Upper Itchen Restoration Community Interest Company

Three chalk streams – the River Alre, the Candover Brook and the Cheriton Stream – form the headwaters of the River Itchen in Hampshire.  Rising on chalk and fed by springs, the headwaters of the Itchen meet at Ovington to form one of England’s iconic chalk rivers.  Our chalk streams have been compared to the Amazonian rainforest for their biodiversity.  There are fewer than 300 in the world, most of them in southern England.

However, our chalk streams are clear, but not clean.  Their water contains excess nutrients (phosphate and nitrate at higher than natural levels), which impact the health of the river ecosystem.  This was most visible during the drought of 2022, when an algal bloom impacted the Upper Itchen watercourses.  Long-time residents have observed that river life is much reduced over the last few decades.

The Upper Itchen Restoration Community Interest Company (CIC) is a not-for-profit organisation which exists to improve the quality of the aquatic environment in the Upper Itchen catchment.  

By monitoring regularly to understand what is in the water, we can identify pollution incidents and identify sources of nutrients, providing evidence to help improve the health of our river.