The Severn Vale management catchment covers the lower River Severn and its network of tributaries, including the Leadon, Chelt, Frome, Cinderford Brook and Cannop Brook. These rivers flow into the nationally and internationally important Severn Estuary, which is protected for its wildlife and habitats. The River Severn also supports recreation, navigation and local heritage, making it an important environmental and community asset.

The catchment spans a diverse landscape, with water flowing in from the Malvern Hills, the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean and the Frome catchment. It includes towns such as Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Cinderford and Ledbury, alongside farmland, woodland and estuarine areas. There are numerous surface waterbodies and many designated nature sites, reflecting both the ecological value of the area and the pressures it faces.

The Severn Vale Catchment Partnership (SVCP) has identified several challenges, including low river flows, barriers to fish movement, flooding, habitat loss and water quality issues. Previously, many projects were small and disconnected, making it harder to tackle these wider pressures. The partnership is now shifting towards more strategic, catchment‑wide programmes that bring organisations together and support larger‑scale improvements.

Successful projects—such as recent work on Cinderford Brook—show what can be achieved through strong local engagement. New partnership priorities, including programmes like Wilder Frome, Forest to Sea and Wilder Leadon, present opportunities for more joined‑up action to improve river health, restore habitats and strengthen the long‑term resilience of the Severn Vale catchment.

For our Environmental Destination (ED) programme, we are focusing on a specific “area of interest” within the catchment, relevant to water company abstractions. Our focus is those surface water bodies where the public water supply companies actively abstract water or where their groundwater abstraction impacts on flow to surface waterbodies. Severn Trent has ground water abstractions in the Frome and Cam, Forest of Dean, Leadon and Seven River and Trib Operational catchments and its investigation will be confined within these catchments of the larger Severn Vale management catchment.