Meet Matt Staniek: the man on a mission to save Windermere…
Matt Staniek
26-year-old zoologist, conservationist and director of Windermere Lake Recovery CIC is on a mission to save England’s largest lake. Here, he explains more about his campaign to save Windermere, why is it currently dying and what the National Park can do to help…
What is happening to Windermere?
Lake Windermere. The jewel in the crown of the world-famous Lake District National Park and England’s largest freshwater lake is dying. Feels like betrayal, doesn’t it? I can sense you’re anxiously asking yourself: How is this happening in an area of outstanding natural beauty and the UK’s best-known National Park? If you are already sitting at your laptop, ready to send an angrily written email, I should clarify exactly why our lake is dying…
One of the most notable of these reasons is one that has ignited public outrage over the last few months. Sewage. Sewage entering the catchment is adding a consequential amount of phosphorus pollution, which is the main reason for the ecological decline in Windermere. This is either entering the catchment from combined storm overflow systems (roughly 5% of the phosphorus input from United Utilities) or from over 1500 unregulated private septic tanks (estimated at 30% but believed to be far greater). Other pollutants include household products that contain high levels of phosphates (35% of United Utilities P input) as well as diffuse agricultural runoff (estimated at around 30%). With pressures such as climate change and increased tourism, the quality of Windermere is going to get worse if nothing is done. Surely in a World Heritage Site named after water itself, we should hold ourselves to higher standards, and prioritise the health of our waters and environment?
How is Windermere Lake Recovery helping?
I have spent the past four months campaigning to save our lake. Over a million individuals have seen my petition calling for action, and over 100,000 people have signed it. The campaign has begun a debate, but all parties want the same outcome; an end to water pollution in the Lake District World Heritage Site.
The campaign began on fairly innocuous grounds. I frequent the head of Windermere on an almost daily basis to observe, photograph, and document the wildlife that calls the lake their home. However, as the years have gone by, I’ve noticed something worrying - a very sharp decline in biodiversity. Being a Zoologist, my scientific curiosity took over and I set out to find the cause. I decided to write down the different symptoms Windermere was exhibiting:
o A noticeable absence in the keystone species, such as white-clawed crayfish.
o Fish are dying and becoming less visible due to loss of habitat.
o A lower diversity of bird species in the lake.
o The thick lake and riverbed vegetation is replaced by benthic algal blooms.
o Constant riverbed disruption from erosion further upstream.
o Once crystal clear waters are now clouded with toxic blue-green algae.
Pea Soup Windermere🍵😔
”Water in the Lake District #worldheritage site should NOT be green and look like pea soup” - Matt Staniek
I subsequently delved deeper into the data and found myself shocked beyond belief. Imagine my dismay when I found the Rivers Trust interactive sewage map which showed that in 2020, combined storm overflows discharged into the Windermere catchment for a total of 7,236 hours. The correlation between sewage discharge and water quality is clear. Sewage adds phosphorus into the water, which acts as a fertiliser for algae. When we get warm water temperatures and the concentration of phosphorus is high (for example if visitor numbers are high), then we get algal bloom events. These events deplete dissolved oxygen in the lake and rivers, killing fish. The algae also sits on the river bed of our rivers, killing invertebrates and fish spawn. On lake Windermere, the effects of this phosphorus can be seen today. Invertebrate and fish numbers are plummeting with salmon and trout in decline and the Arctic Char are now believed to be extinct in the south basin of Windermere. My fear is this will lead to the local extinction of iconic species like the otter and kingfisher, and that soon we will be left with a lake devoid of life.
What happens now and what can be done to help?
The evidence is unavoidable. Data the Environment Agency collected in Windermere’s north basin in 2018 showed a phosphorus spike at around 0.075 mg/l. Following this, the lake dropped down a whole water quality classification in accordance with the Water Framework Directive. Data collected by South Cumbria Rivers Trust showed post-lockdown spikes in phosphorus closer to 10mg/l which were recorded on several occasions throughout 2020 and 2021. If this continues, we will see algal bloom events at a severity not yet witnessed. Droughts caused by climate change will combine with these phosphorus spikes causing the total ecological collapse of the country’s most iconic water. This will not only negatively impact biodiversity, but also the local economy and human health. It is estimated by Cumbria Tourism that if water quality continues to decline it will cause a £100 million loss to the economy. I have also been given a written statement from a gentleman that contracted campylobacter after swimming in the lake in 2020 leaving him incredibly ill and requiring medical assistance.
This decline has been rapid, and for Windermere to be saved, we need to act immediately. We must find local and specific solutions to the problems we now face.
This requires the following:
1. Collaboration. Every single person, business, or organisation that relies on our beautiful waters must come together and agree there is a problem and find a permanent solution.
2. Innovation. We need innovative solutions to unprecedented problems, to help us to adapt and ensure that these do not reoccur in the future. Every stone must be turned and every avenue explored.
3. Investment. I feel this is the biggest factor and one that has been ignored over the decades as Windermere has declined. The current infrastructure is inadequate and insufficient to deal with increased tourist pressure - a full overhaul of structures that are no longer fit for purpose to protect the National Park is required. We must ensure that the protection of the environment within our National Parks is above all else.
How has the petition helped so far?
The petition was a significant step towards saving Lake Windermere. Due to the support of all those who have signed, a meeting took place between me, United Utilities, the Environment Agency, the Lake District National Park Authority, South Cumbria Rivers Trust, and the Freshwater Biological Association. Within this meeting, a plan to save Windermere started. Whilst this seems like quite a milestone and a step in the right direction, I will not be satisfied until there are adequate accountability measures and concrete plans in place to make Windermere a healthy and thriving part of our National Park. This will require commitment, funding, immediate action, and signatures on a piece of paper. I am told I will soon be provided a date from these partners by which they are going to aim to clean up Windermere. I expect this date to tell us when our lake and surrounding rivers will have the highest water quality.
Windermere is at Risk
It’s time to put an end to water pollution in the Lake District National Park.
How is Windermere Lake Recovery going to act moving forward?
Now looking into the future I have asked myself the question. Due to the reasonable success of getting an agreement to clean up Windermere, what now of the campaign? I want to create immediate on-the-ground change. I have created the Windermere Lake Recovery Community interest company (CIC) which will enable an immediate rollout for catchment improvements to give us a buffer until infrastructural changes can be made. This work aims to target the estimated 30% diffuse agricultural phosphorus input and the 35% phosphorus input coming from the local and transient tourist industry.
Windermere Lake Recovery will work with farmers, landowners, and the local community to implement natural solutions to mitigate water pollution, allow natural recovery, and prevent future flood events and droughts, thus making us more adaptable to climate change and most importantly begin the recovery of Windermere. I want to collaborate, learn and provide a blueprint for every single freshwater catchment in the country to follow our successes and learn from our failures to save our lakes and rivers. As a means of bringing in funding for the CIC, I have started crowdfunding to help fund landowners to bring about immediate tangible change. The donations will help these people perform vital tasks, such as; returning species to rich hay meadows, installing flood-preventing peatland, growing buffer reed bed habitats, and developing woodland pastures, all of which have a direct impact on freshwater quality. I want this fund to help conservationists to be able to reintroduce keystone species, improve terrestrial and aquatic habitats within the catchment, and work with farmers to help support the development of their decisions and enable the passage of wildlife across the landscape. Windermere Lake Recovery will also provide social media to help educate both locals and tourists on how their activity is impacting our natural environment. I now have a commitment from the National Trust who are going to support the crowd funder on their social media platforms, allow access to their volunteer network, and collaborate with myself and their tenants to impact water quality. Cumbria Wildlife Trust has followed in a similar sentiment, and the Woodland Trust has generously donated an initial 10,000 trees to the project. Our National Parks should be the ultimate source of inspiration for our natural world, and we should be utilising this flagship site to lead the charge for our environment. I believe this should begin in the Windermere catchment. The state of our freshwater is incredibly worrying but it is also the start of something exciting. If we can utilise the Lake District’s flagship appeal, with the right collaborations and enough investment, we can take what we learn from the Windermere catchment to other freshwater rivers and lakes across the country. We can start to reduce biodiversity loss in our rivers if we fight our common foes. I have full confidence that we can save our rivers and lakes: this fight can commence in Windermere, but it must start now.
IS 100,000 SIGNATURES ENOUGH?
100,000 People signed Matt Staniek’s petition in October 2018 - but is this enough?
Matt has already raised over £6000 fundraising for Windermere. The money he raises all goes towards the projects run by Windermere Lake Recovery CIC which directly reduces phosphorus from going into Lake Windermere.
To donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/windermere-lake-recovery
To keep updated with Matt’s work on Windermere, follow him @mattstaniek