Leaders from local and national organisations came together this week at Southern Water’s third Save Our Harbours Summit to drive solutions that protect the natural habitats and local ecology of Pagham, Chichester and Langstone Harbours.

Both water quality and protected habitats within the harbours have degraded over time and the water company is committed to playing a leading role in restoring them to full health by 2030.

Southern Water has published a progress report detailing several key developments since the previous summit in October 2021. Examples include working with the agricultural community to understand nutrient leaching from farmland and develop run-off prevention schemes.

The utility is also collaborating with environmental charities and organisations to deliver nature-based solutions that reduce surface water runoff to help reduce pollution incidents.

Ian McAulay, Southern Water’s CEO, said: Ian McAulay, Southern Water’s CEO, commented:

“It is clear that a collaborative and cross-sector approach is key to improving the natural environment of our region for our customers and local residents, now and long into the future. I’d like to thank the partners of this summit and am delighted that we are seeing real progress in the areas that will make a true difference to Pagham, Chichester and Langstone harbours.

“I am confident that the continued success at these Summits will provide a blueprint for further collaboration in our region. Indeed the work we are doing has been recognised as being of national importance. We are showing what can be achieved if a multi-industry approach is taken to tackling the most difficult and complex challenges facing our local ecology and wildlife.”

The Summits address the most pressing environmental challenges facing the harbours as well as developing longer-term action plans in partnership with local businesses and national environmental groups.

To help these plans, Southern Water has now completed a highly detailed web mapper which allows all partners to better incorporate the local environment into future planning decisions by collating data on everything from fishing vessel routes to information on the smallest ecological habitats in the area.

The Summit has also delivered the first full-scale natural capital assessment of the harbours and their catchment areas. This will provide all partners with invaluable information to make fundamental changes in the way the region approaches investment decisions and their impact on the health of the harbours. It will also ensure that Southern Water’s £5 million Environmental Improvement Fund will be spent on the key areas that will make the most difference to the natural ecosystem.

Professor Sir Dieter Helm CBE, the Summit's Independent Chairman, said:

“I am buoyed by the progress made since our last session and the spirit of collaboration with which all the summit partners have entered into this critical work. The degradation of the harbours over time is a societal issue – it has not been caused by any one issue or party – and it can only be reversed by working together with a shared vision.

“Our 2030 Vision for harbour recovery will embed targets for environmental improvements and drive integrated investment planning. We have a long way to go but the publication of the first natural capital assessment ever conducted in the harbours gives us a strong base to build from as we restore the harbours of the south coast.”

Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Economics at New College, Oxford, he was also the Independent Chair of the Natural Capital Committee, providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital, until the end of the second term of the Committee in November 2020.

Organisations attending the Summit included:

• Arun and Rother Rivers Trust
• Chichester Harbour Conservancy
• Coastal Partners
• Environment Agency Area Director Solent and South Downs
• Natural England
• Langstone Harbour Board
• RSPB
• Sussex Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA)
• Seaward Properties
• Natural Capital Research

Southern Water is working towards an 80 per cent reduction on two industry leading pollution targets. It aims to cut all pollution incidents by 80 per cent by 2025 from its pipeline network and treatment works. This includes sewer flooding caused by blockages and pollution from burst pipes.

The water company has also set up a Task Force with the aim of reducing the number of storm overflow discharges by 80 per cent by 2030.

As a first step the force has launched pathfinder projects across the South East ranging from Deal, Margate, to Swalecliffe and Sandown. These will test a range of nature-based solutions such as ponds, wetlands and rain gardens to reduce the amount of surface water that enters the sewers during a storm.

Nature based solutions also reduce carbon emissions as water treatment is a carbon intensive activity and is responsible for 72 per cent of Southern Water’s energy consumption.

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