It was mentioned in the post on day 4 of the Clean Rivers campaign that some members Brockenhurst WI are sea swimmers and a few have commented on the pollution in the sea.

One member has written this:

“Whilst our Women’s Institute (WI) campaign focuses specifically on rivers, as an all-weather swimmer/dipper in rivers, lakes and the sea, the condition of all our waterways is important to me. From both a human health and an ecological perspective, the level of contamination we face is scary – and much of that contamination is currently legally, if not morally, acceptable.

Only in this week’s local paper (Lymington Times, 15^th September 2023) there are two stories regarding local waterways; raw sewage being spilled into a stream in Lyndhurst that leads to the Beaulieu River and the sea, and a local paddleboarder on the Lymington River raising funds and awareness for Surfers Against Sewage. Sadly, many other spills and legal overflow pumping of waste into our rivers and seas goes unremarked. If this can happen in the New Forest, a National Park with many diverse SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) areas, there is truly something broken.

On a personal level, when planning a swim, I now not only check tide times, wind, waves and swell, but also whether sewage has been released that day/recently. It’s a common misconception that the issue with storm runoff only impacts after periods of rain, however, it also occurs when rain falls onto hardened/sun baked ground and runs off before it has soaked in. This is usually in Summer, when more families are likely to be enjoying the forest and seaside.

I hope that the national WI Clean Rivers campaign can help increase awareness and bring about the change needed for our water and waste management infrastructure to be secured for future generations.”

Z. Smith, Brockenhurst WI Member