River Slea, Hampshire

River Slea
The small central watercourse is the Slea/Oxney Stream, much larger to the north is the Wey (north branch)
Location
Country	England
County	Hampshire
District	East Hampshire
Towns	Sleaford, Bordon
Physical characteristics
Source	Kingsley Stream
• location	Kingsley Mill, Kingsley
• coordinates	51.1325°N 0.8811°W / 51.1325; -0.8811
• elevation	72m
2nd source	Oakhanger Stream
Mouth	River Wey
• location	North of Brockford Bridge, far north fields of parish of Headley, Hampshire
• coordinates	51°08′31″N 0°49′52″W
• elevation	62m
Length	6.2 km (3.9 mi)
Basin features
Progression	Oxney Stream, River Slea, Wey (south branch), Wey, Thames, North Sea
River system	Wey catchment
Tributaries
• right	Oxney Moss

The River Slea is a tributary of the south branch of the River Wey in Hampshire.

Course

The river flows east from the confluence of the Kingsley and the longer Oakhanger streams at Kingsley Mill, through the village of Sleaford until it meets the Wey just north of Brockford Bridge. The section between Kingsley Mill and Sleaford is also known as the Oxney Stream.^[1]

The Slea's main tributary is the Oxney Moss which rises on the west side of Bordon and joins at Sleaford.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.^[2]

Water quality of the River Slea in 2019:

Section	Ecological Status	Chemical Status	Overall Status	Length	Catchment	Channel
Slea (Kingsley to Sleaford)[3]	Moderate	Fail	Moderate	6.79 km (4.22 mi)	31.326 km^2 (12.095 sq mi)

References

1. Shore, T W. "Springs and Streams of Hampshire" (PDF). Hampshire Field Club. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
2. "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. 17 February 2016. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
3. "Slea (Kingsley to Sleaford)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.