Report from Richard Budden, Wiltshire Councillor - 5 Feb 2024
As many of you know, a meeting organised by Tisbury Parish Council to consider River Nadder water quality issues took place in Tisbury on 23rd January. The meeting was addressed by Ruth Barden of Wessex Water and Alex Deacon of Wessex Rivers Trust.
In his talk, Alex made mention of work that was ongoing to put in place a programme of water quality sampling.
I am delighted to say that Peter Shallcross confirmed last week that the Nadder farmers group, which he chairs, has received funding for a programme to monitor water quality along the Nadder through most of its upper catchment.
I want to share with you the attached map that Alex has provided, that shows roughly where the monitoring will take place (please be aware that the sites may change as the programme is implemented).
The most important message from this is that the plan aims to institute routine testing of water quality along the river from East Knoyle and Sedgehill/Semley in the West, Donhead St Mary and Donhead St Andrew in the South, through West Tisbury, Tisbury, Sutton Mandeville, Teffont, and Fovant.
The aim is to detect trends in nutrient enrichment from farming, sewage works, and possibly even septic tanks higher up the catchment.
I’m delighted to be able to share this with you; thanks to those of you that have supported this initiative, and to Peter plus the farmers who have agreed to work with him on this, and to Alex and the Wessex Rivers Trust team for their support.
If you’ve any questions or comments, do come back to me.
Dick Budden
Councillor Richard Budden
Wiltshire Council
E: Richard.budden@wiltshire.gov.uk T: 07944 640 900