Essex Rivers Hub
- Catchment HostEssex and Suffolk Rivers Trust
- River Basin DistrictAnglian
- Management CatchmentEssex Combined
- Management Catchment ID3018
Catchment partnership vision
Essex Rivers Hub Partnership is working to ensure our rivers, wetlands and water resources are resilient to the changing climate and population growth, are richer in biodiversity, support a thriving economy and contribute to the well being of the citizens of Essex. Over the next 10 years we will work in partnership to ensure: rivers and wetlands are restored at priority sites; water resources can meet human demands without compromising the needs of wildlife and habitats in a changing climate; the challenges and impacts of climate change and population growth are being addressed through innovative adaptation and mitigation initiatives. We will extend our reach with landowners, farmers, businesses and local communities to ensure people in Essex are more conscious of the pressures on the water environment and are more actively engaged in efforts to use water more sustainably, reduce pollution, improve water quality and increase biodiversity.
Related websites
Find out more about the activities and ambitions of this catchment partnership and how you can get involved to help improve the water environment in the catchment.
Catchment challenges
Current challenges identified by partnership
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
Pollution from agriculture is a major source of poor water quality in these rivers
Pollution from waste water
Improvements to asset management and reductions in combined sewer overflows are needed
Physical modifications
Removal of redundant structures and modifications needed to open up fish passages and increase ecological resilience
Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership
Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
Providing climate change resilience for Essex is key to protect people, places and the wider environment
Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Nature recovery will help increase nature-based resilience and help manage climate change, whilst increasing biodiversity throughout the County
Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
Healthy soils and nutrient balances are key to reducing flood potential, eutrophication and sedimentation of our rivers and estuaries
Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents
To provide a clean and safe the water environment for wildlife and all recreational water users
Improved shellfish waters
Improving Marine Conservation Zone habitat to promote recruitment of young native oysters in the Blackwater and Colne Estuary
Removing plastics/litter from the water environment
Reduce use of plastic tree guards, promote non-plastic guard use, plastics tracked in animals faeces, impacting the local food-chain of wildlife
Future challenges predicted by partnership
Pollution from agriculture and rural areas
Pollution from agriculture is a major cause of local poor water quality and habitat degradation, which impact our rivers
Pollution from waste water
Improvements to waste water asset management and reductions in sewer overflows will improve water quality for wildlife and recreational participation
Physical modifications
Removal or modification of barriers to fish movement, combined with riparian habitat enhancement, will help reverse the ecological impacts of past river modification
Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency
Future challenges in 2050
- Invasive Non-native Species
- Pollution from waste water
- Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
Emerging challenges
- Pollution from waste water
- Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
- Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021
The Essex Rivers Hub is a proactive partnership that operates from source to sea. Coastal partners are tackling saltmarsh erosion and piloting the Essex seagrass project and working with Zoological Society of London to protect native oysters, further inland, partners are identifying nutrient sources flowing into rivers that cause issues with over-wintering macro-algae and saltmarsh degradation. The Essex Fish Migration Roadmap has been developed to reconnect migration routes from estuaries to headwaters with fish easement being delivered. Natural flood management projects have been delivered in several catchments to help attenuate flood risk, with continued development and future expansion of the beaver release project at Finchingfield to mitigate flooding in the village below. This scheme is being monitored by numerous project partners and academics to provide a comparison with more traditional flood management options. Essex River Hub is also pioneering eDNA meta-barcoding surveys to identify multiple water dependant mammalian species through water sample collection, including non-native mink, as part of a regional eradication scheme. Floating pennywort, another invasive non-native species, continues to be tackled at scale by a range of partners with twice yearly reviews of progress. Partners have engaged with farmer clusters, landowners and the AONB on landscape scale issues through water company initiatives. Member partners continue to monitor and manage Invasive Non-native Species in the region.
Partnership development plans
We aim to expand the partnership and extend our engagement with landowners, farmers, businesses and local communities to further address key challenges in the catchment. We will engage with innovative resilience projects planned for the estuaries and rivers, and promote developments in the Blackwater catchment, Spains Hall Estate and Abberton Reservoir for the betterment of the environment. We will also promote the Essex Fish Migration Roadmap and further its aims, whilst completing more projects to improve rivers in the catchment. Partners will also be expanding the water vole recovery work as part of the Waterlife Recover East mink eradication program, working with partners across the region, and INNS control will remain a key focus for partnership working.
Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027
Confident
Enhancement/no deterioration measures in PR19 Water Industry National Environment Programme
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage point source discharges
- Delivery mechanism
- Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
- Location
- Essex Combined
Confident
Work with partners to deliver innovative resilience projects in Essex to address impacts of climate change and growth
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- Potential future water industry programme
- Location
- Essex Combined
Confident
Continue to deliver improvements to river channels and riparian habitats where opportunities and resources arise
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
- Location
- Essex Combined
Confident
Work with the Spains Hall Estate and other Blackwater initiatives to deliver natural flood management and rewilding
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- Potential future water industry programme
- Location
- Blackwater (Combined Essex)
Confident
Promote the Fish Migration Route map and seek opportunities to remove redundant barriers to fish and eel passage
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- Other local funding
- Location
- Essex Combined
Confident
Engage with Waterlife Recovery East mink eradication programme and undertake other works to remove and control INNS
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage invasive non-native species
- Delivery mechanism
- Other Public funding
- Location
- Essex Combined
Less certain
Engage with farmers to promote water sensitive farming and measures to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
- Delivery mechanism
- Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
- Barriers to delivery
- Awareness raising, farmer/landowner cooperation, insufficient incentives
- Location
- Essex Combined
Less certain
Work with partners to develop and deliver natural solutions to erosion of estuarine habitats and saltmarshes
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage regulated flows
- Delivery mechanism
- Marine Habitat Restoration/Fisheries Fund
- Barriers to delivery
- Insufficient funding, major technical challenges, regulatory barriers
- Location
- Essex Combined
Less certain
Exploit opportunities from Biodiversity Net Gain to deliver benefits to ecology and the water environment
- Reason for measure
- Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
- Delivery mechanism
- Developer funded
- Barriers to delivery
- Mechanisms not in place, need voluntary approach and consideration of new statutory regulations
- Location
- Essex Combined
Less certain
Work with partners to reduce pollution into rivers from sewer overflows, surface runoff and septic tanks
- Reason for measure
- Control or manage point source discharges
- Delivery mechanism
- Potential future water industry programme
- Barriers to delivery
- Bigger action plan from water industry and concerted, sustained awareness raising programme
- Location
- Essex Combined
Catchment Partnership contributors
Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership:
- Eastern Region Development Team for British Canoeing
- FWAG East
- Essex Wildlife Trust
- Essex and Suffolk Water
- Essex Rivers Hub
- Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust
- Environment Agency
- Spains Hall Estate
- Anglian Water
- Natural England
- RSPB
- University of Essex
- Thames Estuary Partnership
- EW Davies Farms
- National Farmers' Union
- Essex County Council
- Essex Waterways
- Dedham Vale and Stour Valley AONB
- National Trust