Affinity Water is on track to complete major river restoration works in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire in 2021 to restore natural habitats for fish, birds and flower and fauna in local Chalk Streams.

The UK’s largest water only company has said it will step up its work from previous years with local catchment area groups across its region including councils, community groups, Wildlife Trusts and the Environment Agency.

Chalk Rivers to be improved include the Upper Lea, The Beane and The Gade. By 2025 Affinity Water aims to complete over 30 River Restoration Projects across 13 rivers. The photos show the river Gade after restoration work and before restoration work started.

The major restoration works will be taking place at The Upper Lea, at Osborne Road, Luton, Bedfordshire; The Beane, at Walkern Rd, Watton at Stone and The Beane Woodhall, Stapleford, Hertfordshire; The Gade, Water End Rd, Great Gaddesden, Hertfordshire; The Misbourne, Amersham to Quarrendon Mill, Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

The Upper Lea river restoration work is on schedule to be completed in September 2021 and the others in Spring 2022. In all Affinity Water will have spent just under £1 million pounds on the five projects and more improvements are in the pipeline.

David Watts, Senior Asset Manager for Affinity Water said:

“Working with our partners we are aiming to improve the ecological health of our rivers as part of our Revitalising Chalk Streams programme. Our ambition is to improve river health and create favourable conditions allowing certain fish species, wildlife and plants back into these rivers. We are hoping that a combination of factors will contribute to this including, reducing agricultural runoff and pollution from surface water into the river and removing historical man-made inventions.

“We need to increase the ecological health of the rivers before plant and invertebrate’s species can re-establish. The Covid19 lockdowns have shown us all how important the natural environment is to local communities, as families enjoy walking by our rivers and communing with nature.

“Rivers change over the years for many different reasons including population growth, neglect and climate change has meant Chalk Rivers have become less able to cope with the natural variations in flow including during drought and floods. By improving velocity and encouraging variation in flow we are aiming to enhance the habitat and biodiversity or the rivers in our improvement programme.

“We have removed obstacles like weirs, created bypasses around obstacles that can’t be removed, narrowed channels to increase speed of water, created meanders, and carried out tree management work to allow more light into the channel. We recognise the importance of respecting the landscape in which these rivers lie and have planted native species of aquatic vegetation to improve riverbank habitat which I am sure the public in these locations will appreciate.”

In September 2020 the water company stopped taking water from boreholes at the top of the Chess Valley which affects the River Chess in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Across its supply area,

Affinity will also be significantly reducing groundwater abstraction in the Ver, Mimram, Upper Lea and Misbourne catchments by 2024 to leave more water in the environment.