Save Windermere is back from space…
Let’s go back to September 2023…
Save Windermere, in partnership with Map Impact, embarked on a groundbreaking data collection programme, backed by the UK Space Agency, to study Windermere, England's most iconic body of water. We even made a film about this exciting project, which saw the SS Save Windermere constructed and launched.
Well, now we are incredibly excited to announce that we have the results!
After months of meticulous analysis by Map Impact and the collection of thousands of images and data points, a significant finding has emerged: There is a direct correlation between visitor numbers and algal spikes in Windermere. Notably, algal growth is also exacerbated during prolonged warm, dry weather periods. Unsurprisingly, due to the type of farming in and around Windermere and the type of land use in the catchment, the study found no correlation between agricultural input and algal spikes in Windermere.
Prior to this study, no investigation had delved into the correlation between human activity in the area and its impact on the lake and these results reaffirm Save Windermere’s stance on the pressures that Windermere faces.
Matt on the SS Save Windermere
This project specifically focused on examining the concentration of chlorophyll-a in the lake, using satellite data from various sources. Chlorophyll-a in freshwater not only serves as an indicator for algal growth and concentration, but is also a reliable indicator of phosphorus concentrations. Windermere is under threat from excessive phosphorus, which facilitates the proliferation of algal blooms. The danger of extensive algal blooms lies in their potential toxicity to both humans and wildlife if ingested, as well as their ability to deplete oxygen levels in the water, potentially resulting in mass fish kills, especially in large blooms.
There was yet another aspect to the project that was unique and had never been examined before. The satellite imagery was complemented by data from one of the UK's largest mobile networks, with anonymised cellular data used to gauge the number of people within the Windermere catchment at given points of time. This uncovered some rather startling figures…
Whilst the resident population of the Windermere catchment stood at around 35,000 during the COVID-19 lockdown, the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions saw a staggering influx of visitors to the National Park. On certain days in the summer of 2020, there were over 300,000 people in the catchment alone. The increased loading of people around the lake was directly correlated with the increased presence of algae in the lake. Even when numbers returned to ‘normal’ in 2022, we still saw over 200,000 people in the catchment on given days.
Despite this slightly lower population figure in 2022, the lake witnessed a more severe algal bloom due to higher water temperatures in the lake. The study underscores the significance of temperature on algal growth. With a 1.7-degree rise in annual average temperature over the past 70 years alone and the heightened risk of droughts due to climate change, this threat escalates. Hence, nutrient removal is imperative to ensure resilience.
Algal Bloom at Waterhead, Ambleside August 2022
We want to make it abundantly clear, we do not oppose people coming here. In fact, we believe every single person in this country has a right to come and experience the beauty of this National Park. This situation is instead a result of Environment Agency failings and insufficient, inadequate investment by the billion-pound water company, United Utilities (UU). We have not seen enough investment to ensure sustainable development and as a result, our lake is not adaptable to climate change.
We contend that not only has investment made thus far not been sufficient to ensure the adaptability of the lake to climate change, but that the sewage infrastructure also struggles to cope with these surges in population. United Utilities DECLINED to share any data for this project, despite them owning the vast majority of the infrastructure in and around Windermere. The data requested would have enabled us to determine the full contribution of United Utilities to the algal spikes in the lake. To us, this signals their disregard for the long term protection of the lake. Instead they are only interested in protecting their own agenda… namely, returning dividends to shareholders.
This project builds on Save Windermere’s existing scientific collaborations. To date our data collection and analysis in collaboration with Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP), has uncovered instances of illegal sewage discharges into Windermere and its wider catchment, whilst our invertebrate sampling programme with WildFish has shown significant declines in invertebrate abundance and diversity on several river sites in the catchment.
WASP’s analysis has identified at least 234 days with early spills of untreated sewage by United Utilities to Lake Windermere and catchment watercourses between 2018 and 2022, highlighting a lack of capacity, whilst our ongoing work with Wildfish has demonstrated the impact of United Utilities discharge points in the Windermere catchment in the absence of effective regulation.
With these longer-term data collection projects now looking at the overall health of Windermere, it has been clearly demonstrated that there is a correlation between visitor numbers and algal growth which underscores the necessity for a long-term infrastructure investment plan surpassing current proposals, addressing both untreated and treated sewage.
Save Windermere now has even more evidence that justifies our overarching campaign message; stop putting sewage in Windermere. This solution has been implemented in Lake Annecy and now their lake is free from sewage and is classified as the cleanest in Europe. This is what’s required to protect this nation’s lake forever.
The summary report and the detailed technical study can be downloaded here.
