What Stories Will We Tell About Our Rivers?: Professor Steve Waygood's episode

By Sandy Glanfield

In my conversation with Professor Steve Waygood for this week’s Let’s Reboot the Future podcast, he offered a wonderfully simple definition of sustainable development: “Meet the needs of the present without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

He then said something that brought that definition sharply into focus: what has been happening in our water sector is almost the antithesis of it. It’s a powerful way to think about what’s happening to our rivers - not simply as a problem of pollution, but as a question of what we are taking from others, now and in the future.

For too long, the consequences of polluted rivers haven’t necessarily been felt by those with the greatest power to change the system. Steve talked about the importance of regulation and incentives: if companies pollute, there needs to be a consequence that is actually felt by the people making the decisions.

But his words got me thinking about the other side of that equation. Who is already feeling the consequences, and what exactly are we losing?

Last week, at our first Reboot Forum, we spent a day exploring what the living system of a river can teach us. Again and again, people told stories of swimming, walking beside rivers, exploring as children, seeing wildlife and being with family and friends. Stories of adventure, laughter and awe.

It reminded me of the stories people shared during Reboot’s Message in a Bottle campaign. So many looked back to joyful experiences of rivers and waterways and the part they had played in their lives.

At the Forum, local dairy farmer Antony Adorian shared his own experience. He has lived in the area all his life. He swam in the river growing up and, later, his children swam there too. Today, because of pollution, he wouldn’t swim there.

For me, that is a powerful example of shifting baselines. Within a generation, our stories of rivers can shift from joy, exploration and adventure to warnings, danger, disgust and anger. And when that happens, we lose more than the ability to swim. We begin to lose our relationship with the river itself.

Something else that came up during our storytelling session at the Forum was the close relationship between awe and fear. There are good reasons to fear polluted water and good reasons for warnings and restrictions. But I wonder what happens when fear becomes the dominant story we tell about our rivers.

Fences go up, access becomes controlled and signs tell us to keep out. We tell young people that rivers are dangerous places. Slowly, another boundary appears between us and the natural world. And without access, how do we build connection? Without connection, how do we build care?

This is where I keep coming back to the Golden Rule: treat others and the planet as you would wish to be treated. Looking through that lens asks us to notice who is experiencing the consequences of our choices and to consider what we are taking from others, including generations who come after us.

But I think reciprocity works in another direction too. If we want people to care for our rivers, we need opportunities for rivers to become part of their lives. We need the early-morning walks and cold-water swims, muddy children and kingfishers, laughter, discovery and the simple pleasure of sitting beside moving water. We need experiences that give us our own stories of awe.

Steve’s work reminds us that systems, regulation and incentives matter. Those with the power to prevent pollution need to feel the consequences when they fail to do so. But alongside changing the systems around our rivers, perhaps we also need to rebuild our relationships with them.

Because sustainability isn’t only about what we leave behind for future generations. It is also about whether those generations inherit the connection, memories and stories that will make them want to care for it.