Southern Water’s business often leads it into environmental fields and we realise there is a wealth of expertise we can tap into to deliver conservation and environmental enhancements.
We are delighted to have developed highly successful working partnerships with external organisations.
Water Partnerships
Southern Water has teamed up with three key organisations to help protect otters and rivers in Sussex.
The company has joined the Sussex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and South East Water to become a partner of the Sussex Otters and Rivers Partnership (SORP).
SORP is part of Water for Wildlife, a national group led by the Wildlife Trusts, which looks at water supply and demand and the needs of wetland wildlife.
The group restores and maintains healthy wetland areas in Sussex to improve the habitats of both endangered wildlife and the environment in general.
Sussex has lost more than 90 per cent of its water vole population in the last 20 years and in the 1960s otters became extinct in the county.
SORP installs otter holts, artificial versions of otters’ natural habitat, and works to raise the awareness of landowners and the general public.
Southern Water also plays an active role in each year in Water Festivals held in East and West Sussex, Kent and Hampshire, through both financial support and attending with a mobile exhibition of fascinating water facts and figures.
Corporate Membership
Southern Water is a corporate member of Butterfly Conservation, a British charity devoted to saving butterflies, moths and their habitats throughout the UK.
The company is also a member and supporter of the Kent Wildlife Trust, the leading conservation organisation in Kent and the Medway towns.
Southern Water is a supporter of the RSPB’s Aren’t Birds Brilliant Project which organises events round the UK to encourage people to study birds in their natural habitat. The company hosts days at Bewl Water Reservoir on the Kent/Sussex border.
Wildlife Projects
Sussex Wildlife Trust
A dew pond built in the 1930s is enjoying a new lease of life thanks to a partnership between Southern Water and Sussex Wildlife Trust.
The pond at Southerham Farm is part of the Malling Down Nature Reserve, in Lewes, East Sussex, which is known for its chalk grassland, rare flowers and butterflies.
It has been weeded and cleaned by a group of volunteers from Southern Water and should now attract more wildlife to the area.
Dew ponds are artificial ponds used for watering livestock where were designed to collect rain in areas where a natural supply was not readily available.
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Challenge
Southern Water’s Testwood Lakes, which supplies water for Southampton, has been recognised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) for its conservation work.
The site won first place in the community category for wetland sites in the BTO Business Bird Challenge.
The competition celebrates the sensitive management of industrial sites, reflecting the diversity and number of bird species using the area.
Southern Water works in partnership with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to manage the site with activities including coppicing, hay cutting, bird recording and guided walks.
Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group
Southern Water is supporting the 20th annual conference of the Sussex Amphibian and Reptile Group in Crawley in 2007, which is celebrating two decades of achievement alongside the Surrey ARG. The company has donated £1,000 to support the work of the group.
King George V Playing Field, Bucks Green
Southern Water has worked in partnership with the King George V Biodiversity Management Plan Project Team on an environmental project in Rudgewick, West Sussex, to provide drainage to the field.
The scheme involved creating an open gravity ditch to run into the River Arun.
