Autumn Newsletter

The Wilbraham River Protection Society.

How do we ensure our river gets its fair share of the water in this extreme drought? Sections of our river started drying up at the beginning of June and have not recovered.

We are all having to make adjustments to our water use at the moment and it looks like this will become a more regular feature of our future. In the longer term we need to see the water companies pressurised to provide better for the needs of the historically driest parts of the country. Larger organisations will have a louder voice.

Our speaker at this years AGM on Monday November 9th 2026 will be Matt Day, Cam Catchment Officer of the Cam Catchment Partnership (CCP). This is  an inclusive, civil society-led initiative in the East Anglian region working towards better ecological outcomes for water in the Cam catchment, which includes the River Cam and its tributaries. The WRPS is a member of the CCP and helping with developing their catchment plan.

With sadness we had to cancel our summer walk, the weather forecast for the day was 30+ degrees and it was not suitable for a community walk. However augmentation of the Temple Springs has enabled us to have water as far as Hawk Mill Farm until the Environment Agency diverted the flow to Fulbourn

. The Fulbourn Springs are augmented in a shared fashion with the Temple Springs at Great Wilbraham and water then passes through the Fulbourn Nature Reserve and into the Wilbraham River via the Fulbourn New Cut. The Orchid count at Fulbourn Nature reserve was a great success again this year in part due to this management of the water allocation. Getting the balance of this allocation requires regularly updated feedback of the water flow at both sources. This has been done by a small group of WRPS members for the last few years and ongoing installation and updating of monitoring equipment designed by members of the committee and paid for by grants and donations. It’s a delicate balance and as I write the water is all going to Fulbourn Springs but we have advised the Environment Agency and hopefully we will see water back at the Temple Springs. Obviously in this weather all the wildlife is dependent on dwindling water sources. Water sources in our gardens are so important for all our wildlife even a bowl of water kept topped up will help some thirsty insect, bird or small animal to get through until it rains again.

Living Water: Poetry, Art and the Fight for Clean Rivers is one of several events celebrating water at Cambridge University Library. Entry is free and is showing currently until Dec 5th 2026. Another event is “We flow on”:Living Water with Robert Macfarlane and Mark Wormald  Wednesday 4 November also on line.  Details all on the CUL website.

We are seeking help and advice currently from anyone who has experience in working with schools as we would love to take information on the river and its flora and fauna into school. It is a wonderful environment for people to explore but we have no members of the committee with this back ground. Likewise we are all interested in developing some biodiversity projects. If anyone would like to be involved with the Society developing these areas please contact us via the website where you can email your suggestions.