The Rye (brook)

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The Rye
The Rye at Gutters Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 403189.jpg
The Rye at Gutters Bridge, Leatherhead
Location
Country England
Region South East
DistrictMole Valley District
City Leatherhead
Physical characteristics
Source Ashtead Common
Mouth River Mole
  location
Leatherhead

The Rye is a stream rising east of Ashtead and flowing into the River Mole near Leatherhead, Surrey. [1]

Contents

Course

The Rye Brook flows westwards across Ashtead Common, through the Ashtead Common National Nature Reserve, managed by the City of London Corporation. For much of its course the brook follows a straight channelled course which was dug during the Second World War in order to drain the surrounding land so that it could be used for agriculture. Under a recent (2005) initiative by the City of London Corporation, parts of the course have been remodelled. The remodelling includes meandering and reprofiling the riverbed, banks and adjacent land to create a more natural setting, in order to create a wetland habitat that will encourage a diverse wildlife.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. [2]

Water quality of the Rye in 2019:

SectionEcological
Status
Chemical
Status
Overall
Status
LengthCatchmentChannel
Rye Brook at Ashtead [3] Moderate Fail Moderate 1.977 km (1.228 mi)16.105 km2 (6.218 sq mi)

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References

  1. Jackson, Alan A. (1977). Ashtead, a village transformed : a history of Ashtead from the earliest times to the present day. Leatherhead: Leatherhead & District Local History Society.
  2. "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. 17 February 2016. UKOpenGovernmentLicence.svg Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  3. "Rye Brook at Ashtead". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.

Coordinates: 51°18′15″N0°21′18″W / 51.3042°N 0.3550°W / 51.3042; -0.3550