New research led by the University of Stirling is to explore how pollution and climate change are impacting freshwater ecosystems for the first time. The study, which has been awarded funding of £2million from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will investigate how pollutants interact with rivers and ecosystems, and devise a system to monitor and measure pollution. […]
A public consultation asking for views on new plans which respond to the challenges of flooding and creating more access to open green spaces and sustainable travel routes has entered its final week. The River Thames Scheme launched a consultation for feedback on plans which include a new flood channel which will reduce the risk […]
A new survey has revealed Scots’ fears over sewage pollution after untreated human waste was dumped in waterways 10,000 times in a year, a report in the Daily Record states. The research, conducted by Scottish Environment LINK, found litter pollution also high up the list of concerns. A total of 91 per cent of people polled said […]
The Environment Agency (EA) is celebrating a successful year for its eel passes on the River Great Ouse. It was revealed that over 70,000 eels had made the journey to Cambridgeshire from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic – a journey of over 3,000 miles. The European Eel is a critically endangered species which […]
The work of the Environment Agency, Natural England and partners was announced as the winner (29th November) for efforts across Cumbria to reinstate natural river processes that benefit both people and wildlife. The Cumbrian River Restoration partnerships programme has improved almost 100k of river length and restored over 150 hectares of floodplain across the catchments […]
Some good news to end on. 1. Natural Resources Wales crackdown on illegal gravel removal and modification works to rivers A task force set up by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to tackle illegal physical modifications to rivers and streams across the country has seen more than 30 legal notices to stop and remediate served on landowners. […]
UK rivers near livestock farms are awash with superbugs and antibiotic residues, including in the idyllic River Wye, research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found. Testing commissioned with World Animal Protection and the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics has found evidence of drug resistance in waterways near poultry and pig farms and in […]
New research from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in conjunction with partners from Austria and the Netherlands, has highlighted an unseen issue with plastic pollution: The researchers have found that the amount of plastic pollution may be under-reported, and we are suffering from multiple blind spots regarding the amount of plastic in our waterways. The researchers suspect […]