For a second year, the Lower Windrush Valley water bodies have been surveyed for nutrients – nitrate and phosphate - as part of the Clean Water for Wildlife Survey. Volunteers visited gravel pit lakes, various sites along the River Windrush, and small waters, like ponds, ditches and streams, which are abundant in the area. Once again the results show how important the Lower Windrush Valley gravel pit lakes and ponds are for freshwater wildlife – providing a clean water refuge in a landscape where nutrient pollution is widespread. The data also shows that the River Windrush has high levels of nutrients, despite the effort of the many organisations dedicated to improving our water habitats, and so we must continue to work at the catchment scale to clean up the River Windrush and its tributary streams.
Of the 82 sites tested in 2017, 66% showed no evidence of nutrient pollution and the majority of that clean water was found in lakes and ponds.
For more information about the survey, results and photographs, please see the short case study on our website here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/environmentandplanning/countryside/naturalenvironment/CWWcasestudy2017.pdf
Of the 82 sites tested in 2017, 66% showed no evidence of nutrient pollution and the majority of that clean water was found in lakes and ponds.
For more information about the survey, results and photographs, please see the short case study on our website here: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/sites/default/files/folders/documents/environmentandplanning/countryside/naturalenvironment/CWWcasestudy2017.pdf
