Threats
There are many threats to the health of our rivers and streams, a lot of these don’t relate to the water in the river & streams or problems within the River. The common misconception is that the rivers problems are within the river and work to the river itself will solve all. However the problems start well away from the river banks, for example how we use; water, land and air in general. It is for this reason that rivers give a really good indication as to how healthy the whole environment around the rivers is. To protect and improve the environment we must identify the problems that affect the Ribble catchment.
The Environment Agency who are charged with protecting our environment (under the Water Framework Directive or WFD – for more information visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk ) are working with it’s partners to identify the “Significant Water Management Issues” or SWMI for short and other problems. These are the main threats to our rivers. This is being done through the River Basin Plan.
Although the Environment Agency who: identify the problems, write plans, and undertake projects to solve the problems. The problems often start in the home and there is a lot we can do to stop or reduce them.
The SWMIs for the Northwest are:
- Point pollution from rural areas
- Diffuse pollution from roads and urban areas
- Diffuse pollution from rural areas
- Point source pollution caused by discharges from the industry
- Point source pollution from discharges from sewerage systems
- Physical modifications of rivers and the coastline
- Abstraction and other artificial flow pressures
The Other Problems include:
- Alien species or non-native invasive species
- Commercial Fisheries
- Recreation
- Endocrine disrupters
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