Images courtesy of Danny Middleton , one of Revivels members , showing the Upper Ivel very low at the Iron Bridge at Radwell Meadows.
Images taken on 8th July 2022.
RevIvel fedback to Fiver Rivers on 6th July. The upper Ivel has often been over-looked so we appreciate the focus t on our river. However the River Restoration plan fails to address the fundamental problem faced by the upper Ivel i.e. that it is dry and dying due to over-abstraction.
Specifically:
- The groundwater support (augmentation) planned is minimal e.g. 0.55Ml/d in the context of what is needed.
- The existing abstraction licence of 14.8 Ml/d would need to be reduced to 2.4 Ml/d to achieve a healthy chalk stream.
- Please see our full feedback via the link below.
Bad news……….The Upper River Ivel has stopped flowing at Ivel Springs ,Baldock.
Extreme water abstraction by Affinity Water is the issue.
Until 2019 this stretch of the chalk stream ran year round.
A special concert was held at 7.30pm on Saturday May 21st in St. Mary’s Church, Baldock to raise funds for The RevIvel Association.
Schubert’s Piano Quintet nicknamed the ‘Trout’, with its unusual instrumentation of piano, violin, viola, cello and bass was performed. This was a particularly apt choice of music for a concert in aid of RevIvel! It is extraordinary that it was written when Schubert was only aged 22. It holds a special place in the repertoire for its sublime intensity and astonishing beauty and is named by many music-lovers and professionals as a favourite piece of chamber music. Mendelssohn’s rich and exciting Trio in C minor, Bottesini Elegy in D (bass) and Kreisler’s Schön Rosmarin (violin) completed the programme. The musicians are all experienced professionals, who have given many concerts together and feature in www.cwilmers.co.uk and www.jillmorton.com.
Members of RevIvel attended the Baldock Street Fair on Saturday 14th May , as part of the 37th Baldock Festival.
We had lots of positive conversations with Baldock residents who have seen the water level drop in the Upper Ivel and are concerned.
It was also nice to see some other RevIvel members who called by to say hello.
A tank of stream water was taken out of the Ivel that morning and the invertibartes moving around in the tank were a great success ,with one young boy spending most of the day with us and saying “it was probably his best Saturday ever”
The dragonfly arts and crafts and water vole quiz were really enjoyed by other children too.
Revivel committee members and Revivel members had a very busy weekend attending two local fairs, the Baldock Eco Fest on Saturday 7th May and the Stotfold Steam Fair and Country Show on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th May.
It was great to be able too talk to people about the problems with the Upper Ivel and spread our messages.
RevIvel met with key people from Anglian Water on 7th April 2022 and also with representation from NHDC. Key updates were as follows:
- Measures have been implemented to smooth flow/ reduce stress on the weakened section of pipe (rising main) in Norton Road – which if you remember has burst three times in the last year. RevIvel has also been asking for a more robust and longer term fix. Anglian Water (AW) advised that it is evaluating the following options: (a) installing a temporary overland main, (b) a new rising main or (c) inserting a steel liner. It is envisaged that the preferred solution could be implemented within six months subject to permissions
- Misconnections and leaky pipes: after viewing the “foul accumulation” by the outflow pipe behind the pumping station in the Ivel Springs Nature Reserve, AW acknowledged that it is evident that there is a problem. RevIvel believes that an entire road in Baldock might be misconnected and a site visit with the AW team is to be organised promptly. All agreed to work together to raise awareness about misconnections generally and promote remedial action. AW agreed to share the following information: analysis of sediment samples, sewerage maps and travel pathways through the aquifer, as well as Environment Agency contacts
- Citizen Science: a collaborative approach was talked about with the potential of training and financing of monitoring equipment
- WINEP funding package: AW invited input from Revivel to help shape where to target future investment. RevIvel would be pleased to have input
In summary, this was the first meeting with Anglian Water. It is a promising start. RevIvel will continue to follow up to ensure forward progress and that agreed actions are delivered.
Revivel held a series if three river walks in March and April specifically for Revivel members , and their friends and family.
The walks centred around Ivel Springs and the upper section of the Ivel .
Members that attended these walks found them interesting and informative and the feedback has been very encouraging.
Many thanks to committee members Beth and Ian Hall , who hosted the walks ,and to Sally Newhouse for allowing us to use the images.
The above article was published on the local Comet website on 25th March 2022 and then printed in the Comet newspaper on 31st March 2022.The Comet asked for responses and Kathryn Mackenzie from RevIvel responded and her letter was published a week later, which his produced below.
The SOS Save our Stream appeal started on 31st January to raise £2,000 in funds to finance the services of a technical specialist to enable us to prepare submissions and present our case to Affinity Water.
The appeal closed on 31st March and we are sure you would like to know that an amazing £5,275 was raised .
This amount is well beyond our initial expectations and a massive thank you goes to all of the members who helped and assisted with the appeal, members who kindly re-joined, members who recommended others to join, new members who saw the publicity and lots of other very kind people who gave donations.
Contributions ,and promises of contributions ,have also been made by local councillors and we have passed our thanks onto them too for their kindness.
John Lawson has helped us prepare The RevIvel Association’s response to the WRE and WSRE consultations focusing on the need to reduce abstraction to sustainable levels.
In addition, he is preparing a report on the impact of over-abstraction on the Upper Ivel which we will use in discussion with Affinity Water and the Environment Agency in the coming months. We hope to have this report complete by the end of April. In due course, we plan to share with you the highlights of the report.
With the additional money that has been raised we are now looking at making two purchases to evidence and support our requests to Affinity Water (re flow) and Anglian Water (water quality).
This equipment will record both water flow and water quality (ammonia, nitrates, phosphates, etc). We are still evaluating functional specifications for these devices and more about this will follow.