The Water and Future Environmental Resilience project (WaFER) is focused on mitigating the impact of drought on our waterways and land use across the catchment.
Our work will build resilience into rivers and streams against periods of low flow with a focus on high quality habitat creation alongside increased permeability, minimising abstraction, and water sustainable agriculture.
The project is working working with landowners to provide advice and solutions, seeking alternatives to river or borehole abstraction through rainwater harvesting from farm buildings and nature-based solutions for water storage across landholdings where it is most needed. Our results to date indicate this can have positive benefits in decreasing on-farm costs, reducing pressure on public supply, and providing multiple environmental benefits.
We are also working with water companies investigating the impact of abstraction, particularly from the aquifers within the Brighton and Worthing Chalk Blocks. The project is currently focused on the Ferring Rife and Teville Stream where, supported by Southern Water, we have undertaken detailed surveys and developed enhancement plans to ensure that the health of our rivers and streams is improved and considered against any potential impacts of the critical public supply.