River Authorities controlled land drainage

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

, fisheries and river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 pollution in rivers, streams and inland waters in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 between 1965 and 1973.

The authorities were created by the Water Resources Act 1963 (1963 C. 38), and took over the powers of the existing river board

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....

s and were given additional duties to monitor water quality and protect water resources.

There were twenty-seven authorities, the members partly nominated by local authorities and by partly appointed by the government. The areas of the authorities were defined in reference those of the river boards they replaced.

River Authority	River Board Areas
The Northumbrian River Authority.	The Northumberland and Tyneside River Board area and the Wear and Tees River Board area
The Yorkshire Ouse and Hull River Authority	The Hull and East Yorkshire River Board area and the Yorkshire Ouse River Board area
The Trent River Authority Trent River Authority The Trent River Authority was one of 27 river authorities created by the Water Resources Act 1963 . It took over the powers of the existing Trent River Board and was given additional duties to monitor water quality and protect water resources....	The Trent River Board area
The Lincolnshire River Authority	The Lincolnshire River Board area
The Welland and Nene River Authority	The Welland River Board area and the Nene River Board area
The Great Ouse River Authority	The Great Ouse River Board area
The East Suffolk and Norfolk River Authority	The East Suffolk and Norfolk River Board area
The Essex River Authority	The Essex River Board area
The Kent River Authority	The Kent River Board area
The Sussex River Authority	The East Sussex River Board area and the West Sussex River Board area
The Hampshire River Authority	The Hampshire River Board area
The Isle of Wight River Authority	The Isle of Wight River Board area
The Avon and Dorset River Authority	The Avon and Dorset River Board area
The Devon River Authority	The Devon River Board area
The Cornwall River Authority	The Cornwall River Board area
The Somerset River Authority	The Somerset River Board area
The Bristol Avon River Authority	The Bristol Avon River Board area
The Severn River Authority	The Severn River Board area
The Wye River Authority	The Wye River Board area
The Usk River Authority	The Usk River Board area
The Glamorgan River Authority	The Glamorgan River Board area
The South West Wales River Authority	The South West Wales River Board area
The Gwynedd River Authority	The Gwynedd River Board area
The Dee and Clwyd River Authority	The Dee and Clwyd River Board area
The Mersey and Weaver River Authority	The Mersey River Board area and the Cheshire River Board area
The Lancashire River Authority	The Lancashire River Board area
The Cumberland River Authority	The Cumberland River Board area

The river authorities were abolished in 1973, with their powers and duties passing to the water authorities

Regional Water Authority

The Regional Water Authorities came into existence in England and Wales in 1975 to bring together in ten regional units a diverse range of bodies involved in water treatment and supply, sewage disposal, land drainage, river pollution and fisheries....

 established by the Water Act 1973

Water Act 1973

The Water Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales...

.

External links

• Trent River Authority and predecessors (University of Nottingham)http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/online/water/collections/severn-trent.phtml