River authorities controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution in rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales 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 boards with responsibility for main rivers, 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 boards 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 main rivers 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 (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Under its provisions, twenty-seven river authorities replaced the 32 river boards on 1 April 1965, and the 1948 act was repealed.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, 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 defences, 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.
River authorityTable data from River board areasThe Avon and Dorset River AuthorityThe Avon and Dorset River Board areaThe Bristol Avon River Authority The Bristol Avon River Board areaThe Cornwall River Authority The Cornwall River Board areaThe Cumberland River AuthorityThe Cumberland River Board areaThe Dee and Clwyd River AuthorityThe Dee and Clwyd River Board areaThe Devon River AuthorityThe Devon River Board areaThe East Suffolk and Norfolk River AuthorityThe East Suffolk and Norfolk River Board areaThe Essex River AuthorityThe Essex River Board areaThe Glamorgan River AuthorityThe Glamorgan River Board areaThe Great Ouse River AuthorityThe Great Ouse River Board areaThe Gwynedd River AuthorityThe Gwynedd River Board areaThe Hampshire River AuthorityThe Hampshire River Board areaThe Isle of Wight River AuthorityThe Isle of Wight River Board areaThe Kent River AuthorityThe Kent River Board areaThe Lancashire River AuthorityThe Lancashire River Board areaThe Lincolnshire River AuthorityThe Lincolnshire River Board areaThe Mersey and Weaver River AuthorityThe Mersey River Board area and the Cheshire River Board areaThe Northumbrian River Authority. The Northumberland and Tyneside River Board area and the Wear and Tees River Board areaThe Severn River AuthorityThe Severn River Board areaThe Somerset River Authority The Somerset River Board areaThe South West Wales River AuthorityThe South West Wales River Board areaThe Sussex River AuthorityThe East Sussex River Board area and the West Sussex River Board areaThe Trent River AuthorityThe Trent River Board areaThe Usk River AuthorityThe Usk River Board areaThe Welland and Nene River AuthorityThe Welland River Board area and the Nene River Board areaThe Wye River AuthorityThe Wye River Board areaThe Yorkshire Ouse and Hull River AuthorityThe Hull and East Yorkshire River Board area and the Yorkshire Ouse River Board area
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.
Bibliography
References
External links Trent River Authority and predecessors (University of Nottingham)