Turn gardens into ‘bogs’ to combat drought and sewage in waterways, experts suggest

Water companies claimed to be considering ‘catching water in gardens’ as part of efforts to stop sewage overflows being triggered

People should flood their gardens to create bogs in order to combat the impact of drought, experts have suggested.

Creating “bog gardens” could also help reverse biodiversity loss, with the widespread elimination of Britain’s natural wetlands through farming and construction blamed in part for large reductions in certain wildlife populations.

Following outrage over the vast amounts of sewage being dumped into waterways via storm overflows, the head of Natural England – a body advising the government on the environment – claimed that water companies were considering “catching water in gardens” as a way of reducing the strain on sewers.

“Part of the problem there is rapid runoff coming off hard surfaces, where you’ve got a lot of water being put into the drains, which also get the sewage, and they overflow,” Tony Juniper told the Gathering festival in Norfolk.

Describing a recent conversation with “colleagues in the water industry”, the Natural England chief said some were “looking at the extent to which you might be able to interrupt water flow before it gets to the sewage and into the rivers”.

“And that’s an interesting way of engaging people who actually don’t see a connection between their house and the river – by going down this route of making gardens wilder to hold more water,” Mr Juniper said, in comments reported by The Observer.

Other environmental groups spoken to by the newspaper agreed that using gardens to create more wet spaces could help reduce pollution in local waterways, make gardens themselves less prone to drought, and would improve conditions for wildlife.

Domestic gardens account for 400,000 hectares of land in the UK – an area significantly larger than all of the country’s major nature reserves combined – and therefore have “huge potential to help us tackle the interlinked climate and nature crises”, said Ali Morse, water policy manager at the Wildlife Trusts.

Turning part of your garden into wetland could help support dwindling wildlife populations (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“Making your garden wilder and wetter will help wildlife and also play an important role in making your garden less prone to drought and in reducing pollution in local rivers.”

Ms Morse suggested that those with no room for a traditional pond could consider introducing bucket ponds, bird baths and water dishes, or creating a bog garden.

“People are often amazed to discover the huge variety of aquatic wildlife that finds its way to ponds: dragonflies and damselflies, grass snakes, hedgehogs, foxes and birds all need water to survive,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Rivers Trust agreed, adding that England has lost almost all of its wetlands as a result of farming and development.

Groundwater from aquifers – an underground body of permeable, water-bearing rock – is critical during droughts “and will be more so during climate extremes, but many are cut off to water by hard surfaces such as roads, driveways and buildings”, a spokesperson for the Rivers Trust told the paper.

“This means rainwater is diverted into stormwater and can cause sewage overspills during heavy downpours. We need to rebuild local water cycles and allow this water to infiltrate and follow its natural path.”