Living Waters © Header Kingfisher ©Diego Rastellia Making a Splash for Nature ‘Living Waters’ is our new campaign aiming to raise awareness, bring people together, and influence change to help our rivers and wetlands across Sheffield & Rotherham. Join us as we make a splash for nature – whether you share our campaign messages, get involved with volunteering, or create a mini pond for wildlife. By working together, taking any action big or small, we can work towards healthier waterways for wildlife and people. Explore The issueOur positionUpdatesWhat we have doneWhat you can doEvidence Healthy river and wetland systems are crucial. They support biodiversity by providing habitats for a wide range of species, supply clean water for wildlife and people, reduce flood and drought risk by slowing the flow and storing water, and offer protection against extreme weather.Under the Water Framework Directive (WFD), it is a requirement to prevent deterioration of any waterbody’s ‘status’ and achieve good ecological and chemical status by 2027. At present, just 16% of the Don Catchment meets the ecological goal alone. © Water vole, credit Eddie Sherwood The Issue Sheffield and Rotherham’s waterways are in poor ecological and chemical health. This means that our river catchments and neighbouring aquatic habitats have lower biodiversity than they should, and are exposed to a range of chemical pollutants. Therefore, they are unable to function properly by supporting the range of wildlife and providing the ecosystem services that they should. There are no locally binding targets, deadlines or penalties for failing to improve river health in both Sheffield and Rotherham. WFD water quality tests are only undertaken around every 3 years. Read More Our Position We are committed to working towards 30% of rivers and wetlands being in good ecological health by 2030, as we believe that healthy rivers and wetlands are essential for nature’s recovery, climate resilience, and people. We will work with our supporters, partners, and the wider network of regulators, representatives and stakeholders to campaign for legally binding, locally targeted improvement plans for cleaner waterways across Sheffield, Rotherham and South Yorkshire. Read More © River Don Rotherham, credit SRWT What you can do to help Volunteer as a citizen scientist Join a Riverfly Monitoring group or take part in the Great UK WaterBlitz this April Register Interest Make your voice heard Speak to your local representatives about the health of our waterways Find out more Create your own pond Build a pond or create a mini-pond to attract new wildlife to your garden Find out more What we have done and will do © River Sheaf from London Road Bridge, credit Joseph Freer Raising awareness and taking action We are working hard to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of water ecosystems to people and nature, through our community work, education activities and wellbeing groups. Learn about our community work Many of our waterways in Sheffield and Rotherham are not currently being monitored. We are getting involved with the Riverfly Monitoring Programme coordinated by the Don Catchment Rivers Trust to assess river health regularly via citizen science, enabling fast detection of pollution events and ecological changes. This will in turn will lead to faster action and a greater understanding of river health. Become a citizen scientist We are taking a catchment-wide approach to river improvements through our Connecting Limbs project. This innovative water project aims to restore heavily damaged ecosystems along the River Sheaf and its tributaries using natural flood management techniques and engineered features (‘eco-niches’) that mimic the natural world in urbanised rivers. Find out about Connecting Limbs We will be organising events, campaigning, posting volunteering opportunities and sharing more tips on taking small actions for nature at home, so watch this space for further updates! News & Blogs Read the latest news and blogs that are making a splash about our water-related conservation projects, community projects and campaigning. Read more © Pond at Woodhouse Washlands, credit Anna Field Evidence and References Below you will find evidence and references related to our position on cleaner waters: The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 – Legislation.gov.uk State of our River Report – The Rivers Trust Sheffield State of Nature report 2018 – Sara Blackburn