Loddon Operational Catchment

About

The Loddon catchment covers an area of 680km2 across Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey. The River Loddon arises from chalk fed springs at Basingstoke, and flows north easterly over chalk and clay, joining the Thames just west of Wargrave. Much of the catchment is rural with urban and suburban development accounting for around 39% of the land area; the main urban centres being Basingstoke, the east of Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham and the Camberley-Farnborough-Aldershot conurbation.The Loddon and its tributaries provide a diverse range of habitats and support a range of protected species including otter which are starting to recolonise the catchment. The Loddon catchment supports a large urban population, as well as large tracts of arable land. Chalk streams (a priority habitat) are present in areas of the catchment. Native brown trout populations are found in the headwaters. Part of the river and the adjacent meadows near Stanfordend Mill are designated as a SSSI – the river for Loddon pondweed Potamogeton nodosus as the river is the principle location for this species in the UK, and the meadows for the fritillary Fritillaria meleagris. Our investigations programme shows that pollution from rural areas and waste water, physical modifications and changes to natural level and flow of water are some of the main challenges in the catchment. Physical habitat restoration is also needed at a number of locations to address the problems of past engineering and the impacts of control structures where these are severely limiting the ecological potential of the catchment.