hours volunteer As a rural community Fairford has strong links community now has a detailed water flow hours committed with the farming community. It was felt that map and data set, with which green and grey n Nearly 60 km of potential the project could help to resolve some of the infrastructure can be protected in and around river enhancements issues raised in the town, in particular flooding the town. This will allow Fairford to become identified problems that put strains on infrastructure. more resilient to extreme weather in the future. n A total of 300 km ditches surveyed, 30 km of ditches sympathetically managed Poulton The Parish Council also met with landowners n Shade reduction & tree and mapped rivers, streams, ditches, road pollarding works conduct- Poulton village has been developing a Parish culverts and drains in and around the village. ed on 8555m Plan and, with the support from GRCC and They discovered that much of the ditch n Large Woody Debris the WILD Project, a village survey identified infrastructure was not enabling water to deflectors and faggots flooding, water quality and fish habitats as flow along a natural path, resulting in water installed in 5,580m issues in the parish. flowing to a central point in the village. They also identified 40 issues, such as the lack of The NFU farmer champion for the village suitable culverts and some ditch networks vimeo.com/219426203 worked with FWAG SW and Catchment being filled in or disconnected. Sensitive Farming to create detailed maps of surface water flows across farmland above The Lead Local Flood Authority and District the village. These were then used to prioritize Council are now implementing a plan with Facilitator actions that would protect the water the farmer to reconnect ditches and create Jenny Phelps environment and reduce flood risk a bund to slow the flow. @deliverymodel @upperthamesCaBa

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Case study 2: Honeydale Farm

Water is a Valuable Natural implementation of an innovative A Cotswold Seeds Capital at Honeydale Farm flow attenuation scheme, under project to demonstrate the guidance of Cotswold Rivers Three years ago Cotswold Seeds farming for multiple Trust and Vaughan Lewis from acquired Honeydale, a 100 acre benefits Windrush AEC Ltd. The scheme farm in Oxfordshire, which is being involved capturing spring water and The River Evenlode rises out established as a Centre for Farming slowing its escape downhill to help of the limestone that underlies Diversity. At its heart is an eight attenuate flood flows in this section the Cotswolds, and flows year crop rotation, featuring deep of the Evenlode Valley as well as south-east towards the clay rooting herbal leys to increase soil minimizing runoff, the scheme vales of the River Thames. carbon and water holding capacity, The surrounding catchment delivers multiple benefits including while building up the nutritional is home to some of the finest capturing eroded soils, detaining value of farm produce. landscapes in the country, excess nutrients and creating a hosting many important wetland habitat for wildlife. habitats which support a wide The herbal ley is made of a wide range of wildlife. variety of different species, each benefiting the soil in a number of The herbal ley is the In recent decades, intensive different ways. The tap roots of agriculture, poor water quality, chicory and some legumes can key ingredient to abstraction and channel break through soil pans, improving building up organic modification have led to the soil structure, assisting drainage matter in the soil degradation of river habitats. and drawing moisture from ground Channel modification and land water reserves during dry spells. use changes, in conjunction The scheme created a cascade Meanwhile, the fibrous roots of with climate change, have also of small leaky dams, connected increased the risk of flooding grasses such as cocksfoot and by short lengths of meandering locally. timothy are able to reach channel. Water is held back by the many feet through the soil, dams until it rises above a certain Working with a range of CENTRE FOR providing aeration and level. At this point, it is allowed partners across the catchment, stability to the soil. to run through perforated stone the Evenlode Catchment FARMING structure and on to the next dam, Partnership is working to DIVERSITY This mixture of species where the process is repeated. restore the river to health makes a balanced and and facilitate multiple highly nutritional forage. Once water over-tops the final dam benefits, including water The grasses provide quality, biodiversity, flood it is collected in a shallow scrape carbohydrates, clovers provide management, resilience to where excess will drain away into protein, and the deep rooting herbs climate change and community the subsoil. engagement. mine the soil for vital nutrients and minerals to make them available to Approximately 0.25ha of the The project has chosen livestock and ultimately consumers. land around the shallow scape the Cotswolds Rivers area is planted with a mixture of Trust / Cotswolds Seeds The herbal ley is the key ingredient deciduous trees and shrubs to Honeydale Farm project as a to building up organic matter in the increase infiltration. As the tree demonstration site for flood soil, which in turn is a cornerstone roots develop over time they create attenuation and biodiversity of preventing surface run off from preferential pathways for water to enhancements. the farm’s sloped fields. Essentially, percolate into the subsoil. organic matter acts like a sponge, soaking up and storing excess water, which is then available to the The benefits of the scheme to crops in dry spells. the Natural Capital of the site are currently being assessed using These benefits have been a range of metrics, with the data optimised at Honeydale by the being collated and processed by an Facilitator MSc student. Vaughan Lewis

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Case study 3: Hills to Levels

Natural flood management in the Somerset Levels Following the historically severe flooding in the Somerset Levels in the winter of 2013/2014, the Hills to Levels Project was launched with the aim of manage flooding through natural processes. With funding from the Somerset Rivers Authority and the Players of the People’s Postcode Lottery, and partners including FWAG, the RSPB, local Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Bath and West Society, the project is working with hundreds of farmers across the entire 350,000 ha area of the Somerset Levels catchment. James Winslade – down to the roots. At the same Planning for Floods on the time, he started experimenting Every farm, every field and every Levels with cover crops in his arable stream has a part to play fields, to encourage soil stability in managing flooding. Winslade’s mixed farm on the and build up fertility. To prevent flooding in levels was hit particularly hard by the long term, farmers 750 FARMERS the floods of 2014; by the time The soil biology regenerated were encouraged to MITIGATING the flood water finally drained rapidly, in turn further enhancing work together on a FLOODING off his fields three months after the stability and porosity of the the floods, the soil was bereft of catchment scale, both AROUND THE soil and building up a layer of on the hills and on the life and heavily compacted. rich compost on the surface. levels, to support the LEVELS Within two years Winslade natural processes that can Like many farmers on the levels, started to move towards a zero slow water down as it runs off Winslade needed to both bring tillage operation, direct drilling the slopes, and help store it when it life back to his land and create straight into the soil to avoid reaches the flood plains below. conditions to mitigate the effects disturbing its biology. The result should such a flooding event is a dramatically increased The collaborative approach is occur again. The answer to both resilience to flooding, as well assisted by detailed mapping lies in building up organic matter as improved yields, reduced technology that records the in the soil, which helps the earth need for chemical fertilisers and movement of water across the absorb large amounts of water benefits to wildlife. land. This allows project officers to without flooding. consider the role that each feature of the landscape plays in managing Following advice from the Hills flooding across the wider to Levels team he invested Within two years catchment, and support farmers in two subsoiling machines, Winslade started to which bring air back into the in maintaining and regenerating move towards a zero these natural processes in a ways compacted earth and allow for that fits and enhances their wider water and manure to penetrate tillage operation farm businesses, benefits wildlife and supports high quality food production.

Facilitator Ben Thorne

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Case study 4: Stroud Case study - Wick Street Farm Wick Street Farm is a mixed livestock family farm on the north-east-facing slopes of the Rural Sustainable Painswick Valley. The majority of the farm is under permanent pasture, with rain fall running off the sloped fields into the Painswick Stream, Drainage Project which flows through the farm and down through Stroud town centre.

The owner of the farm helped plan and design the NFM works and undertook construction was of most of the measures implemented.

The aim of the measures on the farm are to slow the rate at which high flows travel off the farm and into the stream and reduce bank erosion caused by cattle and high flows. This will reduce the risk of flooding for Stroud and the villages of the Painswick Valley.

To achieve this, twenty eight large woody debris (LWD) leaky dams were installed within the spring-fed streams that flow through the Photo: Large woody debris structure on Wick Street Farm farm. They provide a physical barrier for high flows and help slow down the rate at which flood water progresses down the valley. The Like other parts of Gloucestershire, In the three years since the project main Painswick stream is also being fenced the Stroud Valleys suffered exten- was started, about 300 sustainable and willow stakes introduced to reduce erosion sive flooding during the summer drainage measures have been caused by cattle and high flows. of 2007. Every year since has seen introduced across 12 farms, spread flooding in some parts of the Stroud throughout the Stroud valleys. Valleys, including most recently 21% of the catchment now drains Over time, the large woody debris dams Chalford on the middle Frome, and through NFM structures. Working will have other benefits. By slowing the flow Bridgend and Eastington on the closely with landowners, the project upstream from them, the dams speed up the lower Frome. has overseen a range of natural flows that are immediately downstream of each flood management techniques structure, cleaning gravels and stones of silts. Silt and sediment will eventually accumulate behind Following a 2012 study by the including attenuating water in the structures, creating a small head of water Environment Agency which looked channel by building large woody and resulting in long-term changes to stream into the feasibility and potential debris leaky dams, creating dry structure. This helps provide a natural habitat for benefits of implementing Natural ponds, and raised embankments in many invertebrates, lower plants and fungi, and Flood Management (NFM) to some fields; increasing infiltration engineers habitat diversity by creating a system reduce flood risk in the catchment through creating track run-offs, of pools and riffles which will attract a range of of the Stroud River Frome, the changing drainage flow routes and invertebrates and fish. Severn and Wye Regional Flood building soakaways. and Coastal Committee (RFCC) agreed to fund a project officer When introduced downstream in wider valleys, based within Stroud District Council 21% OF THE FROME large woody debris can divert water during higher flows and allow it to collect on the to implement and promote rural CATCHMENT NOW sustainable drainage in the Frome floodplain. This allows silt and sediment to drop catchment. DRAINS THROUGH out of the water column onto the floodplain, NFM STRUCTURES decreasing the total sediment load in the stream.

You can find more information about the project on the Stroud District Council website at: www.stroud.gov.uk/rsuds Facilitator Chris Uttley

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Getting your own house in order Follow this advice to become more prepared for extreme weather events of flood and drought while protecting the purity and biodiversity of your waterways.

1 Saving Water 3 Avoid polluting streams and Water Courses Water can be collected from your house drainpipes saving approximately 85,000 litres Compost heaps, grass cuttings and putting down the drain – drains can of water. This can then be used as an efficient leaves that are deposited near or lead directly to water courses. and sustainable method of tackling the next to a waterway will cause nitrate n Compost heaps should be located prospect of drought by providing your plants build up and potentially pollute the away from water sources and on a and garden with water in the summer months. water by increasing nutrient levels. hard surface Also, rain water is healthier for your plants and Increased nutrients cause algae vegetables since it does not have the additives build up which can prevent light n Leaf mould is the best compost you that tap water has such as fluoride. from penetrating the water, as the can apply to your garden and will algae dies it consumes vast amounts supply it with all the nutrients and of oxygen leaving little for aquatic microorganisms it needs to thrive organisms to breathe, thus killing n Increased micro bacteria in soils them. As well as changing the water Septic Tank helps to eradicate slugs and keeps 2 ecology, nutrients can also cause your soil healthy Pollution to drains, ditches, streams blockages further downstream. n and rivers from effluent water leaving Also, be very aware of what you are Only put rainwater down drains your septic tank is an offence under the Public Health and Water Resources Act. Overflowing septic tanks are a major source of pollution to rivers and streams and will 4 Garden Chemicals 5 Misconnection affect the ecology of aquatic life, not to mention the bad odour it can give off. Soak Misuse of slug pellets and garden Waste water from homes has two away systems should lead away from the chemicals can cause pollution; outlets; water from baths, toilets, sinks, house but not directly into a water supply. Nutrient build up can lead to the the dishwasher and washing machine growth of plants such as nettles goes to the sewer system to be cleaned. The best advice for keeping a healthy tank is and docks, both of which can leach, Rain water from roof tops and ground to take the following precautions: causing damage to rivers and surface water leads to outdoor drains. streams. The cost of misconnection is huge; just n Tanks should be checked every 1-3 1% misconnection can cost £190 million, years until you can get a predictable n Always read the instructions on and is one of the main sources of river pumping schedule the packet before applying to your and stream pollution. n Tanks should be pumped every 3-5 garden n years depending on the size of the tank n Try alternative options such as If you have recently put in a new extension have your pipes been n For further information visit www. composting diverted to the right waste system? septictanksandsewagetreatment- n Look up the right nutrient A booklet is available that provides plants.co.uk deficiency of the your plants so information on how to check if your you apply what is needed home is polluting the environment.

6 Blocked Drains that go to the septic tank can become Buy local, healthy food blocked and the result is the backing up 7 Every year blockages caused by of sewage into the lowest point of your Nutritious food and clean, stable water sanitary towels, nappies, cotton buds, home, garden and ground water. environments go together, both are tights, fat deposits and other items of underpinned by healthy soils. The best n Avoiding putting anything man- non-disposable waste have to be cleared tool to support farmers in building up made but toilet tissue down the toilet from the systems daily – fat disposal alone their soils is a well-connected local food has resulted in 55,000 blockages a year. n Do not grow trees next to your septic market, so communities have access to Septic tanks are also at risk. The tubes tank or waste water pipes all thebenefits local farmers can provide.

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Further information and support There are a number of organisations which can provide advice and support to communities in starting projects to manage the local water environment more effectively. Contact details are provided for Catchment Partnerships from www.catchmentbasedapproach.org

Community Resources

NationalNational FlFloodood FoForumrum

ACRE FWAG Association The National Flood Forum CCRI Suite 109, Unit 9 FWAG SW Snuff Mill Warehouse Countryside and Community Cirencester Office Park Hawkridge House Bewdley Research Institute Tetbury Road Summerfield Way Worcestershire University of Gloucestershire Cirencester Chelston Business Park DY12 2EL Oxstalls Campus Gloucestershire Wellington 01743 741 725 Oxstalls Lane GL10 2EQ TA21 8YA www.nationalfloodforum.org.uk Gloucester 01285 653477 01823 660684 Gloucestershire [email protected] www.fwag.org.uk GL2 9HW www.acre.org.uk www.fwagsw.org.uk www.ccri.ac.uk @CCRI_UK