Devon Rivers Manifesto

Avon River Champions launched the Devon River Manifesto at the River Discovery Zone at the Devon County Show.

The discovery zone gave us a platform to launch the survey, which hundreds of people completed, informing the Manifesto.

The demands from the survey were clear.

Enhanced regulatory measures
Improved water quality monitoring
More immediate action to restore and maintain healthy river ecosystems

The Manifesto with the survey results was sent to DEVON MPs on July 10th 2024

READ MANIFESTO

"The situation is dire. Only 21% of the rivers in Devon have a 'Good' ecological status. The primary sources of pollution are agricultural run-off and inadequate South West Water treatment works. We need to make the restoration of our rivers a priority for government"

Our Goal

Our goal in sharing this Manifesto is to inspire MPs to concentrate on river issues in their Constituency while also appreciating the larger context for Devon. We believe that our combined voices our louder as we seek action to return our rivers to good ecological status.

Many local catchment groups are already making a significant impact, and we hope this Manifesto can further strengthen their work in a small way. We also signposted local catchment groups to MPs, underlining the crucial role MPs can play in supporting these groups.

What next ?

By encouraging our Devon MPs to come together to work with all stakeholders to develop a catchment based approach to river health we can really make a difference.

Our round robin tour of Devon talking to MPs, catchments groups and other stakeholders is underway.

We are seeking MPs to lead the debate for us with other MPs.

We are encouraged by the conversations of cross party collaboration around this issue.