River Erme Environment Group is Awarded Charity Status

Wild About The Erme River (WATER) was formed following the Sustainable South Hams Rivers Assembly in March 2023. We are thrilled that they have now been awarded charity status for their amazing work.

WATER’s approach is to consider the total catchment of the Erme from its source on Dartmoor to the many tributaries that feed it, as one inter-dependent habitat. What happens in one part of the river can have impacts further downstream and out into the estuary, the beaches and the coast.

That is why the charity’s action projects are organised into land-based and water-based activities. There is a diverse range of landscapes across the catchment, some managed by farming landowners and others by non-farming owners. Whether it is wetland restoration or creation, run-off diversion away from water courses or creating wildlife corridors by planting trees to connect otherwise isolated riverside habitats, all actions are driven by a desire to find sustainable, affordable, nature-based solutions. It’s not only landowners, including Dartmoor National Park, that WATER seeks to engage with. Local authorities, and particularly the local communities, are a vital means of restoring and monitoring river health and habitats across the catchment. Working parties are organised, in agreement with landowners, to remove litter through riverbank and beach cleans or to cull non-native invasive species such as Himalayan Balsam that crowds out the natural flora, reducing the preferred waterside habitat of animals and birds.

While embracing natural solutions, WATER’s approach is driven by science. In partnership with the Westcountry Rivers Trust, local communities and environmental groups across the catchment have volunteers operating regular water testing, as part of a region-wide Citizen Science project. The results of each test are uploaded to a central data bank to enable scorecards to be kept for the river. River pollution can emanate from multiple sources and is not only a concern for fish and other aquatic wildlife but for people who wish to enjoy the river for leisure pursuits like canoeing, paddle boarding or a family trip to the beach. In co-operation with Surfers Against Sewage, and with tremendous support from the local community, WATER successfully lobbied for Coastguards Beach, at the mouth of the Erme estuary, to be categorised as bathing water by the Environment Agency. This means the water quality has to be regularly tested throughout the bathing season (May - September). If unacceptable levels of pollution are found, the bathing water classification means the Environment Agency must investigate and take steps to remedy the problem.

Charlotte Grezo, Chair of WATER said “I would like to think that in granting us charity status, the Charity Commission has recognised not only our worthy ambitions but the value of our approach in meeting them.”

Read more about WATER here.

WATER have three upcoming river cleans in Ermington, Ivybridge, and Holbeton, for more details see below.