Chalk rivers in bad way

CHALK RIVERS in England are suffering from urban development, intensive agriculture and low rainfall, a new study by English Nature and the Environment Agency reveals.

Almost a third of the country‘s 161 chalk rivers and streams are facing serious threats.

Water abstraction – removal or water from the rivers for fish and watercress farms, drinking supply, irrigation and industry – is one of the threats, as it leads to low flows and hence to entrapment of wild fish and to less effective dilution of pollutants.

Farming is also a contributing factor, as pesticide and fertilizer run-off into the river streams damage the water quality.

Sewage works and toxic pollutants from industrial effluent are other sources of the damage done to England‘s chalk rivers.