Severn Vale

Catchment partnership vision

The Severn Vale has a wonderful diversity of habitats, from the Cotswold hills, the low lying wetlands and the Forest of Dean to urban centres including Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership works to enhance the water environment for the benefit of wildlife and the people who live and work there. The partnership has broad membership and engagement from environmental charities, local authorities, landowner and community groups, individuals and statutory bodies. We welcome new members and input from anyone with an interest in the water environment. We work collaboratively to develop and deliver projects, provide advocacy and share knowledge. We aspire for the Severn Vale to be a thriving ecosystem with healthy populations of resident and migratory fish and birds, bringing social and economic benefits to all. We aim to make decisions locally to create and sustain a rich and valued water environment, resilient to pressures including climate change.

Environment Agency

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

    Mixed agriculture including dairy and arable sources of excess nutrients and sediments

  • Physical modifications

    Historically straightened rivers and barriers severely restrict fish passage and biodiversity within our waters

  • Pollution from towns, cities and transport

    Large urban areas and expanding development, motorway and trunk road infrastructure

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

The partnership have not identified any wider water environment challenges

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    Climate change will affect water levels and flow as weather patterns change, the catchment needs to build resilience and help move to sustainable use of the water environment

  • Pollution from towns, cities and transport

    Existing urban areas and major road networks are a source of pollution, the catchment will have many new housing developments creating additional pressures

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Agriculture is a dominant land use throughout much of the Severn Vale with mixed and livestock farms as potential sources of excess nutrient input to the rivers

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels

Emerging challenges

  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
  • Pollution from Agriculture and Rural Areas
  • Pollution from waste water

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The Gloucester Rivers Improvement Project focuses on the Sud and Twyver catchment with multiple partners working together. The project addresses diffuse agricultural pollution in the headwaters due to installing several natural flood management interventions to restore a natural channel and improve habitat downstream. All of which contribute to addressing the flood risk to a significant number of properties in Gloucester. Work to renaturalise the Sud brook channel recently won an award from CPRE, recognising this exemplar of best practice. The Stroud Rural SuDS project has been running since 2014: 680 leaky woody structures have been installed. Other natural flood management (NFM) interventions used include bunds, tree planting and track works. The project has received national recognition and is a great example of partnership working. The partnership secured £1.3million of Water Environment Grant funding for NFM, modified barriers, restoring wetlands and to give farm advice. The Severn Vale has been awarded 3 DEFRA funded facilitation funds bringing together farmers and landowners to enhance the water environment. We are proud of the Severn Vale partnership’s management. We have a strong, active steering group, regular communications and whole-partnership meetings. During the second cycle of River Basin Management Plans we completed a thorough stakeholder review; a really inspiring and invigorating workshop discussed shared ambitions for the catchment.

Severn Rivers Trust

Partnership development plans

The Severn Vale partnership is working to raise its profile and diversify the range of partners engaged, including businesses and the private sector. We want to build on existing work with community groups and extend this. The partnership has the potential to become a hub for knowledge and skills sharing, developing the use of citizen science data and building a robust evidence. We recognise and accept the challenge to develop and deliver more multi-year catchment wide projects.

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • Confident

    Stroud Rural SuDS project delivering Natural Flood Management interventions in the upper Frome catchment

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
    Location
    Frome and Cam

  • Confident

    Cotswold Canals Connected to deliver at least 21ha of habitat creation and restoration also restore navigable canal

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Heritage Lottery Fund
    Location
    Frome - Ebley Mill to conf R Severn

  • Confident

    Enhancement/no deterioration measures in 2020-2025 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
    Severn Vale

  • Confident

    Forest Waters project working on four key waterbodies to develop catchment plans with Forestry England

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Forest of Dean

  • Confident

    Diversify and extend partnership engagement to new communities, farmers and businesses

    Reason for measure
    Feasibility study to build commitment to deliver
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Severn Vale

  • Confident

    Develop a citizen science hub to build robust and resilient evidence, engaging communities and highlighting successes

    Reason for measure
    Feasibility study to build commitment to deliver
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Severn Vale

  • Less certain

    Reducing nutrient input to the Westbury Brook Catchment and Walmore Common

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    None identified
    Barriers to delivery
    Lack of funding, landowner agreements to be secured, lack of baseline evidence
    Location
    Westbury Bk - source to mouth

  • Less certain

    Reducing phosphate input to the River Leadon Catchment

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Environment Land Management Scheme (future full-scale roll-out)
    Barriers to delivery
    Lack of funding, landowner agreements to be secured, lack of baseline evidence
    Location
    Leadon

  • Less certain

    Deliver urban SuDS alongside rural natural flood management in key flood risk areas

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage regulated flows
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding, landowner agreements, lack of baseline evidence, partner agreements
    Location
    Severn Vale

  • Less certain

    Salmon to Salmon Springs project removing barriers to fish along the River Frome, improving fish element

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding, landowner agreements, lack of baseline evidence, partner agreements
    Location
    Frome - Ebley Mill to conf R Severn

  • Less certain

    Restoration of floodplain meadows network

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding, landowner/partner agreements, baseline evidence, priority species identification
    Location
    Severn Vale

  • Less certain

    Develop Severn Wildbelt with the River Severn Partnership to promote blue green infrastructure and connected habitats

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Funding, landowner agreements, lack of baseline evidence, partner agreements
    Location
    Severn Vale

Catchment Partnership contributors

Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership: