The state of the River Bure
The River Bure is a chalk river with a significant role to play in the support of the Broads National Park, the most biodiverse wetland in the UK with more than a quarter of Britain’s rarest animals and plants. Cloudy water had become a major issue in the 1980s due to phosphates and unmanaged habitats turning to scrub, but the establishment of the National Park helped to turn this decline around.
Stretching 51km out to sea, the River Bure and its many interconnected broads and fens contain pike and perch, otters, bittern and marsh harriers, but despite its value for wildlife, 93% of waterbodies on the river are in a moderate to poor state.
Abstraction of water combined with the effects of rising tides and climate change are having a dramatic effect on the river, but it’s agriculture and rural land management which accounts for 71% of the reasons for not achieving good status on the river. .
The water industry is attributed to causing harm on 22% of the failing water bodies on the Bure. Sewage spilled into the river for 7,587 hours in 2024 (from 16 different combined sewage overflows)).
The upper reaches of the river have been modified over centuries for milling, farming and peat extraction, but there is hope for the future with habitat restoration projects looking to restore the river.
The National Trust, in partnership with the Environment Agency and Norfolk Rivers Trust have been making efforts to restore the river since 2018 as part of their Riverlands programme which aims to re-naturalise sections of the river with new ponds, natural wooden debris and new woodland planting. By helping to narrow sections of the river and reduce the speed and change the direction of its flow, the river is slowly coming back to life with new habitat corridors and nursery grounds for juvenile fish.
