A beautiful overture for our tortured rivers

There's been a lot of noise about the state of our rivers these past few years, and quite right too.

- Bryan Appleyard

An Environment Agency report in 2020 revealed that not a single river, lake or stream in England was classified as in “good health” and during last year’s general election campaign, politicians felt the need to compete over what their parties would do to end the scandal of raw sewage entering the water system. There’s no doubt that, for a large section of the public, the issue has touched a nerve.

It’s into this societal whirlpool that the highly acclaimed and best-selling nature writer Robert Macfarlane — well known for The Old Ways, The Lost Words and Underland — dives in with his latest: Is a River Alive?

As soon as I saw the title, I was excited. I have nothing but admiration for those, mostly grassroots, campaigners who have run such effective campaigns in recent years to highlight the appalling state of our rivers. But the public and media debate has tended to focus rather narrowly just on water quality in the river channel (incredibly important as it is), rather than stimulate a discussion about river ecosystems more widely, and the cultural importance — and yes, spiritual importance — of rivers in our lives and in society. We should see rivers as so much more than mere drainage systems, after all.

Has the water died?