A major project to restore the River Lavant, one of our rare and precious chalk streams, is now underway thanks to the Goodwood Estate, Chichester District Council and Southern Water, working together with the Western Sussex Rivers Trust,
The chalk-filtered waters of the River Lavant carve a serene route through the peaceful villages of East Dean, Singleton, West Dean and Lavant, before winding their way around the city walls of historic Chichester and out to sea.
Once providing a precious habitat for a wealth of wildlife, in recent decades the health of the Lavant has suffered greatly due to pollution from sewage and road run-off, abstraction of water from the aquifer that feeds the river, and climate change leading to drought conditions. The Lavant has also been re-routed and straightened over time. This kind of physical modification to our rivers is the number one reason why so many are failing to reach good health.
A significant problem has been ‘over-pumping’ of sewage from wastewater pipes beneath the ground directly into the Lavant. The Lavant valley is formed from chalk rock which holds water like a sponge, and when the level of groundwater is close to the surface water is forced into the sewer pipes. It's at such high pressure that it can seep in even through tiny hairline cracks. When this happens the sewers become overwhelmed and they can back up, bringing a risk that they will flood into streets and homes. To stop this happening Southern Water carry out over-pumping to release pressure on their network.
They are now undergoing a huge programme of works to re-line the pipes to prevent this happening in future.
Two of the sites previously used for over-pumping, at East Dean and Singleton, have been identified as priority areas for action to restore this river back to its former beauty and value for wildlife.
Sophia Llewelyn, Estate Project Manager at Goodwood explains how the Estate responded to growing concerns around the health of the river:
“When we noticed that the quality of the River Lavant was getting worse, around three years ago, we began looking at the landscape and the various activities going on around the river. Our initial discussions focused on recent flooding events, water quality and how we could look to adapt our land management to support the river.”
“Recognising that we needed further specialist guidance on restoring the river and improving long-term resilience to climate change, we contacted the Western Sussex
Rivers Trust to explore opportunities for river restoration and sustainable land management interventions.”
Thanks to funding from Chichester District Council, the Western Sussex Rivers Trust’s Chalk Stream Resilience Officer, Kate Whitton, was able to work with the Goodwood Estate to develop a restoration project to bring the Lavant back to life. The South Downs National Park Authority have now also joined the partnership to bring their expertise in this protected landscape.
Kate explains more about the project:
“We’ve identified the stretch of the river between East Dean and Singleton as a high priority area for restoration. Working with the tenant farmer John Holt and Goodwood Farm Manager, we are targeting two potential restoration sites which offer clear opportunities to improve the Lavant and its floodplain riverscape.”
River restoration specialists ‘For the Love of Water’ (FLOW) were appointed, kindly funded by Southern Water, and have developed options for restoring the Lavant.
Habitat surveys have also been carried out to establish a baseline for measuring the river condition and biodiversity in the area, and these will continue throughout the project along with environmental DNA testing and electrofishing surveys.
The partnership are now working on detailed design drawings which will inform the project delivery phase, and an application for funding to create the newly restored riverscapehas also been submitted..
Kate summarises the feeling within the partnership:
“It is fantastic to work with the Goodwood Estate on this ambitious project to restore these sections of the river Lavant. There have been many historical changes made to the river and it is exciting to plan and deliver this natural restoration in partnership with such enthusiastic and committed landowners and managers.”
“Bringing together all the organisations in our partnership enables us to draw on a wealth of expertise to build a plan of action which will truly benefit the river for both wildlife and people.”
