The North West River Basin District is home to over 6.6 million people and covers an area of 13,140 square kilometres from Cheshire in the South to the Lake District in the North.
The landscape is varied:
- from the mountains and lakes in Cumbria
- to the seaside at Blackpool, and
- the industrial heritage of Manchester.
Environmental challenges
The region faces many environmental challenges, with 25 percent of England's derelict land and a third of the poorest quality rivers in England and Wales. Agricultural land use covers 80 percent of the district, and there are important habitat and wildlife areas, including:
- 25 Special Areas of Conservation, and
- 7 Special Protection Areas with water dependent features.
Local population
To the south, where the population is concentrated there is the River Mersey and its tributaries from through Greater Manchester and Liverpool to the Mersey Estuary. In the central belt of the district lies the county of Lancashire with its mix of rural landscape and urban heritage, where the rivers Lune Wyre and Ribble flow into the Irish Sea.
The district has numerous lakes and still waters, many of which are within the Lake District National Park in the north of the River Basin District.
The North West River Basin District has a high rainfall, and reservoirs in the Pennine Fells and Lake District supply water for the highly populated areas in the south of the district. About 85% of the freshwater used in the North West comes from rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The rest comes from groundwater, abstracted from boreholes and springs. The North West River Basin District has many excellent salmon rivers.
The extensive network of canals provides a valuable recreational and economical asset to the region.
