View source for Gover Stream

{{Unreferenced|date=September 2022}}{{Short description|Stream in south Cornwall, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Gover Road, St Austell - geograph.org.uk - 1313404.jpg|thumb|Gover Road, St Austell (the Gover Stream runs beside the road)]]
The '''Gover Stream''' ({{langx|kw|'''Gover'''}}, meaning ''stream'') is an approximately {{convert|3|km|mi}} long [[stream]] located in mid-south [[Cornwall]], England, [[United Kingdom]].

The source of the stream is at the north-eastern side of Blackpool China clay pit at {{gbmapping|SW 980 540}} {{coord|50.363|-4.812|display=title}}. The stream flows south-east through the Gover Valley into the town of [[St Austell]] where it joins the [[St Austell River]] or "White River". The Gover Stream is the first of the two largest [[tributary|tributaries]] of the St Austell River.

Rivers in the area have problems with [[china clay]] waste materials, mostly [[kaolinite]], entering the rivers and turning them white. This led to the locally named "White River". (Kaolinite is not a waste material of the [[quarrying]] process, but economically not all of the kaolin can be extracted). [[Suspension (chemistry)|Suspended particles]] in the stream are reduced by approximately 98% by [[settling tank]]s at the beginning of the river. This reduces the [[energy]] of the water in the tanks and allows suspended particles to be deposited and later dredged by diggers.

Several disused china clay dries are located along the stream showing its past industrial importance. There were also plans to extend the [[Pentewan railway]] along the valley from St Austell, but they did not come to fruition.

Recently the Gover Valley has been under threat due to a plan to use the valley as a tipping site for china clay waste. Waste is a huge problem in the area as for every [[tonne]] of kaolinite produced there are on average nine tonnes of waste materials produced; this amounts to approximately 20 million tonnes of waste materials per year. An area of {{convert|1|km2|acre}} is planned to be tipped on which would destroy the upper section of the Gover Stream as well as ancient [[Farmland (farming)|farmland]] and [[woodland]]. The tip will be [[Landscape architecture|landscaped]] once completed.

==References==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
* BBC news website:
**[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4165163.stm Walk against china clay dump plan]
**[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/4589671.stm China clay dump plan under fire]
* Blueprint for Cornwall 2003 &mdash; ([[Imerys]] promotional book)

{{Cornwall|state=collapsed}}

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[[Category:Rivers of Cornwall|Gover Stream]]
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