Since our foundation more than 30 years ago we’ve helped bring about a reduction of over 80% in water abstraction from the Beane Valley. Our citizen scientist volunteers regularly monitor the river for invertebrate life, chemical pollutants and water quality, and our Water Vole surveyors chart the progress of these chalk stream specialists following their reintroduction to the Beane in 2022. We also have an active volunteer task force addressing issues caused by non-native invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed, and plan to extend our volunteer activities to other practical work along the river.
Working in partnership
As a key member of the River Beane Catchment Partnership, we actively work with the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency, Thames Water and Affinity Water, the County, District and local councils, landowners and local residents, with an ambition to see the River Beane returned to ‘Good’ ecological status along its whole length. Read more about this via the Catchment Partnership website.
In the national spotlight
The River Beane is currently a national ‘test bed’ for the CaSTCo project and has been selected as one of the flagship demonstrators for the Chalk Streams Recovery Programme outlined in this presentation – putting our local chalk stream into the national spotlight.
Join the conversation
We hold a series of events throughout the year, issue a regular newsletter and post more frequent updates via Facebook.
Our History
The River Beane Restoration Association (RBRA) was set up in 1991 after locals living near the river became increasingly concerned about how it dried up north of Watton at Stone most summers. Our main objectives were improving the environment and resolving the low-flow problems of the river.
Helping the river flow again
The RBRA actively campaigned to highlight the issues the river faced and it was included in the National Rivers Authority’s Alleviation of Low Flows (ALF) Programme in 1995. Since 1996, our volunteers have measured groundwater levels at a series of monitoring boreholes installed by the NRA along the river valley and tracked the impact abstraction was having.
In June 2014, a proposal by Affinity Water to reduce abstraction by 90% was accepted by OFWAT. A new pipeline to provide water from an alternative source at Sacombe was built and commissioned in April 2017, one year earlier than planned, which allowed for the abstraction at Whitehall to stop almost completely. A slow but steady improvement in groundwater levels and river flow has followed, although occasionally affected by drier than average seasons.
Water Voles are back
Increased river flow along with other habitat improvements allowed for a reintroduction of Water Voles to the Beane in 2022 – having been ‘extinct’ from this area since the 1980s. Regular monitoring by our volunteers shows they have now spread several miles up and down stream of the release site and are colonising well. The water vole is one key indicator of a healthy chalk river system, along with brown trout and the plant Water Crowfoot. Our hope is that these other key species will be seen along much of the Beane in the coming years.
Be part of our future
If you would like to get involved by volunteering with us or have other concerns about the river, we’d love to hear from you: do get in touch.