Cumbria has a lot of water and everyone needs it, but we still need to be careful how and where it is used!

In our early days, Friends of the Lake District fought many battles with water companies over proposals to take water from many of our major lakes to supply areas both inside and outside Cumbria



We were successful in resisting many potentially damaging schemes so that the beauty of the lakes remains for all to enjoy.

We still have issues relating to water supply and new proposals to take water from lakes and rivers, as demand is always increasing. However, our work today is more focused on trying to reduce the demand for water (by means such as reducing leakage) and publicity campaigns to encourage everyone to reduce the amount of water they use. We work with water companies and agencies to try and make water use more sustainable.

Many of our lakes and tarns still look beautiful, but below the surface the water quality is declining. Factors such as increase in temperature from climate change, increased levels of nutrients and sediments and changes to acidity or alkalinity can all affect the delicate balance of these ecosytems and reduce the amount of oxygen available to plants and animals.

Fresh Water Biological Association www.fba.org.uk http://www.fba.org.uk/index/LDSWP.html,
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology www.ceh.ac.uk]

We believe that a larger scale approach needs to be taken to water issues and that they should be addressed on a catchment basis, looking at the whole system from the source onwards. 

This means we support projects like the Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Project www.bassenthwaite-lake.co.uk, and the new Windermerelake restoration programme which aim to look at all the issues facing the Bassenthwaite and Windermere catchment areas and all the land uses which can affect water quality. Similarly we support the Sustainable Catchment Management Plans http://www.unitedutilities.com/scamp.htm which are being developed by United Utilities to cover land use and water issues including how water discolouration can be avoided by changing land management.

We also care about our coastline and comment on plans to manage the coast. We try to ensure that any coastal works enhance the coast, allow access and, wherever possible and appropriate, that natural processes can take place.

Our work on water issues is however not all about water supply and quality. Our lakes, tarns, rivers and coast are also there to be enjoyed and we hope that, wherever it is possible, quiet enjoyment can take place.