This short video shows our latest techniques for removing highly invasive Himalayan Balsam plants from a field near Cambridge
We find these techniques are proving useful, even late in the season.
See more of our videos on our Youtube channel here
Author: Anne Miller
Balsam Pulling working parties in Newnham
Next working Party: Tuesday 30th September 2:30-4:30 Do register here if you’d like to help save Paradise Local Nature Reserve from infestation with the invasive plant, Himalayan Balsam.
We are working in a lovely, very wild meadow in Newnham to which there’s no public access. The elderly “license owner” is losing the battle with the invading Himalayan Balsam, and very much welcomes our help. If allowed to continue spreading, this outgrowth will threaten Paradise Nature Reserve, just downstream
A very useful team joined us in small working party on Wedneday 24 Sept to pull up late flowering Himalayan Balsam plants from a private field beside the Cam in Newnham, Cambridge. This outgrowth is threatening Paradise Nature Reserve. We made great progress completely clearing over half the visible infestation in two hours, before the need for tea and cake became overwhelming.
We’re having another working party on Tuesday 30th Sept 2:30-4:30, attempting to finish the job. Do register here if you’d like to help.
If Himalayan Balsam is left, it grows into massive plants, and spreads rapidly, completely overwhelming everything else.
Pennywort remerges in Fen Ditton
A few days ago, a local resident alerted us to an outgrowth of the invasive weed, Floating Pennywort in the ditch from Fen Ditton to the main river.
With permission from the land owners, we went in with a canoe and removed 25-50kg, putting it in the nettles alongside the meadow, where it can dry and die.
Some years ago, this ditch was completely choked with pennywort….
…and we cleared it with the help of several working parties.
But its always important to keep an eye out for regrowth, so 6 months later it was back again….
After a few sessions, we got it clear.
However, but its always possible to have missed a little bit, or for new strands to wash in from further upstream. Autumn is the key time to see it, so do keep an eye out for Floating Pennywort in your local rivers and ditches. Please do clear it out if you can safely do so. Once removed, just put it somewhere dry to die, where it won’t blow back into the river. Then we can eradicate this menace from the lower stretch of the River Cam (as we’ve done in the upper Cam)
You can read more about our project to eradicate Floating Pennywort, and see our various advice sheets here
Press release: Fund the locks
Wealthy colleges, businesses and residents must help to fund repair of the Baits Bite and Jesus Green Locks
As widely publicised both locally and nationally, both Jesus and Bait’s Bite locks are affected by major structural degradation. The locks have been closed to navigation since May 2024. Temporary stabilisation works are due to start at Bait’s Bite, and further surveys of Jesus Lock are necessary to assess the cost of repair. But, as Sunday’s protest, organised by the FUND BRITAIN’S WATERWAYS national campaign which is helping to secure the future of Britain’s inland rivers and canals, made abundantly clear, the situation is urgent.
Stephen Tomkins of the Cam Valley Forum (CVF) – an organisation dedicated since 2001 to the protection of the Cam and its environment – says:
“With the current emphasis on restoration of chalk streams, many of us would probably prefer a free-flowing river, with a gravel bottom and lush aquatic plant growth, as in the cathedral city of Salisbury. But we are faced with reality. It is often forgotten that Cambridge was once a key inland port, providing access to the North Sea and the Continent via the Cam, Ouse and Wash, and allowing the transport of goods inland, including to the largest medieval fair in Europe on Stourbridge Common”.
The drainage of the fens and the construction of Denver Sluice on the River Great Ouse changed this, reducing river levels as tidal waters were excluded from the Ouse. By the end of the 17th century, both the university and the Corporation of Cambridge were complaining loudly about this. One result was that in 1702, the Conservators of the River Cam were set up under an Act of Parliament to regulate and maintain the river for navigation, which led to the introduction of locks and other infrastructure to help navigation.
With the arrival of the railway, and the development of the road network, the role of the Cam for transporting goods declined. But the economic importance of the Cam to city life has remained. If the Jesus and Baits Bite locks were to fail, the water levels would fall dramatically and fluctuate, in periods of low flow probably providing only a muddy, and at worst, fetid trickle. Punting and rowing would be impossible, the foundations of college walls would be exposed, and the once iconic views would no longer attract selfie-taking tourists.
The root of the problem is that the Conservators, who remain responsible for maintenance of the river, including the stretch between the two locks, has for many years not had the resources it needs. It has no financial support from the City Council, colleges, or University. It depends on its own capital savings and the annual fees paid to it by the owners of river craft, in particular commercial punting. As Clive Brown, a former Conservator states: “The Conservators have suffered for many years from underfunding. The cost of maintaining the river for navigation has to a major extent fallen on those who register their boats, particularly the punting industry. It is high time that the University, and the wider population who benefit from the river, start to bear some of the costs, either directly or through Council subsidies”.
The City Council is offering ‘support’ of various kinds, but CVF feels that much more immediate action is needed. Anne Miller, co-chair of CVF says: “We are deeply disappointed that a city like Cambridge, with some vastly wealthy colleges, global technology companies that generate over £50bn of turnover per year, and millionaire residents, cannot provide the funding needed. The £1.5 million needed for the temporary stabilisation work for each lock island, and the estimated £10-15 million needed for the ultimate replacement of each lock can surely be found.”
As CVF’s River Manifesto[1] puts it: “Are we too busy lecturing other people around the world about ‘saving rain forests’ when our own river is not what it could be? The River Cam, in this University City of world standing, should surely be an example to the world of achieving sustainable development”.
Those who benefit from the Cam, whether directly or indirectly, must dig into their pockets and contribute to its protection.
[1] https://camvalleyforum.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/The-River-Cam-Manifesto-final2.pdf
Time for a hosepipe ban?
Time for a hosepipe ban? Hot weather puts water supplies under pressure
Cam Valley Forum (CVF) is once again calling on Cambridge Water to implement a hosepipe ban this summer. Known as a ‘temporary use ban’ or TUB, such a temporary restriction on water use is a vitally important tool to reduce demand when supplies are low. With demand increasing by 30% already in some regions since the heat wave began, urgent action is needed.
A TUB applies to hosepipes used for watering gardens, washing your car or boat, filling domestic swimming and paddling pools and filling or maintaining ponds and ornamental fountains. Michael Goodhart. who leads CVF’s Water Conservation Group, says “Most of these activities can be done using recycled water, from water butts and general household use or, if from a tap, much more economically using a bucket or watering can. Hosepipes can use up to 1,000 litres an hour – a similar quantity that a family of four uses in two days.”
A national survey[1] in the 2022 drought showed that 76% of people thought implementing a hosepipe ban when it is hot, dry and sunny is justifiable. TUBs work by leaving more water in the environment, which is good for streams, rivers and wildlife, and in the groundwater which means supplies last longer. TUBs also play a key role in helping people understand that water is scarce and that we need to be much more careful with it. The water that flows out of Cambridgeshire’s taps comes from the upstream chalk aquifer. In hot summer months, with high levels of abstraction, the water-table drops and the flow in our chalk springs reduces and even stops, with devastating consequences to the environment. Every time we turn on a tap or flush a toilet we contribute to this problem.
Only water companies can make the decision on introducing TUBs, but Cambridge Water is still unwilling to do this, as they made clear to CVF in their annual meeting with the group in May. CVF has been actively engaging with Cambridge Water for several years on this issue[2]. The water company agrees that the triggers for introducing a TUB need re-appraisal, and say that their next Drought Plan will represent a ‘step change’ in how they will address the all too frequent drought periods. However, this will not be published until 2027.
The company has not put a hosepipe ban in place since 1991-92 – not so much a reflection of the water availability in the region, as to the reluctance of the company to take the action needed. Instead, this year it has issued advice on its website and to those customers who have signed up to receive the company’s updates. The advice is good – avoid hosepipe use, water plants early in the morning or evening to limit water evaporation, leave lawns even if they go brown as they will recover when it next rains, and take shorter showers. But how many people will see this?
CVF supports the Environment Agency (EA) which this month issued urgent national advice[3] to all the water companies in England for more immediate action to address future water shortages. The EA is calling on the companies to make greater effort to reduce demand, including through more hosepipe bans, whilst also emphasising that the public will need to play a role.
Sue Wells, co-chair of CVF, says “Keeping our plants and gardens alive in hot weather is essential – we need them for our physical and mental health. But we must value water properly, and be more imaginative in how we use and manage it. We can all reduce the amount we use: turning on taps only enough and for as long as necessary for hand and teeth washing, or watering plants carefully and not the ground and weeds around them. At all costs, we must avoid the situation in the 2022 drought, when parts of the City’s precious chalk streams dried up.”
[1] https://database.waterwise.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Taking-the-publics-pulse-on-hosepipe-bans-3.pdf
[2] https://camvalleyforum.uk/cambridge-water-reject-plea-for-a-hosepipe-ban/
[3]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/684fe36e4734883ca9f79e49/2025_EA_National_Framework_Water_Resources_-_summary_document.pdf
Punt and Paddleout 17 May 2025
Over 100 people punted and paddled out in Cambridge on the River Cam, from the Mill Pond to Kings College Backs, to demand an end to sewage pollution.
A selection of the photos and videos from the protest are available here.
Over 100 people and over 25 water craft, including 11 punts, participated in the initial rally at the Mill pond.
The flotilla then punted and paddled to Kings College backs, accompanied by singers…. The song “Anglian Water: Clean it up” was specially composed by Rowena Whitehead
The flotilla went on and on….
The 11 punts carried the “Chalk Dream” hangings. These were created by the charity Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination with local children and their communities.
On arrival at Kings College Backs, Michael Goodhart said a few words about the 400 year history of swimming on the Cam, then actor and director Chris Hudson, read the poem “Waterbodies” by poet Kaddy Benyon from a punt. Kaddy says “This is a found poem produced by erasing some of the foreword to Anglian Water’s Pollution Incident Plan 2020-2025 by the CEO of Anglian Water“
Introducing the event, Anne Miller, co-chair of Cam Valley Forum said
“Over 100 people and around 25 water craft, including 11 punts are gathered here in Cambridge, along with thousands of people who are gathering by their rivers and seas today, from Cornwall to Scotland, to show that we want an end to sewage pollution on our waters.
Water companies, and Anglian Water is no exception, are continuing to dump untreated and minimally treated sewage straight into our waterways, polluting our rivers and seas, putting human health at risk and destroying vital ecosystems that support life on earth.
There are now signs up at Sheep’s Green, just upstream of here, saying “bathing is not advised” because last year the river was so polluted with bacteria from poo.
We know that much of this pollution is coming from Haslingfield Sewage works, just 5km upstream. This takes sewage from 13,000 people in the upstream villages, but it is old and overloaded. Last year, it was overflowing for 1/3rd of the time. The sewage pumping stations in the villages overflow when it rains. The big, pressurised pipes, which take the raw sewage from the villages to the sewage works keep bursting. And even when the sewage works is working “well” its 10 times worse at treating the sewage than the main Cambridge one.
But it’s not just the Water Companies.
While they continued to pollute and pay huge dividends to their shareholders and bonuses to their CEOs, the Environment Agency has been steadily cut to the bone. For 30 years, we’ve had a regulatory system that’s completely dysfunctional.
Far from forcing water companies to make the investments needed to keep our rivers healthy, the system discourages investment. Instead, politicians told Ofwat to prioritise lower bills while letting polluters profit. But now we’re waking up. We are paying the price. People are getting sick.
The system is crazy. Here in Cambridge, we, Cam Valley Forum, had to jump through the hoops to get Bathing Water Designation because that was the only way to get the regulators to both permit, and require, Anglian Water to invest and improve the upstream sewage treatment. They tell us we should now see a significant improvement, but it’s going to take 5 years….. That feels like a long time to wait, for something we should have had already. So we want Haslingfield fixed fast.
But the government is promising reform. A big consultation has just finished, and they will be announcing changes to the regulatory system soon. But we know there will be industry lobbyists resisting change. That is why we’re protesting today, to show government that we want them to be bold
We want a regulatory system that forces water companies to invest, and takes account of the needs of all water users and the wider environment, not just swimmers.
We want to be able to swim, paddle, kayak, row and punt, without the fear of getting sick.”
The Cambridge protest was organised by Cam Valley Forum, Cambridge Canoe Club, and Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination. We’re grateful for the help of lots of other volunteers, the artistic creators of the many different placards and props, as well as Scudamores for the punts.
It was one of around 50 protests round the UK on 17 May 2025, organised by Surfers Against Sewage demanding to #endsewagepollution
Our protest was the lead story on ITV Anglia news on Sunday 18 May
Join us for “Punt and Paddle out” protest. Saturday 17 May
Do join us calling for an end to Sewage Pollution and the transformation of our water industy, in our “Punt and Paddle out” protest on the College backs, Saturday 17 May 10:30-11:30am.
We will meet at the Mill Pond, CB3 9EU, then punt and paddle along the backs to Kings College Cambridge. This is part of a national day of protests organised by Surfers Against Sewage.
Do come with placards, art works and water craft or book your place on one of 4 free punts provided by Scudamores. They are also offering a discounted rate for participants to hire additional punts. Well behaved children welcome, if accompanied by a responsible adult.
By booking you’ll get a reminder a few days before, notification if we need to cancel because of bad weather and a ticket that allows you to get the discount from Scudamores and/or loan of a buoyancy aid (if required)
Do pass the word to anyone interested.
MPs debate Bathing Water reform
Cam Valley Forum features strongly in parliamentary debate about the proposed bathing water reforms
On Friday 28 Feb, we contacted our local MPs Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge, Labour) and Pippa Heylings MP (South Cambs, Lib Dem), saying:
We (Cam Valley Forum) have just been notified that Gideon Amos MP (Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington) is leading a Westminster Hall debate on Bathing Water Regulations. The debate is on Tuesday 4 March at 4:30pm. I do hope you will be able to attend, and to speak on behalf of your Cambridge constituents and the protection of rivers such as the Cam.
Many of the proposed changes are to be welcomed, for example the suggestion that “a wider range of water users should be considered beyond just swimmers….. such as rowing, surfing, kayaking and paddleboarding amongst others” This is welcome. We hope you can make sure this includes any recreational users that are likely to be immersed in the river water at times (including punters!)
However we are concerned about the section of the proposal that would add in a precondition that a site has to have the potential to be improved to “sufficient” in order to be able to apply. This would have made it impossible for us to have applied for designation for the River Cam at Sheep’s Green. Please suggest that this criterion is removed, and that the “de-designation” route is used instead to avoid disproportionate expenditure.
The wording says:
“OEP Recommendation 5 (include a pre-identification step in designating new bathing waters) is in line with government’s Core Reform 2. In the consultation, we sought views on the proposed reform to the Regulations so that the feasibility of being able to improve a site to at least ‘sufficient’ standard (on cost and deliverability grounds) would become a criterion. Where necessary, this will be considered before a decision is made whether to designate the site as a new bathing water.”
We disagreed with this requirement for the following reasons:
- This negates the purpose of Bathing Water Designation as a way to force the improvement of water quality in places with lots of recreational use
- How could this ever be demonstrated by an applicant such as Cam Valley Forum? One doesn’t know if it’s feasible, and at what cost, until the completion of the apportionment study (for which Anglian Water budgeted £500K), but without designation and a “poor” rating, there’s no apportionment study.
- And what costs would be deemed to make it “feasible” to improve water quality to “sufficient” level?.… It just adds another layer of uncertainty.
- The de-designation route offers a better way to avoid disproportionate expenditure. After 5 years there will be much better understanding of the local causes of poor water quality, and “quick win” improvements will have been done, so it will then be possible to make an informed judgment about the feasibility of achieving “sufficient” status
We had prompt responses from both MPs
Daniel Zeichner MP said “I’m afraid ministers don’t get to speak in Westminster Hall debates unless replying, but will pass comments on to my colleague“
Pippa Heylings MP’s researcher contacted us to clarify a few details, and she then spoke well at the debate (see the Hansard transcript here, at about 4:45) You can watch the debate here…
Concerns about this “catch 22” precondition (referred to as “core reform 2) got a lot of support from other MPs, and Gideon Amos summed it up well in his closing speech. He said “I urge the Minister to think carefully about introducing this very different criterion and moving away from places where people actually swim towards places where the industry think that they can afford to make the water quality better. That is the wrong criterion. The right criterion is where people are already using the river”
AGM and Annual lecture: Monday 24 March 2025 7:00-9:30pm
David Attenborough Building (Seminar Room), New Museums Site, Downing Street. CB2 3QZ
- AGM 7pm
- Refreshments at 7.30pm
- Annual Lecture 8.00pm
Annual Lecture: Earth, water, air and fire: how fixing and restoring our rivers is about so much more than water.
In this lecture, Craig Bennett,Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts, will explore how a focus on rivers can provide the foundation for sorting out many environmental challenges not normally directly associated with rivers, or water quality. What might this mean across the UK, but particularly in Cambridgeshire?”
Craig Bennet, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts
Among many other accomplishments, Craig is Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts, Honorary Professor of Sustainability and Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School, and an Associate Fellow of Homerton College (Cambridge). He is also a Commissioner on the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission. He has been described as “one of the country’s top environmental campaigners”, by The Guardian as “the very model of a modern ecogeneral” and was recently included in The Sunday Times Green Power List of the UK’s top 20 environmentalists.
Craig was formerly CEO of Friends of the Earth where he led the organisation to numerous campaign victories including on bees, fracking and against airport expansion.
Sewage Sleuthing the River Cam
Why is the Bathing Water quality so poor, and what should be done about it?
We held a well attended event in Newnham, Cambridge on 23 October 2024 to share the results of our investigations into the poor water quality in the River Cam, at the end of the first Bathing Season after achieving Bathing Water Designation.
Following the Environment Agency’s monitoring , it is clear that the official Bathing Water classification will be “poor”. This will trigger advice against swimming, investigations into the causes, and measures to fix them.
We’d expected a poor classification, but the results are shocking: every single E. coli test result is above the 90 percentile threshold of 900 colonies/100ml. The River Cam may well have the worst quality Bathing Water in the UK
We want correspondingly urgent action to improve it, to protect the health of the many people that swim, kayak, paddleboard, punt and row on the Cam.
Our analysis of detailed monitoring done for us by Anglian Water during 2022-3 shows that Haslingfield Sewage works, 4km upstream is a big part of the problem. In summer, E. coli levels peak at the Sewage works, then steadily decline as the river flows past Grantchester Meadows to Sheep’s Green. In winter, and after rain, levels of E.coli are much higher, and they remain high as the water flows downstream
But our investigations show that other causes may also be contributing: its not JUST the sewage works.
These include frequent overflows from the sewage pumping stations in Harston, Haslingfield and Grantchester. These releases flow into various ditches, and then into the Cam
The Rising Main (the pressurised pipeline taking raw sewage from the surrounding villages to Haslingfield Sewage Works) burst 3 times in 2022 and once in 2024
These various overflows have released sewage 35 times since January 2021.
This is in addition to the all too frequent overflows from the sewage works itself, which last year was revealed by Anglian Water’s EDM report to have been overflowing 30% of the time.
Surface water from Newnham Croft flows into the ditch at Paradise Nature Reserve. We think this may be also be contributing when it rains…
After rain, the ditch goes brown. We’ve tested this for E. coli and as our presentation shows, after rain, E.coli levels reach 100,000 colonies/100ml . This shockingly high level is as bad as in the effluent being discharged from Haslingfield Sewage works.
We don’t yet know where this is coming from. Misconnections in Newnham could easily be a cause, because these are quite common, particularly from extensions when builders take “shortcuts”. These misconnections could be releasing sewage, or other “foul” water into Paradise Nature Reserve and the River Cam.
Dog mess might also be contributing.
To help
- Check that builders haven’t misconnected your drains (contact us if you want help)
- Call the Environment Agency, immediately on 0800 80 7060 if you see suspected pollution incidents (this “evidence” helps the Environment Agency’s enforcement)
- Never, ever, put wet wipes down the toilet (these cause blockages)
- And join us on the ‘March for Clean Water’ on 3 Nov (show your support for tighter regulation, better enforcement and an end to pollution for profit)
We’ve organised a coach from Cambridge to the ‘March for Clean Water’, or you can make your own way by train. Do join us