The Rye (brook)

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

The Rye
The Rye at Gutters Bridge, Leatherhead
Location
CountryEngland
RegionSouth East
DistrictMole Valley District
CityLeatherhead
Physical characteristics
SourceAshtead Common
MouthRiver Mole
 • location
Leatherhead

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, and chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations. Chemical status 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)

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.
  3. "Rye Brook at Ashtead". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.


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