What can be done about the quality of our river water? We have written before about how important clean water is to us here in Torridge, not just to safeguard the health of rowers, paddleboarders and others – human and animal – who use the river, but because the Torridge underpins our identity and our heritage, from Tarka the Otter to Westward Ho! and that is something that this group is particularly concerned with. 

Now a new campaign is underway to protect Devon’s rivers. The Devon Rivers Manifesto, launched at this year’s County Show, is calling for all Devon’s rivers to be restored to health by 2030. Currently only 21% of our so called ‘water bodies’ meet the criteria for ‘good ecological status,’ and the target date for improvement is currently 2063 – shockingly too late for many of us. 

The Devon Rivers Manifesto puts forward a balanced range of actions for achieving this new target. Sewage pollution by water companies is already high on the public agenda, not least because of the work done by Surfers Against Sewage in relation to coastal pollution. But many of the most serious spillages are happening upstream, in Abbotsham, Weare Gifford, and Torrington, contaminating watercourses and threatening wildlife. Campaigners are demanding that South West Water should be made to improve capacity before paying dividends or bonuses. 

However, 40% of river pollution comes from agricultural run off, a situation which cannot be managed without targeted funding and support for farmers, who are already struggling with increased costs, cuts to payments, and wetter weather which keeps cattle indoors for longer. 

The Environment Agency has also seen cuts to funding – 50% in the last decade – so it is not monitoring the state of our rivers effectively and in a way that the public can understand. This funding, say campaigners, should be restored and the Agency given teeth to enforce legislation designed to protect rivers. 

Road drainage is another culprit, responsible for 18% of damage to the health of our rivers (never mind the potholes!). Again, this is a result of inadequate local budgets. Local councils need greater power to ensure that new developments do not add to either sewage or road drainage pollution. 

The Devon Rivers Manifesto will be presented at the next meeting of the Taw and Torridge Climate Forum which takes place on 7 September from 10 am at the Beechfield Centre, Fremington. Geoffrey Cox and the other twelve Devon MPs need to step up and commit time to this issue. Rivers and catchment areas don’t respect constituency boundaries.