Defra targets zero harm and major investment in £54bn storm overflows plan

Defra envisages capital investment of £54bn in its new Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which is open for consultation until 12 May. According to the plan, if delivered as a phased, long term programme, this would add £65 to the average annual bill over the period 2025-2089, starting with a £20-a-year addition between 2025 and 2030.

The plan identified the following headline targets for the plan: Environment, Swimming and Frequency.

Environment

By 2050, water companies shall only be permitted to discharge from a storm overflow where they can demonstrate that there is no local adverse ecological impact. For high-priority sites (defined as including SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, eutrophic sensitive areas, chalk streams and waters currently failing our ecological standards due to storm overflows) this target must be met by 2045, and for 75%+ sites by 2035.

This “will mean that no water body in England will fail to achieve good ecological status due to storm overflow discharges”.

Swimming

For storm overflows discharging into and near designated bathing waters, water companies must significantly reduce harmful pathogens by either applying disinfection, such as with ultraviolet radiation, or reduce the frequency of discharges to meet Environment Agency spill standards (new standards are coming for rivers later this year, expected to be fewer than two spills per bathing season) by 2035.

Frequency

Storm overflows must not discharge above an average of ten rainfall events per year by 2050. (A maximum of 12 hours rainfall will be classed as one rainfall event; longer rainfall events will count as multiple events). Water companies must also ensure all storm overflows, regardless of where they discharge to, have effective screening controls and must be well maintained.