Campaigners
are calling on the national environment watchdog to take
urgent action to save a local chalk stream and the wildlife
that depends on it.
In many places, the River Ems has run dry or been reduced to
a trickle following the summer drought. Populations of key
species have crashed alarmingly.
Campaigners say they want the Environment Agency (EA), set
up to
protect and improve the environment, to do its job. But it
continues to allow Portsmouth Water to pump unsustainable
amounts of water from the river’s underground sources.
And local citizen scientists who monitor the river’s
wildlife say the agency has failed to respond to their
findings.
They are calling on the EA to investigate the dramatic drop
in river wildlife and urgently cut the amount of water that
Portsmouth Water is allowed to remove.
The Ems
runs from the South Downs into Chichester Harbour. It is fed
by springs coming from the underground chalk bedrock, or
aquifer, and flows from the South Downs through Westbourne,
on the Hants/West Sussex border, before reaching the sea at
Emsworth.
Chalk streams like the Ems
are as internationally rare and ecologically important as
coral reefs or rainforests. Rare species including water
voles and eels have been recorded in the Ems, and local
people have been used to seeing kingfishers, brown trout and
many species of bat.
The campaign group Friends of
the Ems (FOTE) has been pushing for a reduction in the
amount of water taken – or “abstracted” – from the river’s
sources. The EA controls an abstraction licence, dating back
to the 1960s, which allows Portsmouth Water to keep removing
water from the underground aquifer. The amount removed has
steadily increased.
FOTE founder-member John Barker,
a freshwater ecologist, lives on a farm in Westbourne. The
Ems runs through his land and he regularly samples the river
for key species that indicate its health. Around the
country, much of this work used to be done by the EA but is
now picked up by local people, under a partly EA-sponsored
scheme.
He says: “Because of the lack of
flow in the river, its all-important gravel habitats are
smothered with algae and silt. Populations of small
creatures have been near-decimated. They are needed as food
by fish.
“I usually see thousands of
freshwater shrimp in the river. But in recent sampling I
haven’t seen any. In the most recent sample only two weeks
ago, key groups of organisms were simply missing. Where I
would be normally counting dozens of individuals of each
type, in this sample there were just three individuals of
only one type. It was horrifying.
“We have gone beyond the EA’s
‘trigger’ levels for these species. But despite us reporting
our findings the EA has failed to respond as agreed.
“Portsmouth Water’s licence is
due to be reviewed in 2028. But we need the EA to step in
right now and reduce the amount of water the company can
take.
“Already there isn’t enough flow
in the river in the summer and autumn due to unsustainable
levels of abstraction. Coupled with droughts like the one
we’ve just had; the river is on its knees. Climate change
and house building are making the situation worse.
“Portsmouth Water continuously abstracts almost 300 litres
per second from the aquifer feeding the Ems, leaving the
river flowing at about 20 litres per second in recent
months.”
Friends of the Ems is part of local eco-group Greening
Westbourne. To join the Friends, people can email
greeningwestbourne@hotmail.co.uk
To find out more, people can search Greening Westbourne
Campaign to see the group’s website, or find its page on
Facebook.
Greening Westbourne is urging residents to save water. Tips
on doing this are promoted by Portsmouth Water at
www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/environment/saving-water/
They include:
·
collecting rainwater in a water butt
·
cutting down on washing the car
·
avoiding letting taps run
·
collecting running water while you wait for it to heat up,
and use it to water plants or flush the loo
·
making sure your washing machine has a full load
·
having a short shower rather than a bath
The Friends of the Ems Wednesday 12th
November 2025
