Due to climate change, there has been a growing number of concerns regarding our water. As a peninsula, it is something we cannot avoid and it affects us greatly from pollution to rising water levels.
All In This Together:
This is a list of organisations and projects that are dedicated to protecting and raising awareness about water pollution:
- The New Brighteners have been operating since their founding group started cleaning beaches around 10 years ago, and became, The New Brighteners, officially in 2013. The Brighteners also raised funds to kickstart four other groups, one of whom was, The High Tidiers Clean Up Crew.
- The High Tidiers Clean Up Crew, based in West Kirby, this team of volunteers comes together to clean West Kirby beaches of plastic and litter that are harmful to sea creatures.
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Surfers Against Sewage is a national marine conservation and campaigning charity that inspires, unites and empowers communities to take action to protect oceans, beaches, waves and wildlife. They have had a fantastic success rate, including:
- 98.5% of England’s bathing waters passed the Bathing Water Directive’s minimum standards in 2016, compared to what would have been only 27% in 1990 when Surfers Against Sewage started campaigning.
- Surfers Against Sewage supporters helped campaign for the plastic bag charge which has already taken out over 6 billion plastic bags from the environment!
- Throwaway plastic pollution is SAS’s new sewage. 12 million tonnes of marine litter and plastic enter the oceans every year.
- Our beach clean volunteer community is the biggest in the UK!
- Over 225,000 people have joined us in calling for a deposit return system to stop plastic bottle pollution.
- Love Water is a campaign involving more than 40 environmental groups, charities, water companies and regulators, aimed at getting the British public involved in safeguarding water resources for future generations. The campaign will raise awareness of the importance of water and the role everyone plays in protecting it. It will feature events and initiatives, such as beach and river cleans-ups and water-saving projects, designed to engage the public and encourage them to enjoy water and the environment.
- British Divers Marine Life Rescue‘s mission is to provide assistance to any aquatic (marine and freshwater) animal in need of help. It does this through the training of specialist marine mammal medics and deploying them around the country. Teams use an array of specialist rescue and PPE equipment to facilitate the rescue and release of animals from mammals (seals and cetaceans, and the odd otter) plus turtles and even fish.
- Canal and River Trust is working with volunteers and communities across England and Wales to transform canals and rivers into spaces where local people want to spend time and feel better. They know this will bring wellbeing opportunities to millions. Their work involves not only looking after our waterways, but promoting them widely to the eight million plus people who have waterways on their doorstep so that many more people benefit from the Trust’s free, accessible and local source of wellbeing.
- Gill Net Free Wirral is a group to create awareness of the effects of Gill nets on our fragile marine environment and work towards outlawing their use around our peninsula.
- Inland Waterways Association Chester and Merseyside actively support waterways heritage projects and our festivals are designed to raise awareness about the waterways in a particular area. We also raise funds and show civic leaders how a vibrant waterway can boost the local economy.
- Marine Conservation Society is a charity fighting for a cleaner, better-protected, healthier ocean: one we can all enjoy.
- The Mersey Estuary Conservation Group‘s object is the conservation of the Mersey Estuary, its habitats, fauna and flora, for the advancement of science and for the education and benefit of the public. With this aim the Group can bring together representatives of voluntary organizations, statutory bodies and individuals for discussion and to take appropriate action.
- The Merseyside Environmental Trust is a politically neutral charitable body that operates on an entirely voluntary basis, relying on membership fees and kind donations to raise awareness of sustainability issues, stimulate debate, award small grants to local organisations and act as a signposting body for environmental events and activities across the region.
- The North West North Wales Coastal Group is one of six Coastal Group’s in England. The North West North Wales Coastal Group is a strategic partnership focused on developing a long-term sustainable vision for the North West Coast by encouraging proactive management and pooling resources across the region.
The Rise of the Floods
It’s not only cleaning the water that is a pressing issue, Britain has seen a steady rise in flooding in recent years. Back in 2019, the Whaley Bridge dam was heavily damaged after large parts of the country was hit with heavy rain and floods in the weeks prior. This damage resulted in most of the residents being evacuated for fear of life as the dam holds back the 300-million-gallon Toddbrook Reservoir. Whilst this issue was eventually resolved, with a temporary fix in place and a permanent repair project set to start in 2023, it still has affected the residents.
Flooding is on the rise though. Every year, the BBC shows us flood damage to homes and businesses near rivers that have blown their banks due to excessive rain fall. 1 in 6 properties in England are at risk of flooding from rivers, sea and surface water, with many others susceptible to various sources of flooding. This number is only set to increase due to climate change, making the need for you as a property owner to check your own risk ever more important. A variety of information is available to help you check your flood risk, from online data maps to risk management information, giving you a head start to prepare your property for potential flooding.
The Flood Hub is an organisation dedicated to this cause. It has been designed to be a one stop shop for flood information and resources to support householders, businesses and communities across the North West in becoming more flood resilient. They have pulled together multiple sources of guidance to produce a hub of information that gives an overview of flood resilience and it’s many related topics.
Published on 29th July 2021, the Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan sets out how new flood and coastal schemes will better protect 336,000 properties by 2027, helping to avoid £32 billion in wider economic damages and reducing the national flood risk by up to 11 per cent. This follows the Environment Agency’s successful delivery of the government’s previous £2.6 billion investment between 2015 and 2021, better protecting more than 314,000 homes.
More than £860 million will be spent in 2021-22 boosting design and construction of more than 1,000 schemes across England as part of the Environment Agency’s annual capital programme. This year alone will see an extra £250 million spent on flood and coastal defences in 2021/22 compared with last year – the highest ever annual investment. It includes an extra £40 million compared with last year for schemes in Yorkshire and the Humber, a region that has suffered from repeated flooding in recent years, and an extra £53 million for the north west, the region which was hit hardest by Storm Christoph this winter.
Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:
“We have seen some devastating flooding around the world so far this summer. No one can prevent all flooding and climate change means the risk is increasing, but we can reduce the risks. Having completed the government’s previous six year capital programme on time and on budget, better protecting more than 314,000 homes from flooding and coastal erosion, this year we began the government’s new £5.2 billion flood programme. These schemes should provide reassurance to communities and businesses, but no one should have a false sense of security. I strongly urge people to sign up for flood warnings and regularly check flood risk on GOV.UK.”
As the winter months and our typical British summer predicts more rain to come, please ensure that your home is protected and that you are safe.
