Clean Water for Wildlife Ock Catchment Pilot First feedback on the results

Jeremy Biggs Freshwater Habitats Trust People, Ponds and Water The need

In People, Ponds and Water we will achieve two overarching outcomes: • Engage many thousands of people with activities that help them to learn about, participate in, and enjoy their freshwater heritage • Make a nationally significant difference to the protection of freshwater biodiversity in the UK People, Ponds and Water

PondNet: A new national monitoring network to collect assessing the status of ponds, Priority Ponds, and selected S.42 freshwater species. Includes the world’s first national eDNA monitoring programme.

Flagship Ponds: Supporting local people to manage the most important ponds and pond landscapes in England and Wales.

Clean Water for Wildlife: Raising awareness of the critical importance of clean water for freshwater biodiversity by enabling people to use ‘quick kits’ to survey nutrient levels across all waterbody types. Clean Water for Wildlife

A citizen science survey to:  Raise awareness of extent of nutrient pollution, and  Find clean water habitats, in England and Wales  Help to protect freshwater biodiversity. Nutrient pollution is invisible so often We have funds to ‘give away’ doesn’t seem ‘real’ to people. 20,000 of each test kit (50p each) Quick kits makes it possible for people to They are going like hot cakes! easily ‘see’ pollution for the first time. Clean Water for Wildlife

The categories:  Both are quite sensitive

 NO3 detects down to <0.2 mg/l

 PO4 detects down to <20 μg/l  In both cases this is equivalent to ‘High’ status  For us, High status = ‘Clean’ Clean Water for Wildlife

Classifying sites: For us, three categories;  No evidence of nitrate or phosphate pollution  Some nitrate or phosphate pollution  High or very high levels Categories intended to match ‘High’ and ‘Good’ status; N categories reflect of pollution literature values for High status (1 mg/L is the boundary for ‘biological impacts’) Clean Water for Wildlife

Testing the method:  Just a snapshot today…..  Good relationship with lab standard solutions Clean Water for Wildlife

What we can achieve By mobilising volunteers and professionals, with low cost analysis:  Unrivalled low cost assessment of water quality across landscapes, in multiple water body types, at high resolution needed especially for heterogeneous smaller waters  Complements statutory programmes  Early days, but the limitations of precision may be outweighed by the ability to collect very large samples  EXCELLENT engagement potential: data are unique, revelatory, powerful (and hopefully, empowering) First results Samples: 579 (c570 sites), slightly over 1 per km2 (catchment 470 km2) Surveyed: over 1 month from 19 March to 25 April 2016. First results Ponds: 168 Lakes: 30 Streams: 178 Rivers: 19 Ditches: 126 Others: 56 No evidence of pollution (just a little out of catchment). The New Pill, Otmoor, January 2016 No evidence of pollution. The Pondweed Leafhopper Pond, near Abingdon (in 2014) No evidence of pollution. Dorchester Sailing Club lake, April 2016 High levels of pollution. Northfield Brook, April 2016 Very high levels of pollution. Headwater stream in Radley Large Wood, April 2016 High levels of pollution. Hinksey stream near South Hinksey, April 2016 No evidence of pollution. A floodplain pool, near the Thames, Wytham, April 2016 High levels of pollution. The Thames, near Radley, April 2016 And one last ‘No evidence of pollution’. Pool on Thames floodplain near Radley, with Water-violet, May 2016 Nick Hills, Oxford Flood Alliance, April 2016 Four stories 1. How many polluted, how many clean? 2. Where’s the clean water? 3. Can we trust the results? 4. What can farmers do? 1. How many polluted, how many clean? 1. How may polluted, how many clean?

Just over a quarter - 28% - of sites showed no evidence of Lakes nutrient pollution. Ditches

Streams

No Ponds pollution

High or Very High Some pollution pollut’n Of the unpolluted sites, nearly three quarters were ponds or lakes 1. How may polluted, how many clean?

Overall results, by waterbody type 1. How may polluted, how many clean? Many further questions

• Which parts of the network are clean, which parts polluted? What’s the actual area of clean water? • Can we tell where the greatest potential for cleaning up may be? • Which sub-catchments have most and least clean water; most and least highly polluted water? • Which waterbodies are Good/High status for P but suffer serious nitrogen pollution (there are quite a lot) • What’s the role of groundwater? A lot of the least polluted waters are groundwater-fed • What’s the role of woodland? The only ‘High’ streams are in woods 2. Where is the clean water?

With both N and P at High status: a. Ponds and lakes b. Floodplain c. Woodland d. Fens 2. Where’s the clean water? a. Clean water: ponds and lakes b. Clean water: woodland streams c. Clean water: floodplain d. Clean water: fens (under threat) 3. Can we trust the results?

Farmoor Folly Bridge, Oxford 0.25 0.25

0.20 0.20

0.15 0.15

0.10 0.10 Wytham Donnington Bridge 0.05 0.05 (c.5 km d/s) (c1.5 km d/s) 0.00 0.00 Dec 14 Mar 15 Jun 15 Oct 15 Jan 16 Dec 14 Apr 15 Jul 15 Oct 15 Jan 16

Radley College boathouse Clifton Hampden 0.30 0.30

0.25 0.25

0.20 0.20

0.15 0.15 0.10 Sandford Lock 0.10 Sutton Pools, 0.05 (c.2 km u/s) 0.05 Culham (c.4 km u/s) 0.00 0.00 Dec 14 Apr 15 Jul 15 Oct 15 Jan 16 Dec 14 Apr 15 Jul 15 Oct 15 Jan 16 4. What can farmers do? 4. What can farmers do? 4. What can farmers do? The New Forest What next?

1. Your thoughts and suggestions 2. Analyse data in full 3. Workshop with catchment partners (and wider group of interested people?) 4. Write (a) detailed (b) summary report 5. Act on results practically: protecting SSSIs, other Priority Habitats (headwaters, ponds, lakes), flood scheme 6. Repeat everywhere! Samples were collected by 1. Peter Belk 17. John Mastrodi 2. Jeremy Biggs 18. Elaine McGoff 3. Daryl Buck 19. Malcolm Moor 4. Andrew Callander 20. Brian Morris 5. John Campbell 21. Cynth Napper 6. Eleanor Dangerfield 22. Jo Old 7. Angie Digges 23. Emma Quinlan 8. Sue Dunn 24. Laura Quinlan 9. David Guyoncourt 25. David Rawcliffe 10. Nick Hills 26. Polly Rawcliffe 11. Barry Hudson 27. Peter Rawcliffe 12. Rob Iles 28. Judy Webb 13. Felicity Jenkins 29. Penny Williams 14. Mike Jenkins 30. Katy Williams 15. Lucy Manzo 31. Hannah Worker 16. Dominc Martyn (I think that’s everyone!)