River Huntspill Information & River Huntspill Links at HealthHaven.com

	River Huntspill
	River
	The Huntspill river crossed by a railway bridge and the M5 motorway
Country	England
County	Somerset
Region	Somerset Levels
District	Sedgemoor
City	Street
Mouth	River Parrett
- location	Huntspill, Somerset, England
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
- coordinates	51°12′29″N 3°00′52″W / 51.20806°N 3.01444°W
Length	5 mi (8 km)

Coordinates: 51°12′29″N 3°00′52″W / 51.20806°N 3.01444°W

The River Huntspill (or Huntspill River) is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.

The river was excavated as a five mile long straight channel using a dragline during the early years of World War II. It was constructed as a priority war work.^[1] Its main function was to provide an all year-round guaranteed supply of 4.5 million gallons per day of process water for ROF Bridgwater, the Royal Ordnance Factory near Puriton.^[1] It was also intended to help drain parts of the lower Brue Valley. It was connected to the South Drain at Gold Corner. It implemented parts of a drainage plan for the Somerset Levels first drawn up in 1853 but not implemented until World War II.^[1]

The Huntspill River has retention sluices at both ends, so that it acts as a long reservoir.^[2] In winter flood water can be removed by gravity drainage; and in summer it can be topped up by pumping water from the moors.^[1]

The Huntspill River is a National Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Environment Agency, rather than by Natural England, who are responsible for most of the other reserves in England. This arrangement is authorised by section 35 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and funding for the maintenance and upkeep of the river as a reserve is still provided by Natural England.^[2] The river discharges into the River Parrett just south of Highbridge. The Parrett flows into Bridgwater Bay, which is also an important National Nature Reserve,^[3] on the edge of the Bristol Channel.