Preventing Plastic Pollution

Now can get out and about a bit more many of us are noticing a rise in the amount of litter in our environment. This has serious implications – it can hurt wildlife (through entanglement or swallowing) , is unsightly and can enter rivers. Once in rivers, plastic damages the ecology and ultimately ends up in the sea. It is estimated that 80% of the plastic in the ocean has come from a land source, via rivers. The top ten sources of plastics in rivers is below with a link which gives a larger version and advice on what you can do to help

Top10-Plastics-Action-Map-webDownload

Microplastics: it is not just the large plastic we can see, but the tiny fragments (less than 5mm ) called microplastics which are damaging. There are two types of microplastics – primary microplastics which have been made to be this size (this includes the nurdles which are used in plastic manufacturing and microbeads) and secondary microplastics which are the breakdown product of of larger plastic items. Even washing our clothes can release microplastics from synthetic fibres into our waterways.

The top sources of microplastics are:

• car tyres
• paints on buildings and road markings
• plastic pellets used to make plastic products
• clothing (synthetic fibres)

As citizens we can do our bit about the larger types of plastic pollution but it is going to take Government policies to tackle the effect of microplastics.

For more about a project to reduce plastic in the Great Ouse visit the Preventing Plastic Pollution website and you can share the recent video they have made:

Welney demountable flood barrier installation and Middle Level Barrier Bank works update

It looks like the A1101 in Welney will be closed next year (2022) in Jul/Aug for the installation of a demountable flood barrier. This time was chosen by a survey of local people to coincide with the school summer holidays. A demountable flood barrier is one whic can be fully removed if not needed. Some examples below:

A demountable barrier holding back the R Severn

Demountable Flood barriers protecting vital infrastructure

More details can be found in the latest update from the Environment Agency (below) about the Middle Level Barrier Banks work which will start back up this summer.

OWS10 Newsletter March 2021Download

Lockdown, Litter and the High Lode

Over the past few years a group of volunteers – Ramsey River Care group – has been keeping the river in Ramsey clear of litter but this activity had to stop due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Sadly, since this activity stopped, the river in Ramsey – or High Lode as it is called at the north end of Town – has become covered in litter. This is not only unsightly but spoils the riverbanks for anglers, is potentially harmful to wildlife and adds to the plastic content of our waterways.

This has been confirmed by Peter Beckenham, Conservation Officer for the Middle Level Commissioners who said:

” I have been receiving lots more emails recently about litter near our rivers and drains and a lot of people are collecting it up themselves. I have been helping to get rid of the litter for them but this is not sustainable. I think the recent heavy water flows are pushing the litter much further along the water courses than normal. “

Litter on the banks of the High Lode in Ramsey

It isn’t clear why there has been this sudden increase – one theory is that it could be the result of the closure/reduced access to the municipal recycling centres.

James Chrisp, local resident and canoeist, has been clearing the litter on a regular basis recently and has noticed:

” Rubbish sacks full of what looks like recycling waste which have split open , spilling plastic and rubbish all over the banks and into the water.”

James, collecting rubbish in his canoe

But there is good news, Lynsey Stafford of River Care is concerned about this problem and knows that there are local residents who share this concern too, so she will be starting the litter pick groups upas soon as possible once lockdown ends. But this time with a difference – the steep banks of the High Lode mean it is impossible to collect all the litter from the bankside so the group is asking for help from the canoeing world as well.

Any Ramsey (or nearby) resident who would like to help clear the litter, from the banks or from a canoe, is asked to contact Lynsey at: lynsey.stafford@keepbritaintidy.org. to register their interest.

A good year for endangered eels in the Middle Level

Article and photography by Peter Beckenham, Conservation Officer, Middle Level Commissioners

Monitoring of threatened European eels (Anguilla anguilla) has shown that 2020 will likely be the best year for the species reaching the Middle Level since 2014 when monitoring also began.

A specially designed ‘eel pass’ allows eels to be weighed and counted at the Middle Level’s main pumping station near Kings Lynn. The 2020 data is good news overall but it also showed that elvers, the youngest eels, recorded the second lowest annual total over the same time period.

Off to eat and grow in the Fens….

Newly arrived eels being released into the Middle Level System, October 2020

The young eels move into the freshwater rivers of the Middle Level from the tidal Great Ouse in a key part of their epic migration from the Sargasso Sea. Once in the Middle Level system they remain for many years before making the 3000-mile journey back to their natal grounds to spawn. On this downstream journey the pumping station is specially designed for them to pass through unaided. During their time in freshwater the eels mature, changing in size and colour from a muddy ‘yellow’ phase to become attractive ‘silver’ eels. They are an important part of the freshwater ecosystem, providing a protein-rich food source for wading birds and otters.

See you in 15 years time…..

A young eel

Once common in the Cambridgeshire fens, the European eel is now listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For a migratory species with a complex life cycle many threats have pushed them to this once unimaginable position. The climate crisis, illegal poaching and trafficking and manmade obstacles are some of the key issues they face. Fenland residents can help by reporting illegal fishing and pollution events or volunteering for wildlife surveys.

For more information contact Peter Beckenham, Conservation Officer for the Middle Level Commissioners:

Peter.beckenham@middlelevel.gov.uk

Check your Flood Risk

It is Flood Action Week this week and the Environment Agency is promoting resources to help us determine our own flood risk and know what to do if the worst happens.

Finding out your Flood Risk: is easy. Click here and enter your postcode. Please note, this is for long term flood risk only, if you need information on the immediate threat of flooding click here.

You will get information about your risk from flooding from rivers and seas and surface water (flash) flooding.

You can also read the Environment Agency’s advice on : What To do in a Flood

Also, please remember:

The number one cause of death in a flood is driving through flood water.

Future Fens Flood Risk Management

Photo: Bill Blake, Heritage Documentation

This year the Environment Agency published its National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England.

Page 67 features the only measure within the whole document that is focussed on a specific geographical place:

Measure 1.5.4: By 2025 the Environment Agency will work with farmers, land managers, water companies, internal drainage boards and other partners to develop a long-term plan for managing future flood risk in the Fens.

The Environment Agency and its partners are not taking the future flood risk to the Fens lightly; they have established a project – Future Fens: Flood Risk Management – to consider what the future flood risk management choices for the Great Ouse Fens could look like for the next 50 to 100 years.

The baseline report for this will be published in May this year but here are some facts and statistics which emerged from the recent (Oct 20) Anglian (Great Ouse) Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC):

There are about 300 EA owned assets delivering flood management the Ouse Fens area and 130,000 households, the benefits of flood defences to these and other assets comes to around £17.1 billion.

To maintain the level of flood defence (i.e. no improvements , not taking into account climate change ) will cost slightly in excess of £1.8 billion to 2100.

32% of the area in the Ouse Fens in under sea level, if the sea levels rise as predicted , 62% will be below sea level by 2100 with no intervention.

Much of the water (59-60%) in the area discharges, by gravity through Denver Sluice out into the washes at Kings Lynn. A rise in sea level as predicted will reduce this to 30% over the next 100 years. This may be even less if the slow movement of water causes even more siltation.

If all the flood defences were “turned off” now, it would take 7 to 12 years for the Fens Basin to fill up with water.

In drawing up this report the consultants and technical group (drawn from project partners) also developed a new methodology for assessing the cost of flooding to agriculture. This is to take into account the often high value of fen crops and other factors unique to the Fens area.

The baseline report and future reports will be found on a bespoke page on the ADA (Association of Drainage Authorities ) website.

Ouse Washes Middle Level Barrier Works – latest update (Sept 20)

ows10-newsletter-september-2020Download

FAQ’s about the proposed Welney Flood BarrierDownload

Environment Bill: Water Targets

Today (19th Aug) the Government has revealed its initial thoughts around setting the targets they aim to use to measure the success of the 25 year Environment Plan.

These are the INITIAL THOUGHTS only – the full scope of the target setting involves setting metrics, consultation and drafting the legislation. This should all be in place by 31 October 2022, when Government approval will be sought.

Targets for the Water Environment

There are no mention of Water Framework Directive targets – but then this is European legislation so possibly not surprising. The overarching vision seems to be:

“To achieve clean and plentiful water by improving at least three quarters of our waters to be as close to their natural state as soon as is practicable.”

And this will be achieved by :

Implementing better and more innovative ways to prevent agricultural pollutants damaging water bodies, whilst maintaining a competitive agricultural sector

Proposing a wastewater target which focuses on phosphates and nitrates in order to ensure that rapid progress is made in reducing their environmental impact.

Maintaining the government target for a 50% reduction in leakage by 2050, and endorsed the industry’s commitment to this reduction. Setting a demand target to encourage water companies to go further in reducing the demand for water and to also reduce non-household water use in conjunction with the retail market.

And possibly by:

Reducing the impact of pollution from abandoned metal mines on the water environment

Reducing the impact of physical modification on the water environment

More details about these targets here

Are you Pennywort Alert?

The Environment Agency and RiverCare have a range of resources (posters and postcards) for river based organisations, towns and villages to use to highlight the problem of Floating Pennywort in our waterways. Order your resources here.

You can also help out with an ambitious citizen science project to spot Pennywort on the River Great Ouse – if you spot any click on this link to report it.

Ouse Washes Section 10 news update

The latest news from the Environment Agency about progress on the need to reinforce the Middle Level (Welney village side) Barrier bank.

OWS10 Newsletter August 2020Download

Works along the Middle Level Barrier Bank

More about the Ouse Washes Section 10 work here

Welney Flood Barrier Consultation – closes 30 September 20

It isn’t too late to reply to the Environment Agency consultation about the installation of a flood barrier across the A1101 at Welney. This is to protect the village in case of over topping of the Old Bedford River. The EA need to know the best time to close the road in order to do this.

Consultation here