The Challenges with Water Resourcing in the Warwickshire Avon Catchment

A lot of the work of charities and NGOs working on UK rivers focuses on Natural Flood Management, or 'Slow the Flow' initiatives. Given the significant increase in severity of flooding in the UK in the last 50 years, this emphasis is understandable! As a nation we see the UK as inherently rainy - a nationwide survey showed that 77% of British adults perceive the UK as a 'wet and rainy country'.

However, the impact of low water flow in UK rivers receives less attention. Current UK climate projections predict hotter, drier summers with wetter, warmer winters. This raises the question about water storage capacity and ecological resilience of our rivers.

How do we manage water resources within the Warwickshire Avon Catchment?

Managing water resources within catchments is complex, and influenced by numerous factors.

Take the Batchley Brook, which originates north of Redditch, and flows in to the river Arrow. in 2022, Severn Rivers Trust was tasked with finding solutions for mitigating low water flows in the catchment. There are three locations along the Batchley Brook where water abstraction takes place, which all require water. This creates complex challenge where adjusting movement of water to one location could negatively impact another location, for example by increasing road run-off and pollution.

The solution to these issues is not yet clear. In the meantime, Severn Rivers Trust have engaged landowners along the brook in the hope of identifying further opportunities for water capture or ecological resilience improvements. The situation with Batchley Brook highlights the broader challenge of managing watercourses to be flood-resilient in winter, whilst retaining enough water in summer to combat drought, all whilst balancing our water needs!

Partnerships like the Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. Bringing together stakeholders working on and around our rivers provides a platform to collaborate and tackle key questions about water resourcing and ecological resilience.

We are always welcome to new members who have an interest in supporting or developing projects to improve the Warwickshire Avon catchment – please feel free to get in touch through our Contact form at https://www.loveyourwarwickshireavon.org/