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by Karma Loveday

MPs order beefed-up regulation for England’s rivers

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has demanded far more assertive regulation and enforcement from Ofwat and the Environment Agency, as well as more water company investment and cross-catchment collaboration, in a report published last week from its Water quality in rivers inquiry.


On sewage pollution, an EAC statement said: “Water companies appear to be dumping untreated or partially treated sewage in rivers regularly, often breaching the terms of permits that only allow this in exceptional circumstances.” It argued that the impact of wastewater from sewage treatment works and sewer overflows is preventing 36% of water bodies from achieving good ecological status.


The committee told regulators:

• Ofwat should examine its powers to limit the payment of bonuses to water company executives until widespread permit breaches cease;

• the Environment Agency should create an online platform where citizen scientists can upload their data on water quality; and

• the new Office for Environmental Protection should to use its powers to drive improvements in the regulatory and enforcement regimes which govern the state of England’s rivers.


The report was wide ranging, looking well beyond sewage pollution. In fact it found there is a “chemical cocktail” of sewage, slurry and plastic polluting England’s rivers, endangering both nature and public health. This was attributed to factors including “outdated, underfunded and inadequate” monitoring; budget cuts at the Environment Agency; and “a lack of political will to improve water quality, with successive governments, water companies and regulators seemingly turning a blind eye to antiquated practices of dumping sewage and other pollutants in rivers”.


Other recommendations from the EAC included:

• make information on sewage discharges, in as near to real time as possible, easily accessible and publicly available;

• the government should actively encourage the designation of at least one widely used stretch of river for bathing in each water company area by 2025;

• an urgent review of water companies’ self-monitoring should be undertaken;

• a nutrient budget for each catchment should be calculated, with pollution progressively reduced from all sources in the catchment until it does not exceed the capacity of the river to handle the nutrients; and

• the government should adopt measures outlined in the Plastics (Wet Wipes) Bill to prohibit the manufacture and sale of single use cleaning and hygiene products containing plastic (other than for medical use).


EAC chair, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, commented: “Rivers are the arteries of nature and must be protected. Our inquiry has uncovered multiple failures in the monitoring, governance and enforcement on water quality. For too long, the Government, regulators and the water industry have allowed a Victorian sewerage system to buckle under increasing pressure.


“Today, we are calling for these relevant bodies to come together and develop a system fit for the future. Monitoring regimes need to be reviewed, enforcement needs to be ramped up, and even public awareness needs boosting on what can and cannot be poured down drains or flushed down the toilet. So many emerging pollutants are being missed by inadequate and insufficient monitoring, and court actions against polluters have fallen dramatically.


“To deliver real change and improve the state of our rivers, a wide range of stakeholders must come together including the Government, regulators and water companies. The Environment Act signalled the first welcome sign of political will to tackle this issue. I hope this marks the start of Government regulatory and polluter action to improve the state of our rivers for all to enjoy.”

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