In this 'info-blog' (we couldn't decide if it was an information sheet or blog!) we wanted to bring together some information about the key issues, with a bit of commentary to give you an overview of the situation, what it means for our work, and what perhaps you might be able to do to help bring about change - and to help make our waterways wonderful again. It's a really urgent issue for the county and nationally, so we hope you find it an interesting read - we'll be back with updates throughout the coming year.

For Somerset Wildlife Trust, water quality is of ongoing concern across the county, but never more so than for the land we manage on the Somerset Levels & Moors

It might look natural, but the Levels and Moors are a completely human-engineered landscape with a complex ditch and river system tightly controlled for water levels to allow for farming activity and to deliver flood protection in low-lying villages.

This designation gives them protection through the Wildlife and Countryside Act and means they must be kept in good condition. The government is responsible for ensuring this happens and ensures landowners manage their SSSI land to protect and conserve the SSSI features. 

Together these SSSIs make up the Special Protection Area (SPA), designated by law as areas protected for bird species - in Somerset these include wigeon, teal, lapwing, snipe and bittern. They also form part of the Somerset Levels & Moors RAMSAR site, recognised as a wetland of international importance containing rare and unique wetland species.

The assessment concludes with this sentence “Whilst clear cause and effect relationships have yet to be established it seems entirely feasible that the excessive nutrients, combined with climate change, could lead to a situation where it is far more difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the supporting habitats of these bird species.”

So what does this actually mean for wildlife?

Nutrients (phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium) are essential for plant growth and are found at balanced levels in healthy soils. On the Levels and Moors nutrient loads are too high which has resulted in the huge growth of plant species (duckweed and algae) on the water surface of the ditch systems on the Levels. This blocks out sunlight killing other aquatic plant species, preventing photosynthesis and reducing oxygen levels in the water.  

These conditions cause a significant decrease in the biodiversity of the water courses killing invertebrates and fish that require oxygenated water. In turn, the birds that feed on these species will most likely lose their food source.

It is important to say that the sources of nutrient pollution mainly come from the surrounding river catchments, not just from the management of the SSSIs. (A river catchment is an area of land where water collects when it rains, often bounded by hills, and flows into streams, through soil and eventually into a particular river.) River catchments on the Somerset Levels are the Brue, Axe, Parrett, and Tone. Find out more on FWAG SW Catchment website.

What are the solutions?

Just as there are multiple causes of the poor water quality and high phosphate load in the Somerset Levels water courses, a range of solutions are required. Some are known and are already being put in place. Others are yet to be devised.

Good land management practices such as the use of cover crops and buffer strips, reduced use of fertilizers and careful management of slurry and livestock can also play a vital role. 

With the changes coming to the agri-environment subsidies and the introduction of the new Environmental Land Management Schemes, land owners must be incentivised to go beyond legal compliance by delivering natural solutions to improve water quality, which could include creation of wetland / reed bed habitat or flood plain that can slow or hold water that can break down nutrients into the soils and prevent them entering the water course. 

Phosphate removal is difficult. It takes time - probably up to 80 years, but reductions may be achieved in shorter timescales by storing water in soils for longer allowing phosphates to be absorbed into the soils and broken down, or allowing water to flow through reed beds that suck out phosphates as the water passes through.

The Government has announced it will review the Habitat Regulations, the legislative framework for all these designations. It is essential that they are strengthened, not weakened, with proper resource for government agencies to be able to enforce these regulations.

In August 2020 Natural England wrote to all Somerset planning authorities advising them that the unfavourable water condition of the Ramsar site should be given ‘due consideration’ before granting planning applications based on recent caselaw known as the ‘Dutch Nitrogen’ case (legal summary here). The result of this requires all new developments to demonstrate ‘phosphate neutrality’ to avoid increasing the phosphate load within the Ramsar.

Wessex Water must play an important role in preventing sewage discharges into water courses. They have committed £57m by 2024 towards this, but will need to be held to account to do more if it isn’t enough.