08 Jan 2026
Image description: a kingfisher flying just above the water of a river lined with mossy boulders. River Kent, Kendal, UK. Image by Jonny Gios on Unsplash. As reported by the BBC, a grassroots movement is gaining momentum across England as local authorities declare legal rights for rivers, despite Parliament having no plans to enshrine […]
31 Jul 2025
Farmers in England will get new payments for cleaning up the waterways near their land, the environment secretary has said, as reported in the Guardian. Speaking at the National Farmers’ Union water summit at Beeston Hall farm in West Yorkshire, Steve Reed said his department would be launching changes to the sustainable farming incentive (SFI) […]
24 Jul 2025
A new scheme is being trialled in south Wales with the aim of recycling an extra 200 tonnes of farm plastics to reduce farm plastic pollution in rivers. The Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Four Rivers for LIFE project is working with Agriculture Plastics Environment (APE), Birch Farm Plastics and Afonydd Cymru to increase the collection […]
08 Jan 2025
Citizen science testing of river water quality will expand this year in an attempt to make the data part of official monitoring of waterways, the head of an independent environmental research group has said. Photo credit: Zowie Green The use of ordinary people across the country to test river water quality for pollutants […]
19 Dec 2024
New research by two US Universities finds “shockingly” fast changes to flows of Earth’s 3 million or so rivers. The research, reported by CNN, found that nearly half of the world’s largest downstream rivers — 44% — saw a drop in the amount of water flowing through them each year. Hannah Cloke, a hydrology professor […]
11 Dec 2024
The BBC reports that water companies are planning to build a pipeline network to move treated sewage away from conservation areas and into rivers, lakes and seas which do not have the same legal protection. Photo credit: Gavin Young The work will be funded by customers and the water regulator, Ofwat, has provisionally […]
06 Nov 2024
An ambitious new conservation project that will create and restore river woodlands across Scotland is now underway, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Riverwoods Blueprint Project is being led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, alongside partners Fisheries Management Scotland, Woodland Trust Scotland, Tweed Forum, Kyle of Sutherland Rivers Trust, Spey Catchment […]
09 Oct 2024
The year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades, according to a new report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which signalled critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand. Credit: Chasing Lyu Key messages 2023 was driest year for global rivers in 33 years […]
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