Maidenhead to Sunbury catchment

Catchment partnership vision

A healthy River Thames for All! Our vision is to conserve, improve and enhance all rivers within the Lower Thames catchment making them cleaner, more accessible and more attractive, to benefit local communities and wildlife both now and in the future. We will achieve this through a catchment based approach, implemented by a dynamic catchment partnership that fully represents the diverse communities and stakeholders within the Maidenhead to Teddington catchment.

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

  • Physical modifications

    Historic modification such as weirs and river bank protection restricts fish passage and marginal habitat

  • Pollution from waste water

    Pressure from catchment’s urbanised areas, combined sewer overflows and misconnected plumbing

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Rural areas higher up in the catchment contribute to diffuse water pollution from agriculture

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity

    Development in the catchment must enhance biodiversity

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Waste water infrastructure is failing to well serve the catchment

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Large populations are at risk of surface water and fluvial flooding within the Maidenhead to Teddington catchment

  • Removing plastics/litter from the water environment

    Plastic is a significant problem affecting wildlife and peoples perceptions of their waterways within the catchment

  • Improved bathing waters (including inland)

    Areas of the catchment offer popular swimming locations but these are not currently designated as such

  • Connecting communities with nature

    Communities must engage with their local river in order to champion and protect them

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Pollution from towns, cities and transport

    Drainage and road run-off are significant pollution sources within the catchment

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    The catchment has a large population at risk of fluvial and surface water flooding

  • Physical modifications

    Many rivers in the catchment have been historically dredged and impounded

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Pollution from waste water

Emerging challenges

  • Pollution from waste water
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels
  • Physical Modifications

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The Maidenhead to Teddington Catchment Partnership has expanded its membership, with partners contributing to a greater level of knowledge sharing and collaborative working within the catchment. Partners have completed multi-benefit water environment improvement projects throughout the catchment. Key successes from 2016-2020 are:

  • saving the Salt Hill Stream; this project has deculverted a section of the Salt Hill stream in Slough, creating a new channel and associated wetlands and improved the amount of habitat and flood resilience of the area, while increasing the local community's access to green/blue spaces
  • development of the ambitious rewilding Arcadia project, an umbrella scheme for rewilding areas of the Arcadian Thames
  • Ockwells park design and ambition for restoration of the river Cut
  • Installing woody debris and fishing platforms on the river Cut
  • Roundmoor Ditch Improvement Project where river enhancements were completed with volunteers who were also trained to look after the area in the future
  • start of an ambitious partnership pilot project to control invasive floating pennywort and feed into the GB Floating Pennywort Strategy.

Partnership development plans

We will expand our membership to include a broader range of stakeholders including Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs), farming, industry and academic sectors. This will increase the partnership’s influence on policy and decision making. We will continue to build strong and productive working relationships between partners to help develop and complete ambitious multi-benefit projects. We seek to develop innovative funding sources to help us realise our vision: a healthy River Thames for all.

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • 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
    Maidenhead and Sunbury

  • Confident

    Rewilding Arcadia: Project led by Thames Landscape Strategy to rewild the Arcadian Thames

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Thames (Egham to Teddington)

  • Confident

    Slough Smart Sponge Catchments, innovative Flood Resilience project

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage regulated flows
    Delivery mechanism
    EA Flood/coastal risk management programme
    Location
    Salthill Stream Chalvey Ditches

  • Confident

    Cut Improvement project (including Ockwells Park wetland creation)

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    Highways England Programme
    Location
    Cut (Binfield to River Thames confluence) and Maidenhead Ditch

  • Confident

    Road run off pollution modelling

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Location
    Thames Lower

  • Confident

    Outfall Safari programme (Bracknell and Slough)

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage point source discharges
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Location
    Cut (Warfield to north Bracknell) Cut (Ascot to Bull Brook confluence at Warfield) Salthill Stream Cut at west Bracknell

  • Less certain

    Backwater habitat opportunity mapping

    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 to map the locations of backwaters that need improvement
    Location
    Thames Lower

  • Less certain

    Eton Wick River Improvement Project

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Identify and secure funding
    Location
    Roundmoor Ditch and Boveney Ditch

  • Less certain

    British Canoeing and EA pilot study to clear Floating Pennywort

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Identify suitable locations within catchment
    Location
    Thames Lower

  • Less certain

    Penton Hook island backwater restoration and improvements to fish passage channel

    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 source needs securing
    Location
    Thames (Egham to Teddington)

  • Wider water environment

    Thames and Tributaries Plasticblitz project

    Reason for measure
    Removing plastics/litter from the water environment
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Thames Lower

Catchment Partnership contributors

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