"Restoring the Evenlode Catchment for the benefit of all"
The Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP), hosted by Wild Oxfordshire, has a vision for an Evenlode with improved water quality, enhanced flood management, enriched biodiversity, with greater community engagement with rivers, at local and landscape scales. Find out more by watching our film, exploring the ECP website (link below) or by using the tabs above.
"Restoring the Evenlode Catchment for the benefit of all"
The Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP), hosted by Wild Oxfordshire, has a vision for an Evenlode with improved water quality, enhanced flood management, enriched biodiversity, with greater community engagement with rivers, at local and landscape scales.
- John Pratt (Fisherman and Citizen Science Catchment Champion for the ECP)
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The ECP was established in 2014 to facilitate improvements in water quality, enhance biodiversity, flood management, resilience to climate change and build greater community engagement with the local rivers, at local and greater landscape delivery scales.
We are a collaborative partnership bringing together local knowledge and expertise to deliver cost-effective improvements to water environments across the catchment.
The ECP is hosted and co-ordinated by Wild Oxfordshire, project managed by Ann Berkeley in a post funded by the Thames Water Smarter Catchment Initiative and the Environment Agency.
For more on this visit our ‘Projects‘ section.
The Riveises out of the limestone that underlies the Cotswolds, flowing south-east towards the clay vales of the River Thames. The catchment contains 16 river water bodies including the Evenlode, and major tributaries the Glyme and Dorn. The landscape in this catchment is some of the finest in the county, forming part of the Cotswolds AONB, the remains of the ancient Royal Hunting forest of Wychwood and the World Heritage Site of Blenheim Palace. There are many historic market towns such as Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-Marsh and Woodstock.
Habitats include oak-ash woodland, limestone grasslands, lowland meadows and fen, which support a wide range of wildlife. Priority species present in the catchment include remnant populations of our nationally endangered native crayfish, water voles and rare plant species including fen violet and downy woundwort.
The river habitat and fish populations in the Evenlode catchment are degraded through a combination of historical channel modification and pollution (sediment and phosphate) from waste water and rural areas. In many places rivers been over-deepened, widened and straightened, resulting in uniform channel morphology, a river divorced from its floodplain and extensive in-channel siltation. There are also numerous weirs, (35 on the Glyme), impounding the flow and creating barriers to fish movement. The combined impacts leave the catchment vulnerable to flooding and pollution and contribute to reduced water quality, biodiversity and fisheries interest.
To help tackle these issues, Wild Oxfordshire has worked in thsince 2014, securing funds and developing a wide successful partnership of conservation bodies, farmers, commercial companies and statutory agencies.
Projects can take several years to scope, develop, and deliver and we work closely with the Environment Agency throughout this process. We are always interested to hear from local people. Get in touch to discuss your ideas for future projects in the Evenlode Catchment. You can browse our current projects at the bottom of this page.
Write to your MP to make water quality a priority on their agenda. We all know sewage pollution in our rivers is unacceptable so let's make ourselves heard! Together we can make a difference.
How?
1) Enter your postcode below
2) Scroll down to select your MP from the options & click their name (don't know who your MP is? Don't worry - they will be clearly labelled)
3) Write in the text boxes using the prompts to help you
4) Submit
It's that easy!
"Why isn't there a standardised letter I can copy?"
Generic, copied letters almost always end up low down on the priority list. So instead there are helpful prompts and ideas to help you write your unique response to make sure you're heard.
Want more ideas?
Scroll down for more ways to help us.
You can also find out more about sewage pollution and how you can help from our partner, WASP (Windrush Against Sewage Pollution)
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Catchment champions are local volunteers who monitor dissolved nitrates, phosphates, turbidity and invertebrate catches at multiple locations in the catchment. This work is done in collaboration with Freshwater Watch taking monthly samples with their testing kits and reporting and with the Riverfly Partnership using nets to catch and identify aquatic invertebrates.
The data collected is analysed to build more detailed picture of the water quality status of catchment water bodies. Catchment Champions also play an important role in reporting pollution incidents on their stretch of river.
Whether you have a couple of hours to spare once a year, once a month, or on a more regular basis, we would love to hear from you. We work with many organisations, local businesses, landowners, and community conservation groups to deliver a range of projects so there are many ways to contribute.
If you would like to share your ideas for a project in the catchment or get involved delivering one then please get in contact: ecp@wildoxfordshire.org.uk
Riverflies, along with other freshwater invertebrates, are at the heart of the freshwater ecosystem and are a vital link in the aquatic food chain. Riverfly populations are affected by many factors, predominately water quality, habitat diversity, water level and flow rate.
Their common characteristics of limited mobility, long life cycle, and specific tolerances to changes in environmental conditions make them powerful biological indicators to monitor water quality, and are commonly referred to as ‘the canary of our rivers.’
Training is provided by the Riverfly Partnership, if you are interested in taking part please contact
The Wychwood Forest Trust works with local communities to protect and restore the spaces once part of the historic Wychwood Forest—120 square miles and 41 parishes of today’s West Oxfordshire.
There are many ways to get involved in habitat restoration projects and learn rural skills.
The Combe Mill Society welcome a wide range of volunteers to help at their superb riverside site.
For general enquiries please email us at ecp@wildoxfordshire.org.uk
If you would like to help with riverfly surveying, contact Eoghan at eoghan@wildoxfordshire.org.uk
For other citizen science opportunities please contact Sam Frith at sfrith@earthwatch.org.uk
For our outreach events and work with schools, head over to the Cotswolds National Landscape website
To get involved with our Wetland Grant Scheme for land owners, please contact Ann Berkeley at ann@wildoxfordshire.org.uk
The River Evenlode rises out of the limestone that underlies the Cotswolds, flowing south-east towards the clay vales of the River Thames. The catchment contains 16 river water bodies including the Evenlode, and major tributaries the Glyme and Dorn. The landscape in this catchment is some of the finest in the county, forming part of the Cotswolds AONB, the remains of the ancient Royal Hunting forest of Wychwood and the World Heritage Site of Blenheim Palace. There are many historic market towns such as Chipping Norton, Moreton-in-Marsh and Woodstock.
Habitats include oak-ash woodland, limestone grasslands, lowland meadows and fen, which support a wide range of wildlife. Priority species present in the catchment include remnant populations of our nationally endangered native crayfish, water voles and rare plant species including fen violet and downy woundwort.
The river habitat and fish populations in the Evenlode catchment are degraded through a combination of historical channel modification and pollution (sediment and phosphate) from waste water and rural areas. In many places rivers been over-deepened, widened and straightened, resulting in uniform channel morphology, a river divorced from its floodplain and extensive in-channel siltation. There are also numerous weirs, (35 on the Glyme), impounding the flow and creating barriers to fish movement. The combined impacts leave the catchment vulnerable to flooding and pollution and contribute to reduced water quality, biodiversity and fisheries interest.
To help tackle these issues, Wild Oxfordshire has worked in the Evenlode Catchment since 2014, securing funds and developing a wide successful partnership of conservation bodies, farmers, commercial companies and statutory agencies.
Projects can take several years to scope, develop, and deliver and we work closely with the Environment Agency throughout this process. We are always interested to hear from local people. Get in touch to discuss your ideas for future projects in the Evenlode Catchment. You can browse our current projects at the bottom of this page.
Environment Agency Catchment Data Explorer
Evenlode Waterbodies Overall Status 2016
Evenlode Catchment with waterbodies
Evenlode Biodiversity Map
