Action is urgently needed, right now, to rescue our damaged and polluted rivers, to restore them as vital, thriving habitats and as enjoyable and safe places to be in and by. At the recent UK River Summit, speakers reiterated the criticality of the situation: we are at the watershed and we must act now.
XAP’s Watershed project bears witness to this crisis on our precious chalk streams – an extremely rare habitat with only 260 across the entire planet, of which 85% are in the UK. The River Ver, which runs through the ancient city of St Albans (the Roman Verulamium) presents a microcosm of this emergency: this unique chalk stream ecosystem was subjected to many thousands of hours of sewage dumping in 2024, and continuously for the first half of 2025, causing extreme pathogen levels and ecosystem damage.
Responding to this crisis, XAP artists have created large-scale installations, including a huge cascading willow sculpture, striking visual poetry and an immersive interactive video installation. Watershed is a touring exhibition, with each installation responding to the local community and river habitats, and constructed from locally harvested willow.
At each location a programme of events engages with the local community, including dawn chorus bird walks, school visits and activities, music and poetry events, guided river walks and art workshops by the river. The Watershed Debate: What Does the Future Hold for Our Waterways? brought together diverse voices, including Erica Popplewell, Campaigns Manager at River Action UK, Daisy Cooper MP, John Pritchard, chair of conservation group the Ver Valley Society, Dr Hilary Marlow, Canon Environmentalist, Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge and Trustee of A Rocha.
The first installation was created for the magnificent North Transept of St Albans Cathedral in May 2025. In April 2026, Watershed was hosted by All Saints church next to the River Lea and Batford Springs Nature Reserve, where the fresh clear chalk stream water can be seen bursting from the ground springs. During summer 2026, Watershed is travelling to the UK Parliament. Audiences will be Members of Parliament and Peers – an opportunity to engage with them while the issues of river quality, regulation and special rivers protection are being debated. In particular, a bill is going to second reading – the Chalk Streams (UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site) Bill, recognising their global rarity and irreplaceability.
The water crisis: What’s the problem? What can I do?
Some feedback from visitors to Watershed:
‘Stunning, simple, soulful. A real measure of what our chalk streams face today and more importantly what we can do to help save them.’
‘An inspirational reminder of the place of rivers in our lives, and the challenges faced by the damage & pollution caused by our carelessness.’‘Very inspiring exhibition that mirrors our concerns about the health of our rivers.’
‘It was a great delight for St Albans Cathedral to host the Watershed installation, with its imaginative use of different media to draw in and engage our visitors, and encouraging a response to reflect on our relationship with our natural environment. Of particular value to us was how the installation enabled us to create a variety of events and workshops to enrich our programme of engagement and learning. Thank you to Liz, Angela, and Laura for your passion and imagination in bringing alive the life-giving importance of our waterways.’ Rev Dr Kevin Walton, Canon Chancellor of St Albans Cathedral
Watershed: A River’s Call to Action has been generously sponsored by St Albans Cathedral Education Trust, Harpenden Town Council and the Christian Arts Trust.
