Middle River Lew (Torridge) is currently at Moderate Ecological Status and has remained Moderate since 2022. Unlike many Moderate water bodies, all biological quality elements are already performing strongly. Fish EQR is 0.510, comfortably above the Good threshold of 0.40, and invertebrates are High status. The sole reason the water body remains Moderate is a small failure in the physico-chemical classification.
The underlying issue is phosphate, which is currently 0.035 mg/l against a Good threshold of 0.034 mg/l. This means phosphate is extremely close to Good status, with only a very small remaining gap to close. The catchment contains only 12 farms, has Medium livestock pressure, no storm overflows, and only 16 properties on private sewerage. Phosphate source modelling attributes approximately 55% of phosphorus loading to livestock, 25% to continuous sewage discharges, and around 10% to private sewerage.
The wider evidence therefore suggests that Middle River Lew is one of the catchment's closest water bodies to Good Ecological Status. Biological communities are already responding positively, and only a small reduction in phosphorus inputs is likely to be required to achieve recovery.
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Eco Class Good Moderate Poor Bad
Catchment Ranking: 15/92
Catchment Ranking
The ranking is derived from the EA 2025 classification data. Parameter scores are normalised and an average is taken. Rankings are restricted to prevent e.g. a "moderate" river being ranked higher than a "poor" river.
(92 river waterbodies in the North Devon Catchment)
EA Ecological Classification
- 2022Moderate
- 2019Poor
- 2016Moderate
Failing Elements
- Fish
- Phosphate
EA RNAGs
- Poor Livestock Management
- Sewage discharge (continuous)
Middle River Lew (Torridge)
Why is the river failing?
What is happening now?
Current activity includes regulatory farm inspections, Northern Devon Natural Solutions and Devon Woods.
Risk Levels
Risk Levels
- SWW Overflows: Total duration of intermittent spills for all CSOs in the catchment for 2025.
- Private Sewage: Density rating based upon non-SWW properties in the catchment.
- Livestock: APHA data from Feb 2026.
- Runoff: ESME modelling (wf_r24).
- Modification: ESME modelling (aa_r1).
- Invasive Species: ESME modelling (iv_r17).
- Overheating: derived from tree cover ESME modelling (wq_r10).
- Running Dry: Abstraction sustainability ESME modelling (ws_r27).
- Untreated SewageVery Low
- ModificationMedium
- Sewage (Private)Very Low
- Invasive SpeciesLow
- LivestockMedium
- OverheatingLow
- RunoffMedium
- Running DryVery Low
Intervention hypothesis (confidence: High)
Middle River Lew is a good example of a river where ecological recovery is largely complete. Fish and invertebrate communities are already achieving Good or High status, suggesting that the river ecosystem is functioning well. The remaining challenge is a very small phosphate exceedance.
The source attribution modelling suggests that livestock is the largest phosphorus source, with smaller contributions from wastewater and private sewerage. Given the very small gap to Good status and the small number of farms within the catchment, a targeted agricultural intervention is likely to be sufficient. Wastewater improvements remain a plausible secondary pathway if the phosphate failure persists.
| Intervention | Size of Intervention | Estimated Cost | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRIORITY INTERVENTIONS (NOT IN ORDER OF PRIORITY) | |||
| Regulatory enforcement to drive compliance with Farming Rules for Water | c.3 priority farms | £6,000 | EA |
| Soil health interventions | c.3 priority farms | £84,000 | NE/DWT/WRT/EA |