SDG 14: Life below water
What does the data show?
The River Avon and the River Frome are the two largest rivers flowing through the centre of Bristol, contributing to the bustling harbourside area.
The following table shows how many of Bristol’s rivers fall into each ecological status.
| Ecological status of Bristol waters | 2015 | 2016 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water body elements in High Ecological Status | 60.7% | 64.9% | 68.6% |
| Water body elements in Good Ecological Status | 15.6% | 13.7% | 12.4% |
| Water body elements in Moderate Ecological Status | 18.0% | 15.3% | 13.1% |
| Water body elements in Poor Ecological Status | 4.9% | 5.3% | 5.1% |
| Water body elements in Bad Ecological Status | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.7% |
SDG 14: Life below water
There has been no recorded change in the ecological status of rivers in Bristol since 2018.
However, other indicators can be used to assess progress. The percentage of the water bodies that showed high ecological standards has increased since 2015.
There has been no recorded change in the ecological status of rivers in Bristol since 2018. However, other indicators can be used to assess progress. The percentage of the water bodies that showed high ecological standards has increased since 2015.
There are more water bodies in high ecological status, and fewer in the good, moderate and bad ecological categories than 2015. Data also shows that phosphorus has declined overall in Bristol rivers since 2017.
Transferal of EU legislation post-Brexit
Prior to the UK leaving the EU, the EU Water Framework Directive granted legislative protection to waterways in the UK. There are concerns that not all the legislation will be transferred. It will be important to monitor the impact that leaving the EU and changes to legislation have on the standards of Bristol waterways.
The Government’s 25-year environmental plan, launched in 2018, committed the UK to ‘improve at least three quarters of waters’ to be ‘close to their natural state’.
What Bristol is doing
Installation of water fountains
Water fountains installed by Bristol Water in Bristol city centre in 2019 will save Bristolians an estimated half a million pounds and prevent 50 miles of plastic bottle waste every year. This should help to remove rubbish from waterways (one of the targets in SDG 14), as well as reduce overall plastic consumption.
This work has been carried out in partnership with Refill Bristol. Alongside this, a new citywide refill cup scheme has been launched to reduce the amount of plastic pollution from single use coffee cups.
Cleaner rivers and biodiversity gain
In 2021, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) organised nine river cleans, collecting over 150 bags of rubbish. It also launched its Yellow Fish campaign, raising awareness of river pollution by stencilling yellow fish next to drains. Sustainable Westbury-on-Trym and BART are now hopeful that after years of effort cleaning the Trym, trout will be able to return.
The Bristol Avon Catchment Market is a scheme run by Avon Wildlife Trust to provide carbon capture and biodiversity gain credits to organisations and businesses looking to offset their emissions. The scheme will restore upstream habitats in the Avon catchment and, over time, begin to provide biodiversity net gain to the city and its waterways.