A WATER CRISIS IS DECLARED IN EAST HERTFORDSHIRE
Motion proposed by Cllr Nick Cox, and seconded by Cllr Martin Butcher, at the Eastern Region Green Party AGM yesterday. Passed unanimously.
Full transcript:
The Eastern Region Green Party notes that East Hertfordshire is home to seven of only 210 rare chalk streams in the world.
The Party also notes that the Environment Agency reported that in 2022 there were 169 discharges of raw sewage into East Herts’ rivers for a combined 1,799 hours equating to nearly 75 days of discharging.
The Party further notes that many of the recommendations of the water cycle studies document, “Hertfordshire Water Study 2017”, have been ignored, particularly:
Planning for strategic intervention by 2031 to ensure sufficient availability.A holistic implementation masterplan, including an integrated sustainable water system aimed at achieving water neutrality for new settlements.That reliance on water imports should be reduced.
We are sleepwalking towards a major environmental disaster for Hertfordshire’s chalk streams, including significant harm to biodiversity and adverse impacts on irreplaceable habitats.
The Party therefore declares an ecological emergency and pledges to act as guardians of our rivers, reducing the threats to their health and survival. We call on all citizens of East Hertfordshire to engage with our chalk streams in a relationship of respect and stewardship and to cease their exploitation.
Furthermore, we issue this Declaration of the Rights of the River Lea, its tributaries, and aquifers having the following rights arising from their very existence in nature:
The right to flow and be free from over-abstraction.The right to be free from pollution.The right to perform its essential functions of flooding, moving sediment, recharging groundwater, and sustaining biodiversity.The right to feed and be fed by sustainable aquifers.The right to native biodiversity.The right to restoration.The right to maintain its connections with other streams and rivers.
In declaring the rights of the river Lea, we are, at the same time, declaring the rights of all rivers. We acknowledge especially, the rights of the tributaries of the river Lea including the Rib, Mimram, Beane, Ash, Stort and Quin.
