River authorities controlled

land drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

and

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

pollution in rivers, streams and inland waters in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

between 1965 and 1973.

Background

A royal commission, with Lord Bledisloe acting as its chairman, reported on the state of land drainage legislation covering England and Wales on 5 December 1927. It concluded that existing laws were "vague and ill-defined, full of anomalies, obscure, lacking in uniformity, and even chaotic." It recommended the creation of

catchment board River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965. Background Prior to the 1930s, land drain ...

s with responsibility for

main river Main rivers () are a statutory type of watercourse in England and Wales, usually larger streams and rivers, but also some smaller watercourses. A main river is designated by being marked as such on a main river map, and can include any structure o ...

s, and formed the basis for the Land Drainage Act 1930, although only 47 of the 100 catchment boards suggested by the commission were enshrined in the legislation. The River Boards Act 1948 sought to establish

river board River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965. Background Prior to the 1930s, land drain ...

s throughout the whole of England and Wales, with overall responsibility for land drainage, fisheries and river pollution. Thirty-two river boards inherited the functions of the existing catchment boards, or took over the flood prevention functions on

s from local authorities where no catchment board existed. The exceptions were the River Thames Catchment Board and the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board, which continued to exist under the powers of the 1930 Act.

Water Resources Act 1963

River authorities were created by the

Water Resources Act 1963 The Water Resources Act 1963 (1963 c.38) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that continued the process of creating an integrated management structure for water, which had begun with the passing of the Land Drainage Act 1930. It c ...

(1963 C. 38), which became law on 31 July 1963. Under its provisions, twenty-seven river authorities replaced the 32 river boards on 1 April 1965, and the 1948 Act was repealed. The new authorities took over the powers of the existing river boards, and were given additional duties to monitor water quality and protect water resources. They thus became responsible for inland waters and the underground strata which existed within their area. The Act made special provision for the River Thames and Lee Conservancy catchment boards, enabling them to act as if they were river authorities and their catchment areas were river authority areas. There was also special provision for parts of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, defined as the London excluded area under section 125 of the Act. For the twenty-seven authorities, the members were partly nominated by local authorities and partly appointed by the government. Each authority normally consisted of between 21 and 31 members, although more could be specified in particular cases by the minister issuing the establishing order for the authority. Local authorities could appoint sufficient members so that they just had a majority. The remainder were appointed by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and consisted of people who had expertise in land drainage or sea defenses, fisheries, agriculture, public water supply, and industry other than agriculture. The areas of the authorities were in most cases defined by reference to maps held by the river boards they replaced. The river authorities were abolished on 1 April 1974, with their powers and duties passing to regional water authorities established by the

Water Act 1973 The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...

Bibliography

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References

External links

*Trent River Authority and predecessors (University of Nottingha

{{UK Water Management, state=collapsed Environmental agencies in the United Kingdom Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Defunct environmental agencies