Environment Agency - State of the Environment 2005

This report concentrates on Environment Agency activities and concerns. A follow-up report with regional partners, due later in 2005, will broaden these horizons across the whole environmental sector.

Each of the nine chapters feature a short summary of the issue's state and current trends as well as key publications or actions:

A better quality of life

• The South West’s population has increased by over 5% since 1992, a rate that is 1.6 times faster than that for England as a whole.
• According to the 2004 Index of Multiple Deprivation, there are 95 census-based ‘Super Output Areas’ in the South West that are ranked within the most deprived 10% in England. Integrated Pollution Sites (IPC) are disproportionately clustered together in these deprived wards.
• Local quality of life in the region is the highest of any English region.
• 441,913 fly-tipping incidents were reported by local authorities in the South West in the six months prior to November 2003 3% of the national total.
• Climate change will impact on our quality of life in the future. Incidents of malignant melanoma are likely to increase as summer and autumn cloud cover reduces and exposure to radiation increases.
• There is an increasing awareness of the role played by recreational angling in the health of the population. Around 123,000 freshwater rod licence were sold in the South West in 2003-2004, while 25,000 local people go sea angling, along with 750,000 visitor days spent sea angling.

An enhanced environment for wildlife

• Salmon stocks are under serious threat with 16 of our 20 salmon rivers failing to meet their Conservation Limit. However, 2004 showed a slight upturn in the number of salmon caught by rod anglers across the region.
• Stocks of coarse fish are generally healthy in the South West.
• Eel populations are following the national and European trend of a steep decline.
• The Fourth Otter Survey of England between 2000 and 2002 revealed that sites showing positive signs of otters increased by 83% in Devon and Cornwall and by 121% in Wessex on 1991–1994 survey findings.
• Water voles have declined dramatically across the South West, with 87% of known sites lost in Devon and Cornwall and 49% lost in the Wessex region between 1990 and 1998. However, the most recent survey carried out in Dorset reveal a 4.7% increase in positive occupation and almost a 50% total number of positive sites, which is only 3.5% short of the 2010 target.

Cleaner air for everyone

• Air quality in the South West is generally good, with low levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulates compared to the rest of England.
• Although it is not feasible to show definitive trends since the early 1990s, the number of days when air pollution was moderate or higher rose significantly in both rural and urban areas in the South West in 2003, predominantly due however to the hot summer experienced in this year.
• New release limits have been imposed by the Environment Agency on an industry that it regulates in Bridgwater (Somerset), which can cause poor air quality during certain weather conditions in the summer. These new limits will ensure compliance with the air quality objective for 15-minute mean sulphur dioxide concentration from 2006

Limiting and adapting to climate change

• Eight out of the warmest years in the South West have occurred since 1990. 1990 the warmest decade in the region, followed by the 1980s and the 1970s.
• Future seasons in the region will be warmer and drier in the summer whilst winters will be milder and wetter.
• Sea level measurements recorded in Newlyn (Cornwall) reveals a rise of around 200mm since 1916.
• The South West has the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates (PM10) from regulated industry of any Environment Agency region.

Improved and protected inland and coastal waters

• Water quality in the South West’s bathing waters, rivers, estuaries and shellfish waters is generally good.
• Setting of illegal surface gillnets for sea fish is causing problems for the bycatch of salmon and sea trout stocks, as well as seabirds and porpoises and dolphins.
• River flows in South West rivers are generally good, but the abstraction of water has had an unacceptable environmental impact by reducing river flows on the Rivers Wylye and Avon at Malmesbury (Wiltshire) and Piddle (Dorset).

Please note: An error was made in the Improved and Protected inland and Coastal Waters summary on page 5 and in the detail on page 20, in which it was stated that over-abstraction was a problem on the River Taw. This section has now been removed and the Environment Agency wish to confirm that there is no over-abstraction problems on this river. Apologies for any confusion that this may have caused.

Restored, protected land with healthier soils

• Between 1995 and 2003 the total area of land under agriculture in the South West remained relatively stable, however, the number of agricultural holdings increased by 14%.
• The number of very small farm holdings (of 5 hectares or less) increased by 72% between 1995 and 2003 (compared to almost 65% in England).
• 81% of sites surveyed for cultivated land on silt and fine sandstone landscapes in the South West have severely or highly degraded soil structure.

Reducing flood risk

• In the South West region, recent Environment Agency expenditure in flood risk management has been around £40million. 2005-2006 has seen an increase of approximately£ 15million reflecting the increasing threat of severe weather events from climate change.
• There are 900km of flood defences and approximately 4,500 individual structures protecting urban areas. Of these flood defences, 56% are in good condition or better and 5% are in poor condition or worse. Of the structures, 68% are in good condition or better and 6% are in poor condition or worse.
• Climate change scenarios predict that winters will be 5 to 15% wetter and that heavy rainfall will be more common by 2050. There will be higher tides as a result of the predicted rise in sea level. Some locations in the South West will be more vulnerable to coastal flooding. Tidal damage alone will increase by a factor of six over the next 70 years if we do not adapt to rising sea levels.
• The number of planning applications where the Environment Agency objected on flood risk grounds increased slightly from 1,274 to 1,354 between 2003 and 2004 compared to the previous year, although this may be partly explained by changes to the reporting boundary.

Wiser, sustainable use of natural resources

• Almost 2.88 million tonnes of municipal waste were produced in the South West during 2003–2004.
• Regional household waste increased by almost 5% between 2001–2002 and 2003–2004. Household waste is increasing beyond the region’s population growth.
• Landfill is still the dominant form of management for municipal waste in the region, accounting for 75% in 2003–2004. However, there are signs that this reliance is slowly starting to reduce (by 6% between 2001–2002 and 2003–2004).
• Climate change will place a greater strain on the region’s water resources over the coming century.
• Average monthly flows recorded at most of the gauging stations in South West rivers were below the long-term average in January 2005, largely due to the relatively low annual rainfall.

A ‘greener’ business world

• There were 3,538 substantiated pollution incidents in the South West during 2004, a reduction of over 30% since 2000. However, the number of
  Category 1 incidents (the most serious) increased from 3 in 2003 to 11 in 2004.
• Category 2 incidents (significant) have been steadily declining since 2001 and reduced by 29% between 2001 and 2004.
• The total number of Category 3 (minor) pollution events in the South West was 1,609, the second highest in the country. However this is a reduction of 11% compared to 2003 and a 26% reduction since 2001.
• Category 1–3 incidents from agricultural sources reduced by 8% for the third consecutive year, however 3 Category 1 incidents were recorded in 2004.