September 2025
Pulteney Weir on the River Avon, Bath
Words from the Chair
Autumn has truly arrived, and rain is bringing welcome relief to our rivers and wildlife in general. The prolonged dry weather caused serious stress to many of our watercourses. Measures to help retain water within the catchment for longer need to be delivered more widely and more quickly.
This issue highlights some of the great work being done by our partners to make our water environment more climate resilient.
Dr Richard Cresswell MBE
Chair, Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership
Community Group Spotlight -Stoke Park Community Group
At the beginning of this month, BACP staff had the pleasure of spending the morning with Stoke Park Community Group, and getting to meet the amazing volunteers working on an old dew pond.
The pond is located in a beautiful green space, within eyesight of the M32, and sitting on the edge of Bristol. Historic architecture allows this pond to fill from the bottom up, fed by a spring.
Before restoration works began, the pond was only partially visible and mostly buried underground. In 2023, the group cleared vegetation, excavated the pond, and built a fence to surround the pond and prevent livestock from entering. Since receiving Catchment Partnership Fund funding, the volunteers have rebuilt the retaining wall to the semi-circular pond and lime mortared between the stonework to prevent water from leaching out of the pond, keeping it filled with water throughout the drier months.
The base of the dew pond; water fills up from below, fed by a spring which flows from the surrounding landscape.
The pond will provide an excellent space for ecological life, including great-crested newts, as well as improving biodiversity and connectivity within the wider landscape.
The group have also restored another dew pond in Stoke Park, with funding from our Catchment Partnership Fund. You can out more about this project on our website here, including a case study video.
If you would like to learn more about Stoke Park Community Group, or get volunteering, you can visit their website here.
Catchment News
Wetland creation along the Lambrok – Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
In June 2025, the BACP, via the Catchment Partnership Fund, funded a wetland project near Trowbridge. Since then, the team at the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has been re-grading sections of the Lambrok Stream (a tributary of the River Biss), to create 1,000m² of lowered wetland habitat.
These newly formed areas will be further enhanced through additional planting of common reed, which will provide valuable habitat for aquatic wildlife. This initiative has been made possible thanks to funding from the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership (BACP) and the Environment Agency (EA).
RiverHub v2.2 released!
Wessex Water’s water quality data has now been added to view alongside citizen science catchment data, within RiverHub. These data will be imported daily from their River Water Quality Application Programming Interface (API).
Explore the data platform here.
Hedgerow Heroes – an Avon and Bristol update
The 2025-26 season of the Hedgerow Heroes project is now underway. This season, the Avon and Bristol group will plant and restore 3,000m of hedgerow across 10 sites, including: 18 planting days, 10 hedge-laying sessions, six professional hedge-laying training sessions, and four guided walks or talks.
Apart from the biodiversity benefits, hedgerows are crucial as they reduce water pollution by acting as a physical barrier against agricultural run-off, which prevents sediment and nutrients from entering rivers and groundwater. They also mitigate flood risk by slowing down and intercepting surface water.
To read more on the work being undertaken by the Avon and Bristol Hedgerow Heroes, visit here.
Events
West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) Conference – Bath
Tickets are now available to purchase for the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP) Conference. The event will take place at Bath Pavilion, on Tuesday 4th November to discuss the future of nature recovery across the region.
Book your ticket here.
The Riverfly Partnership Conference – London/Hybrid
Join the Riverfly Partnership on Friday 14th November at the Flett Theatre, Natural History Museum, London, or join online via MS Teams. This hybrid event will feature talks from across the Riverfly network. A great opportunity to connect, learn, and share progress in Riverfly monitoring and conservation.
Book your ticket here.
The Communicate Conference - Bristol
Join the UK’s leading conference for environmental communicators on Thursday 27th November at We The Curious in Bristol. The event will involve inspiring talks, interactive workshops, and meaningful networking across the nature, climate, and science sectors.
This year’s theme, ‘Against the Odds’, explores how we can overcome challenges, collaborate more effectively, and amplify diverse voices for nature.
Book your ticket here.
Wider News
Funding secured for nature recovery in Wiltshire
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have received funding from Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy to support habitat enhancements on Lower Moor Farm nature reserve. This project, which began in July 2025, works to improve over 48 hectares of varied habitats, some of which are designated as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).
The outcomes of the work will involve increasing biodiversity, improving climate resilience, providing natural flood management, and demonstrating how traditional farming can evolve to support wildlife.
Find out more about this project here.
Water pollution from highways run-off
The Guardian has published an article highlighting the lack of monitoring and regulation of pollution running off highways and ultimately, into rivers.
Roads contain residue from tyres and brakes, as well as pollution from fuel and oil spills. When it rains, the run-off from roads contains microplastics, hydrocarbons, toxic metals and chemicals, which are carcinogenic and toxic. This ultimately runs into rivers, resulting in a reduction in the overall health of waterways and their aquatic life.
In England, there are approximately 25,000 road outflows, with 126 being identified as high risk.
The BACP are currently a part of a working group investigating such issues within the Bristol Avon catchment. If you would like to know more about this, please contact us.
Read the full article here.
Wilder River Banks – a policy briefing from the Wildlife Trusts
The Wildlife Trusts have published a policy briefing on increasing nature-rich habitats and land alongside waterways to prevent pollution from reaching rivers, apply the Cunliffe recommendation to agriculture, and improve other environmental, economic and social benefits.
The key improvements highlighted in this document are:
- Implementing a nationwide Wilder River Banks target to increase the amount of land around water systems in recovery for nature.
- Providing further support for beaver introductions.
- Reforming and improved enforcing of farming regulations.
- Further improvement of Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme support.
- Targeted action on intensive pig and poultry farming.
You can read further information and find the full policy briefing here.
Rambling about rivers podcast – the second season released
The Rivers Trust have released their first three episodes of the second season of their podcast Rambling About Rivers; focusing upon habitat decline in rivers, the rowing community’s role in river restoration and sewage pollution in rivers.
You can listen to the podcasts here.
As part of World Water Week 2025, the Forestry Commission published a blog post highlighting how woodlands play a vital role in climate resilience by improving water quality, managing floods, and protecting against drought.
Trees filter pollutants, support aquatic ecosystems, and slow floodwaters through natural features like ponds and woody structures. They also help retain soil moisture and replenish groundwater, making them essential for sustainable land and water management.
Read more here