A WATER quality campaigner has stepped up his mission to clean up Windermere by creating a community interest company to prevent the mere’s ‘ecological death’.

Windermere Lake Recovery CIC has now been registered as a non-profit making organisation.

The move by Matt Staniek, who launched his campaign last year, marks a switch from raising the issue of water quality into immediate action to save England’s largest lake for future generations.

Read more: 'I was disgusted'-Man launches campaign to stop water pollution

The zoologist has established that discharges of sewage during storms, household misuse of sewerage and farmer run-off are the main causes of pollution.

And he said the creation of phosphorous is feeding algae, which stifles animal and vegetable organisms that give Windermere its unique biodiversity.

The 27-year-old launched a petition urging action on pollution last year which now has around 110,000 signatures.

“After reaching 100,000 signatures on the online petition, it was more than clear that people wanted Windermere to be free from pollution,” he said.

“Forming the Windermere Lake Recovery CIC will enable work to be completed that will address the communities’ growing concerns over the destruction/ecological degradation of Windermere Lake.”

Read more: Petition to clean up Lake District waters backed by Lord Cavendish

Windermere Lake Recovery CIC will work directly with landowners, farmers and other relevant organisations, like the Environment Agency and the National Trust, to implement ecological changes that aim to directly improve water quality.

To reduce diffuse agricultural run-off, Matt will work with farmers to restore hay meadows, install riparian buffer strips along rivers, create constructed wetlands, plant trees, install fences to allow stock exclusion and other habitat improvements.

“By working on land in the catchment to implement these natural solutions to water quality pressures, it will not only allow nature recovery but also reduce the impact of future flood events and reduce ongoing phosphorus pollution,” he said.

“Windermere Lake Recovery CIC differs from commercial companies in that it is driven by the concern of the local community to address the worsening water quality.

“It has been identified that the decline of Windermere is not only a threat to human health but also to local livelihoods.

“Windermere Lake Recovery CIC will help larger organisations, such as the Lake District National Park authority, to connect with the local community to address how individuals can play their part in reducing their phosphorus input into the lake.”

The CIC will lead practical projects, deliver public information and education through social media and create stand-alone films.

Matt said public education is necessary as individual household habits are responsible for 35 per cent of the phosphorus input into Windermere.

“Reducing this will put us a step closer to reach the ultimate goal, a Windermere free from phosphorus pollution with a plethora of biodiversity,” he said.

“I want the CIC to be a body that is able to implement immediate improvements to the Windermere catchment.

“I want the CIC to outlive my involvement in it and to be a vehicle for people in the Lake District to voice their concerns over water quality into the future.”

He hopes Windermere’s ‘rescue’ can be used as a pilot plan for all fresh waterways in the UK and he has engaged with partners like South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) and the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA).

Last year SCRT produced a map showing that there had been 1,719 legally permitted storm overflow discharges from sewage treatment works into Windermere in 2020.

And it said recorded phosphate spikes are ten times worse than 2019, when it was downgraded from official designation of good to moderate.

United Utilities says it has spent £40 million upgrading treatment works in Windermere’s catchment area and that just five per cent of its discharge is untreated sewage.

Matt wants the authorities to set a target date by which time all pollution will be removed from the lake.

“It could be a ten-year plan or a 25-year plan, but there must be a target date by when Windermere is ecologically healthy,” he said.

“We need a definition of what that is going to look like and by when we are going to get there.

“Then if Windermere is the first place in the country where water quality is restored then that can be used as a pilot to roll out everywhere.”

To donate to Matt’s campaign, go to crowdfunder.co.uk/p/Windermere-lake-recovery