Shropshire Middle Severn

Catchment partnership vision

Creating a healthy, wildlife rich and valued water environment bringing both social and economic benefits to all. Severn Rivers Trust and Shropshire Wildlife Trust are co-hosts for the Shropshire Middle Severn catchment partnership including the catchments of the rivers Perry, Roden, Tern and Telford Brooks. The partnership is committed to collaborative working improving the water environment across the whole Shropshire Middle Severn catchment area. Our objectives include:

  • ensure critical issues affecting the water environment are understood and appropriate measures are in place
  • provide a clear understanding of issues in the catchments and enable better access and sharing of information about the water environment.

Shropshire Wildlife Trust

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

    Predominantly lowland farming with challenges from sediment such as pesticides and nutrient loading, also impacts of small water treatment works

  • Pollution from towns, cities and transport

    Large urban area with challenges from diffuse pollution, misconnections and heavily modified watercourses

  • Invasive Non-native Species

    Invasive Non-native Species are an extensive challenge, requiring considerable investment

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Nature Recovery, designated areas for nature and biodiversity

    Catchment contains the Meres and Mosses NIA and numerous RAMSAR wetland sites

  • Support Nature Recovery Network and Local Nature Recovery Strategy

    Wetland habitats, rivers and peat bodies require coordinated effort at scale

  • Nature Recovery, protect and enhance rare habitats including chalk streams

    Catchment contains extensive areas of farmed and non-farmed peatland

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Due to large urban centre of Telford and impacts of combined sewer overflows

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    Due to our extensive links with farmer led organisations and the impacts caused by sediment loading in watercourses and wetland habitats

  • Connecting communities with nature

    Due to the concentration of population in Telford and also the relationships built with farm cluster groups

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Invasive Non-native Species

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

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 networking activities of the Shropshire Middle Severn catchment partnership include nurturing positive collaborations between numerous organisations, statutory agencies, farm cluster groups, water companies and private investment. Project delivery ranges in scale from small scale interventions to large programmes covering whole catchments. Work focusses on the habitats of key priority, peat and meres, with catchment work encompassing activity to tackle low flows caused by abstraction and diffuse pollution from a range of sources alongside other measures. Severn Trent Water Ltd are investing heavily in the River Strine catchment to tackle water resources issues, and their schemes are also making significant progress across the operational catchment reducing rural pollution loading via targeted grant schemes. Environment Agency WEIF funding continues to make positive impacts delivering phosphate loading in Aqualate Mere, also projects Allscott SSSI. A demonstrator project for the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme is being delivered on the Tern and we anticipate this work stream to grow. Peat bog restoration work at Fenns, Whixall and Bettisfield moss has received an ICE civil engineering award for excellence and sustainability.

Partnership development plans

The Shropshire Middle Severn catchment partnership is aiming to increase direct membership and promote greater awareness generally in the water environment. We believe knowledge sharing and collaborative network building are crucial to addressing and reversing river catchment deterioration and lifting ecological condition from poor to high.

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • Less certain

    Continuing invasive species initiative upstream of protected sites

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
    Barriers to delivery
    Future funding to continue an ongoing project
    Location
    Perry Roden and Tern North Shropshire Telford North

  • Less certain

    Allscott SSSI pools

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage rural diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Project not finalised
    Location
    Roden - conf Sleap Bk to conf R Tern

  • Less certain

    Tern NFM scheme

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage regulated flows
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Barriers to delivery
    Development of Severn Valley Water Management Scheme
    Location
    Perry Roden and Tern North Shropshire

  • Wider water environment

    Peat for Planet: Protecting and restoring peat in farmed landscapes

    Reason for measure
    Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Location
    Roden - source to conf unnamed trib Tributary - source to conf R Roden

  • Wider water environment

    Farm to Tap: Mitigate the impact that pesticides and other run-off from farmland

    Reason for measure
    Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance
    Delivery mechanism
    Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
    Location
    Perry Roden and Tern North Shropshire Telford North

  • Wider water environment

    Shared Nitrogen Action Plans: SNAP - reduce atmospheric nitrogen pollution and its effects on sensitive habitats

    Reason for measure
    Nature Recovery, protect and enhance rare habitats including chalk streams
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Location
    Roden - source to conf unnamed trib Tributary - source to conf R Roden

Catchment Partnership contributors

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