Defra ups spend on water quality improvement projects

Defra is to spend £11.5m on 180 local projects to improve water quality.

The funding, to be delivered via the Water Environment Improvement Fund, has been allocated to local catchment partnerships to pay for actions such as tree planting, flood management and habitat restoration.

Defra said that overall, the additional funding is expected to improve 300km of English rivers and support the creation and restoration of around 160 hectares of inland and coastal waters.

The new funding supplements the £3m already allocated to the Environment Agency this year for local water quality projects. The department noted the money could also unlock match funding from organisations including the National Lottery, local rivers and wildlife trusts or private investment, bringing the total possible investment to £23m.