Loweswater

Loweswater is owned by the National Trust and is one of the smallest lakes in the Lake District at 1.6km in length and 0.5km wide. The main feeder stream is Dub Beck, which drains about 40% of the catchment. The Loweswater catchment, which falls within the wider River Cocker catchment, is largely agricultural with some woodland and open fell, mainly grazed by sheep and a small number of cattle.

The main issues at Loweswater are in relation to water quality. Elevated levels of nutrients - in this case phosphorus - cuase excessive growth of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) which can be toxic and lead to oxygen depletion within the lake. The lake consistently fails to meet the required UK water quality standards.

Members of Loweswater’s original steering group at work
Image: John McFarlane

Loweswater Care Programme became part of West Cumbria Rivers Trust’s remit in 2012 in order to undertake the Defra-funded three year Catchment Restoration Fund project. This project completed in 2015 and we were hopeful that improvements at a number of farms in the lake catchment should result in reduced phosphorus levels in the lake.

Ongoing monitoring to understand the long term impacts of the interventions undertaken within the catchment to improve water quality is still being undertaken. This work is led by a small group of dedicated local community scientists and is providing a long term dataset for this lake.

In 2023, as part of the wider Cocker catchment restoration project, we undertook a river restoration project of Dub Beck, reconnecting the river to its natural floodplain which should help trap particulate phosphorous and prevent it reaching the lake, alongside improving the river for fish and other species.

Work has focussed on improving the water quality of Loweswater by undertaking thorough investigations of catchment processes and applying targeted interventions. This work was started by local farmers in 2002 and has continued in various forms to date, with the local community playing a key role.