South Cumbria is famed for its wild countryside punctuated by its lakes and tarns and ribboned by mile upon mile of fast running rivers, becks and streams. Understandably, not shown in the promotional materials are the less desirable, yet increasingly common features of the aquatic habitats of the region. Blue-green algae; farm run-off, over-flowing septic tanks, de-oxygenated water, invasive species and the inexorably climbing temperature of Lake Windermere are a mere sprinkling of the problems that face the waters, both fresh and marine, of South Cumbria.

A potted history……

Seeing that that the downward trend of the quality of rivers and lakes was unlikely to be halted unless they took matters into their own hands, a number of small, like-minded groups formed throughout the region. The driving force behind these groups was predominantly the angling community, and although their initial response was to a decline in fish numbers, the work that they started to do addressed the wider environment as ultimately the two are inextricably linked. The broad church approach of some of these groups has encouraged the participation and support of the wider community in river rehabilitation work.

In 2006 a number of catchment-based associations joined forces and became South Cumbria Rivers Trust. The reasons behind this are logical. The impacts are similar throughout the area and a larger association would bring many skills under one roof and thus be more informed and better equipped to tackle the issues. The Trust then achieved charitable status, enabling it to apply for a wider range of funding to carry out its work.

In 2007 United Utilities made a large contribution to core fund the trust in employing a manager. This was an important step for the trust, as up until this point dedicated volunteers, all with many other commitments, had put all of the work in. The trust manager, Ben Lamb, has now been in post for 5 months and is working with the various rivers associations and agencies throughout South Cumbria to identify and prioritise problems and search out funding to carry out the necessary work.

The Trust carries out a variety of activities from research and survey work to educational projects and development of catchment restoration and management plans. For more details, see the Trust's website: www.scrt.co.uk