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Suffolk chalk stream 'close to dead' due to lack of water

BBC The Black Bourn at Ixworth.BBC
Water levels in the Black Bourn in Suffolk are said to have gradually fallen in recent months

A chalk stream was "close to being dead" because water levels have dropped so much, an environmental group warned.

It said the Black Bourn, which rises near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, had become badly depleted but claimed dry weather was not the only cause.

Roger Spiller, from Green Ixworth, also criticised overuse of resources by water companies and for irrigation.

Anglian Water said just 5% of the water it used came from rivers and none was directly abstracted from this stream.

Roger Spiller, chair of Green Ixworth.
Roger Spiller from Green Ixworth said too much water was being taken from chalk streams by water companies and for irrigation

Mr Spiller said: "It should be full of fish and life, but it's close to being dead.

"There's weed where there shouldn't be weed because there are too many nutrients, and oxygen is being taken out and that leads to a loss of insect life, which is vital keep rivers clean.

"The government's had the opportunity over the past few decades to ensure that water abstraction - taking water out of the aquifer, taking water out of the rivers - is significantly reduced and they've done nothing to ensure the water companies do that."

An Anglian Water spokeswoman said: "We're working to protect our region's precious chalk streams by reducing the amount of water we abstract from sensitive areas by 85 million litres per day by 2025.

"On the Black Bourn, we're investing in river support and restoration schemes over the next few years, as part of a wider £7m package across 16 different projects between 2020 and 2025."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) insisted the state of the stream was caused by "the prolonged period of dry weather, not due to over-abstraction".

Defra said its goal was to restore bodies of water "to as close to natural state as possible" and that planned changes to the law would make it easier for the Environment Agency to vary or revoke abstraction licences.

East Anglia is one of nine areas to be officially in drought in England due to the driest summer in 50 years.

The Black Bourn at Ixworth.
Anglian Water said only 5% of its supplies came from rivers and it did not directly abstract from the Black Bourn
The Black Bourn at Ixworth
The Black Bourn rises near Bury St Edmunds and enters the River Little Ouse near Euston, passing through villages including Ixworth, Bardwell, Sapiston and Fakenham Magna
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