Severn Vale
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 our abstractions. Our focus is those surface water bodies where we actively abstract water or where our 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 our investigation will be confined within these catchments of the larger Severn Vale management catchment.
We need your help!
Your involvement is crucial as we work together to better understand the Severn Vale. We will be conducting a workshop on 8 July 2026 at Honeybourne Village Hall, WR11 7RH. We hope you can attend and bring your local knowledge, practical experience, and on‑the‑ground perspective that we simply can’t capture through data alone. Together we hope we can build an accurate picture of the catchment, help identify viable water resource options, highlight potential opportunities to improve in-river ecology and shape partnership projects that genuinely reflect local priorities. Your input ensures that the plans we develop are realistic, collaborative, and capable of delivering real improvements for the water environment. Ultimately, by working closely with us now, you’ll be helping to secure healthier rivers, more resilient catchments, and better outcomes for the communities and sectors that depend on them.
Book your workshop place
What are our objectives and investigations?
Understand what river flow targets and changes to water abstraction may be needed to support a healthy water environment in the Severn Vale.
Check how well the Environment Agency’s national modelling reflects local conditions. You can view their modelling in the Modelled Abstraction Reductions – National Framework for Water Resources 2025.
Compare the national modelling with improved local data to make sure we’re getting an accurate picture of the catchment and its needs.
Explore options to improve and protect river flows, including reducing our own abstractions where necessary. We’ll also look for opportunities to work with local partners and develop Nature‑Based Solutions (NBS) that strengthen the catchment’s resilience.
Use the evidence gathered to build confidence in any future abstraction changes, helping us prioritise actions and plan a realistic timeline for making improvements.
Feed into the development of our Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), which outlines how we will meet long‑term challenges such as population growth, drought, environmental pressures and climate change, while ensuring a reliable water supply. The plan is being developed alongside the Water Resources West Regional Plan, which sets out how all abstractors in the region will work together to secure water supplies over the next 60 years. The first plan was published in June 2025 and is available here: Water Resources West Final Regional Plan — Water Resources West.
So who abstracts water and how much?
Severn Trent operates six groundwater abstractions, authorised to take 19Ml/d.
The table below uses data from the Environment Agency’s Modelled Abstraction Reductions - National Framework for Water Resources 2025 and shows the proportions of surface water and groundwater abstraction in the catchment.
What have we done so far and what have we got planned for this investigation?
We are working to a deadline of 31 December 2026 to deliver the first phase of Environmental Destination investigations. By this date we will have developed abstraction reduction scenarios, compiled a high-level list of potential options which enable the proposed reductions or support the ecological needs of the catchment and we will deliver a narrative of how we have come to our decisions.
During 2025:
WRW water companies have been working together and with regulators to agree the scope and methods for these investigations.
We have been analysing data and previous investigations to develop an understanding of the catchments and understand current flow pressures and impacts on ecology.
During 2026:
We will be holding engagement sessions to talk to other abstractors, water users and stakeholders to develop our understanding of the catchment and pressures on water. We will be looking for opportunities to get involved in existing projects and work with you to develop new opportunities to improve water resources and low flow conditions in the catchment. Once confirmed the sessions will be listed here along with a booking form. In the meantime, you can register your interest by providing your contact details below.
We will be undertaking modelling work to enhance the understanding of the catchment, look forwards at the potential impacts under one or more climate change scenarios. Along with information collated from stakeholders we will assess the EAs national framework reduction numbers to identify what reductions may be needed in the future to public water supply abstractions.
We will begin to prioritise the actions that are needed and develop an approach through the WRMP and regional plan to address these.
Can’t join us at the workshop? We would still like to hear from you
Please complete the contact form below, letting us know things like: Do you want to partner with Nature Based Solutions? Are you already working on something in your area? Do you have any evidence of the catchment that you would like to share? Can you let us know the grid reference of the location you are referring to? What is your interest in the catchment? Do you have any thoughts you would like to share on our investigations?
If you would like to know a bit more about the data we are using for these investigations, below are the data sources we have used:
EA catchment data explorer: England | Catchment Data Explorer
Provides data used by EA in River Basin Management Plans
EA Environmental Destination Catchment Summaries: Catchment Summaries | Environmental Destination - Get involved! | Engage Environment Agency
Information to help understand the water resources challenge in local catchments
Modelled Abstraction Reductions - National Framework for Water Resources 2025: Modelled Abstraction Reductions - National Framework for Water Resources 2025
A spreadsheet showing a range of potential reductions to abstraction licence quantities which may be needed to meet environmental flow requirements