Encouraging signs for health of Sudbury’s River Stour after ‘good’ classification from Defra

Campaigners have hailed the encouraging signs for the health of Sudbury’s main waterway, after the first official grading since weekly testing began yielded positive results.

The River Stour received a classification of ‘good’ from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) last week, following its first season as a designated bathing water.

It is understood to be the only inland river with the designation to be rated ‘good’ across the country, with the rest classed as either ‘satisfactory’ or ‘poor’.

The bathing water status – covering a specific section of the Stour adjacent to Friars Meadow in Sudbury – requires the Environment Agency to test the water each week from May to September.

The results of these tests, which monitor the levels of e-coli and intestinal enterococci in the river, informed the ‘good’ classification, which is just one below the top possible ranking of ‘excellent’.

The River Stour Trust, which led the campaign for bathing water designation alongside Sudbury Town Council, welcomed the grade as a positive sign for the waterway’s current state of health.

Campaign co-ordinator John Kemp said: “This is brilliant news for us, but disappointing for many other inland rivers which also applied for designations in recent years.

“So far as I can see, we are the only inland river in the country who have obtained a ‘good’ classification.

“What it means for the Stour is that the river is basically in a good state of health for all the swimmers, kayakers, canoeists, paddle boarders, anglers and rowers who use the river on a regular basis.”

Mr Kemp emphasised, however, that the ranking should not be taken as an all-clear that the River Stour is always safe to swim in.

While the monitoring during the 2024 bathing season showed low levels of bacteria overall, there were spikes in these levels during periods of heavy rainfall, when run-off drains into the water.

To help push the river towards an ‘excellent’ classification, the River Stour Trust will continue to conduct its own ‘citizen science’ water monitoring throughout the year.

In September, the trust also joined the Riverfly Partnership, working with Foxearth Meadows Nature Reserve to measure populations of invertebrate species, which serve as a marker for good water health.

Mr Kemp said they would continue to lobby Anglian Water to make improvements to iwater treatment processes at the Stour, adding the water firm had been supportive of efforts so far.

“Obviously, the figures need to be better if we are to obtain an ‘excellent’ classification,” he said.

“We are hoping Anglian Water will help, in this regard, by introducing further improvements to the Sudbury recycling plant.

“In their five year plan published in 2023, funding for a final radiation treatment of water was outlined, in the event bathing water status was achieved.

“So far, it has to be said, we have had really good support from Anglian Water.”