[Music] St Agnes in cormell is known for its historic mining Heritage picturesque beaches and stunning Coastal walks which are enjoyed by local residents and visitors alike the steeply undulating landscape around s Agnes is drained by two small streams which rise to the east and west of of the Hamlet of goon Bell about a mile to the south of s Agnes these streams meet in a culvert or underground tunnel at peterville before heading northwards down a steep and narrow Valley to dorant Cove the stream flows onto the beach and its Western end near the boat slipway the natural water system involves the continuous cycling of water through the atmosphere and across the land through processes like evaporation condensation and precipitate ation in a natural landscape rainwater flows through and over the land before collecting in rivers and streams that flow down to the Sea the flow of water depends on a number of factors these include soil type and condition the steepness of the terrain and land use such as Urban rural or industrial land uses farming practices can also have an impact and can influence both the amount of water that ends up in rivers and streams and how long it takes to get there land that is well managed with healthy soils and areas of natural vegetation is better at absorbing water and slowing water flow the Headlands in sagnes are covered by Farms of various types there are Arab Farms growing crops livestock Farms rearing cows and pigs and there are large areas where horses are kept the different Farm types can influence the natural water cycle depending on how they are managed and the farming practices used the natural water system in River catchments also interacts with the human water system in our Landscapes the human water system includes all the places where people take water out of the environment for use in homes businesses and for industry this can be done by Southwest water for the supply of drinking water but there are also many other people who take water from the environment via bore holes or from the stream to use in a variety of ways the human water system also includes the drainage and wastewater treatment systems that collect and treat the water once it’s been used and which return it to the environment safely the sagus drainage and Wastewater system is comprised of around 21 square kilm of sewage pipes and drains which collect Wastewater and rainwater known as surface water from homes businesses and impermeable areas across the catchment landscape many drains collect rain water from roads roofs and other impermeable surfaces and return it directly to the stream however there are also many situations where this surface water is fed into the sewer Network where it combines with the sewage in these pipes before being pumped to the treatment works in s Agnes sewage and rainwater in the combined system drain down through the network to a pumping station near travor Cove from there it’s pumped up through a rising main to another pumping station next to the stream just below peterville this pumps it up to the sagus sewage treatment works lying Northwest of the Village near the coast where it is treated and discharged safely to the Sea problems can occur if either side of the water system is not working correctly for example if the landscape is degraded and cannot regulate the flow of water as it normally would or if the drainage system is blocked or overwhelmed with water sometimes the volume and speed of water running off the catchment landscape is so great that it picks up pollutants on the land such as soil manure or chemicals and washes them into the stream this excess water can cause flooding and the pollution it carries can damage the Ecology of the stream and impact the water quality in the Cove Downstream in addition when large volumes of water run off into the combined sewage system it can overwhelm the pipes and pumps when this happens the excess sewage and water in the system can overflow into the stream to ensure that it does not back up in the system and flood homes businesses and public spaces two recent significant pollution events in torant COD move in October 2022 and April 2023 highlighted the challenges faced in this catchment in both cases Brown water discharged dramatically onto the beach and into the sea following a prolonged period of heavy rainfall subsequent investigations have revealed that the rainfall caused the storm overflows to spill diluted sewage into the stream and triggered the runoff of large quantities of muddy water from the rural landscape at the top of the catchment we also identified that there may be some contamination of the stream that comes from the many disused mines in the area and further investigations are underway to determine the impact that they might be having Southwest water recognized that storm overflow spills into bathing Waters is unacceptable and we’ll be investing £800,000 in the sagus catchment over the next two years to try and prevent them happening only when we have a full understanding of what is causing the problems can we identify potential Solutions these Solutions may include the creation of storage tanks in the sewer Network to prevent excess water from spilling via the overflows however it is important that we identify where all the surface water is coming from and how it’s entering the system because keeping it on the land and out of the sewage system is a more sustainable way to solve Water Management problems in the long term sagnes is one of 15 pilot areas where we are working with communities to co-create natural catchment management plans our aim is to use our investment to establish a partnership approach to meeting the Water Management challenges we face in catchments across our region we will be holding community events and sharing what we’ve learned about the effectiveness of our infrastructure as well as past and present land usage we will do this so that together we can meet Water Management challenges we look forward to these conversations and to identifying opportunities to improve communities and we welcome all questions and ideas that will contribute to the conversation
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