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Crouch and Roach

Crouch and Roach | Essex Rivers Hub

The Crouch and Roach Operational Catchment

The River Crouch and River Roach in the south of Essex have relatively small catchment areas within a mixed urban and rural setting. There are eight water bodies in this operational catchment.

The River Crouch, which is mostly tidal estuary, runs between Holliwell Point and Battlesbridge. The Crouch rises in ‘The Wilderness’ on the Burstead Golf course at Little Burstead, then runs parallel with the A176 (Noak Hill Rd) for about a mile before heading eastwards towards Battlesbridge, passing under the A130 at Mayrose Bridge. At Battlesbridge, the river becomes tidal and is navigable for 17.5 miles at high water.

The River Roach is made up of two main tributaries, which are Nobles Green Ditch to the north and Eastwood Brook to the south. The Roach flows through the town of Rochford and joins the River Crouch at Wallasea Island. 10 miles of the river roach is navigable.

The Crouch and Roach estuary is an internationally important estuarine complex which drains into the Greater Thames Estuary, made up of a network of creeks and islands, including Wallasea Island, Foulness Island and Potton Island. Part of the site is a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Ramsar wetland site of international importance. The estuary has salt marsh, intertidal mud, grazing marsh and a fresh water reservoir. The salt marsh has scarce species including lax-flowered sea-lavender and one-flowered glasswort. Rough grass has dense populations of the nationally scarce Roesel’s bush-cricket. The site is internationally important for wintering dark-bellied brent geese, and nationally important for black-tailed godwits, shelducks and shoveller ducks. There are Red Data Book species of invertebrates such as the ground lackey moth.

Crouch and Roach Gallery

Pressures

The pressures for this waterbody are divided into categories: Diffuse Pollution, Fish Passage, Flow, Invasive Species, Physical Modification, and Point Source . Please click here to view these pressure descriptions in more detail.

Diffuse Pollution

Runoff from agricultural land and urban areas have contributed to this waterbody having problems with phosphate, dissolved oxygen and ammonia.

Point Source

There are multiple point sources of pollution along this waterbody which contribute to it having problems with phosphate, dissolved oxygen and ammonia. These issues come from trade discharges and misconnections. There are also known consented overflows on the sewerage network.

Diffuse Pollution

Runoff from agricultural land and urban areas have contributed to this waterbody having problems with phosphate.

Invasive Species

Japanese Knotweed has been most recently recorded on this water body in 2010. This plant not only shades out native plants, but also causes serious damage to buildings.

American Mink have been most recently recorded on this water body in 2008 . American Mink cause a wide range of problems on a river, including playing a large part in the local extinction of many natural species such as water voles and kingfishers.

Point Source

Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘bad’ classification. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody.

Diffuse Pollution

The diffuse agricultural pollution entering the river within this waterbody is described as ‘chronic’, there has also been diffuse pollution identified from urban sources

Invasive Species

Signal Crayfish have been most recently recorded on this water body in 2009. Signal Crayfish cause changes to the natural bankside habitat and also out-compete our native crayfish. They are fierce predators and can completely change fish and invertebrate communities so that they are no longer in their natural state.

Point Source

Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘poor’ classification. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody.

Diffuse Pollution

There is no data due to a lack of water testing and investigation within this waterbody. This lack of data may be due to the small size of the waterbody and the influence of the tide, meaning that it may be better assessed with transitional waterbodies.
Fish passage
There is no data due to a lack of biological monitoring within this waterbody. This lack of data may be due to the small size of the waterbody and the influence of the tide, meaning that it may be better assessed with transitional waterbodies.

Invasive Species

There is no data due to a lack of biological monitoring within this waterbody. This lack of data may be due to the small size of the waterbody and the influence of the tide, meaning that it may be better assessed with transitional waterbodies.

Physical Modification

There is no data due to a lack of monitoring within this waterbody. This lack of data may be due to the small size of the waterbody and the influence of the tide, meaning that it may be better assessed with transitional waterbodies.

Point Source

There is no data due to a lack of water testing and investigation within this waterbody. This lack of data may be due to the small size of the waterbody and the influence of the tide, meaning that it may be better assessed with transitional waterbodies.

Diffuse Pollution

The diffuse agricultural pollution entering the river within this waterbody is contributing to the higher levels of phosphate detected here. Urbanisation in the land surrounding the river has also increased the amount of urban run-off.

Invasive Species

Japanese Knotweed has been most recently recorded on this water body in 2011 . This plant not only shades out native plants, but also causes serious damage to buildings.

Physical Modification

This river has been historically modified, measures were put in place, but these were not taken forward.
Point source
Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘poor’ classification and ammonia levels which are ‘moderate. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody.

Physical Modification

There is no data due to a lack of monitoring within this waterbody.

Point Source

Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘bad’ classification. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody. Other sources have also been identified such as local industrial estates and business. Invertebrates are also classed as ‘moderate’ which may be because of these point source pollutants.

Physical Modification

There is no data due to a lack of monitoring within this waterbody.

Point Source

Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘bad’ classification. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody. Other sources have also been identified such as local industrial estates and business. Invertebrates are also classed as ‘moderate’ which may be because of these point source pollutants.

Physical Modification

There is no data due to a lack of monitoring within this waterbody.

Point Source

Phosphate levels within this waterbody are considered to be too high and therefore have a ‘bad’ classification. The point source inputs need to be identified although there is a sewage treatment works that discharges into this waterbody. Other sources have also been identified such as local industrial estates and business. Invertebrates are also classed as ‘moderate’ which may be because of these point source pollutants.

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Pressures

The topics below represent the pressures that many waterbodies in the Combined Essex catchment face. They have been divided into six main categories, but it is quite often that these categories can overlap as pressures relate to each other.

Diffuse pollution occurs as water moves across the land or through the ground and picks pollutants. These pollutants can come from a variety of places, including urban and field run off. The pollutants that enter the river can range from sediment to toxins to excess nutrients, meaning that diffuse pollution can cause a whole range of different issues. The variety in these pressure groups means that it is something that can be quite difficult to tackle. It requires groups of people, business and stakeholders to work together in order to solve this problem.

Fish should be able to travel up and down a river freely, allowing them to move and breed in the most suitable habitats for them. It is important that fish populations do not become isolated, as this makes them more susceptible to disease and puts pressure on their survival. Unfortunately, there are often many barriers along rivers that prevent fish from being able to migrate up and down stream. Where barriers have been identified, they will be seen as a ‘pressure’ on a waterbody. Thankfully, there are many solutions now that can be put in place to aid fish passage, even over large barriers.

The flow in a river can vary greatly throughout the year as rainfall and run off can have an effect. This is a natural process. It is when flow is impacted by non-natural processes that it can cause problems. Sometimes, water can be intercepted or removed from a system; this will reduce the flow, therefore changing the habitat conditions. Some species are happy in high energy rivers. This means that when flow is reduced, these species will no longer survive. The opposite of this can occur when excess water is entering a river, for example through increased runoff. Low energy systems then become high energy and displace the species that live there.

A species that is not meant to be found in a particular area is known as an invasive species. Invasive species can be from a different habitat or a different country altogether. Most of the invasive species that we find on our rivers have come from other countries – plants that people have imported for their gardens or animals that have been released for food or by animal rights activists. Control of invasive species requires a lot of time and effort. We are fortunate that we do have a range of methods to manage most of the invasive species that cause havoc on our rivers, but there are still some which we are still struggling to control.

Many of our rivers have been heavily modified over the years as rivers have been used for a wide range of purposes. Physical modification is one of the biggest factors that causes our rivers to be unhealthy. The issues that it can cause range from reducing habitat, preventing migration of mobile species, and even have an effect on the water quality. Where structures and modifications are no longer in use or necessary, they should be removed to allow the river to regain its natural state. Unfortunately, this action is not always taken which means that many of our rivers are over straightened and contain redundant structures. It is possible to return a lot of our rivers to their natural state, through one off projects, but in other cases it is not possible as the river has been changed to protect assets or manage flooding. It is recognised that some modifications cannot be removed without having severe negative impacts both socially and economically.

This is pollution that comes from a single identifiable source. The pollution entering the river could include a whole range of pollutants. Some point source pollution is known about and licences, for example sewage treatment works. Other sources are not licensed, and therefore work needs to be done with landowners to fix the problems that are allowing the pollution to enter the river. Point source pollution is more easily controlled than diffuse pollution as it often only takes one management approach to solve the issue.