- Please note this page is currently under development and is not fully populated -
Select one of the focus areas:
State of the catchment
Overall condition
What is the overall ecological condition of North Devon's rivers?
...
How many river water bodies are achieving Good Ecological Status?
How many river water bodies are in High, Good, Moderate, Poor and Bad status?
How does North Devon compare with the South West and England as a whole?
What does the condition of North Devon's rivers tell us about the health of the wider environment?
Best & worst performing rivers
Which river water bodies are in the best condition, & why do we think this is?
Which river water bodies are in the poorest condition, & why do we think this is?
Which river water bodies are closest to achieving Good status?
Which river water bodies are furthest from achieving Good Ecological Status?
Which river water bodies are closest to deteriorating to a lower status class?
Catchment geography
Are some parts of North Devon performing better than others?
Which sub-catchments contain the greatest number of failing river water bodies?
Where are the ecological hotspots and coldspots within the catchment?
Which river water bodies have the greatest influence on downstream ecological status?
Understanding failure
Which WFD indicators fail most frequently across North Devon?
Are North Devon's rivers primarily failing because of wastewater, agricultural or other issues?
Why are so many river water bodies failing
What proportion of failing river water bodies are failing for only one reason?
Which river water bodies have the most complex combinations of failures?
Trends & change
How has the condition of North Devon’s rivers changed over time?
Which river water bodies have improved most since 2016?
Which river water bodies have deteriorated most since 2016?
Agriculture
Understanding the agricultural challenge
How important is agriculture in explaining river failure across North Devon?
...
How many failing river water bodies are predominantly impacted by agriculture?
How many failing river water bodies are impacted by agriculture and wastewater together?
Agricultural pressure
Which river water body catchments have the highest concentrations of agricultural land?
Which river water bodies have RNAGs from the EA for each of: (1) livestock management, (2) soil management, (3) nutrient management, (4) farm infrastructure, field infrastructure?
Which river water body catchments have the highest run-off risk?
Which river water bodies have the highest agricultural phosphate loading?
Which river water body catchments have the highest livestock risk?
Which river water body catchments have high or v. high concentrations of each of: (1) beef cows, (2) dairy cows, (3) pigs, (4) poultry, (5) sheep?
Agricultural interventions
Which agricultural interventions can result in an improvement in water quality?
What evidence is there of the efficacy of different agricultural interventions on improving water quality?
What work is the EA doing to improve the agricultural sector’s impact on water quality?
What work is the agricultural supply chain (supermarkets, food processors) doing to improve water quality impacts?
What grants are available for farmers for interventions which improve water quality?
Agricultural intervention strategy
Which agricultural interventions appear most important across North Devon?
Which river water body catchments should be prioritised first for agricultural interventions?
How many farms are likely to require targeted intervention?
Wastewater
Sewage treatment works
How many sewage treatment works are there in the North Devon Catchment
...
How many (and which) failing river water bodies are predominantly impacted by sewage treatment works, or by sewage treatment works and agriculture together?
Which river water bodies have the highest STW-derived phosphate loading?
Which sewage treatment works are not meeting their regulated performance standards?
How many properties or businesses are each of the sewage treatment works serving?
Which river water body catchments have the highest concentrations of mains sewerage properties?
What investments can be made to reduce the water quality impacts of a sewage treatment works?
What evidence is there of the effectiveness of different sewage treatment works interventions?
Which sewage treatment works are being investigated or upgraded through AMP8?
Which sewage treatment works are expected to be considered for investment through AMP9?
What £ investment is South West Water making in sewage treatment works across N.Devon?
Which sewage treatment works interventions should be prioritised across North Devon?
Storm overflows
How important are storm overflows to water quality and public health in North Devon?
How many storm overflows are there in the North Devon Catchment?
Which storm overflows spill most frequently?
Which storm overflows that spill most frequently are an issue for bathing areas of shellfish?
Which storm overflow interventions can reduce spills and improve water quality?
What evidence is there of the effectiveness of different storm overflow interventions?
Which storm overflows are currently being investigated or improved through AMP8?
Which storm overflows are expected to receive investment through AMP9?
What £ investment is South West Water making in storm overflows across North Devon?
Which storm overflow interventions should be prioritised across North Devon?
Private septic tanks
How many private septic tanks are there in the North Devon Catchment?
Which failing river water bodies have a high concentration of private septic tanks?
Which river water bodies have the highest amount of phosphate attributable to private septic tanks?
What interventions could be made to reduce water quality issues from private septic tanks?
Which private septic tank interventions should be prioritisied across North Devon?
Fish
Fish populations & ecological condition
How important are fish failures in explaining river failure across North Devon?
...
How many river water bodies are failing primarily because of fish &which have poorest fish status?
Which fish species does the EA expect to find in North Devon's rivers?
What do the fish monitoring data tell us about the condition of different fish species across North Devon?
Which river water bodies have experienced the greatest decline in fish status?
Which river water bodies are closest to recovering Good fish status?
Understanding fish failures
What are the most common reasons for fish failure across North Devon?
How important are barriers to fish passage in explaining fish failures?
How important are flow, drought and abstraction pressures in explaining fish failures?
How important are habitat quality and river condition in explaining fish failures?
Which fish failures may be influenced by monitoring uncertainty or suspect data?
Barriers, habitats and recovery
How many barriers to fish passage are there across North Devon?
Which barriers have the greatest impact on fish movement?
Which river water bodies would benefit most from barrier removal or fish passage improvements?
Which river water bodies would benefit most from fisheries habitat restoration?
Fish recovery strategy
Which river water bodies should be prioritised first for fish recovery interventions?
What would it take to restore Good fish status across North Devon?
Intervention Strategy
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
Funding & Delivery
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
TBC
Community Involvement
Why community involvement matters
Why is community involvement important for improving river health?
...