River Action chair Charles Watson welcomed thousands of protestors to “the biggest water demonstration our country has ever seen” yesterday in Parliament Square following the March for Clean Water through London.
People joined from all over the country, some of them bringing water samples along from rivers and lakes. Watson listed these at length by name at the start of the rally, commenting that the water bodies once “sacred and revered” had been allowed to become “open sewers”.
Heart Radio presenter Katrina Ridley hosted the event, and set out the central purpose to: “demand the Government stop the poisoning of Britain’s waterways,” urgently “end polluting for profit” and “enforce the law and reform the regulators”.
Speakers included Olympic rower Imogen Grant, who highlighted public health issues; Sal Burtt-Jones, co-founder of SOS Whitstable, who spoke of “systematic abuse” and said “we must not pay higher water bills” that enable the continuation of a system that is not fit for purpose; GMB Thames branch secretary Cliff Rooney, who championed water workers and called for re-nationalisation; WI chief executive Melissa Green; Friends of the River Wye co-founder Nicola Cutcher, who demanded enforcement on agricultural pollution, noting provisions in the Special Measures Bill are “all about sewage”; legal experts from Fish Legal, which is defending an appeal in January over the Pickering water quality case, and from the River Roding Trust, who championed the Rights of Nature movement; a series of youth speakers; and Jo Bateman who is suing South West Water for compensation for curtailing her right to swim by discharging sewage.
The closing speech was from broadcaster Chris Packham who gave a passionate plea on behalf of the “speechless” (nature and wildlife) and called for: Ofwat to be removed and replaced; polluters to pay; long term investment, including in increasing efficient water use; and enforcement of the law. On the latter, he said: “We’ve got all the legislation that we need” – the new Government needs to “uphold and enforce those laws.” On the numbers taking part in the march, Packham said: “We might be minnows, but together today, we are mighty.”
Overall, regulators seemed front of the queue for criticism. Many called for public ownership. Some mentions of water companies and investors elicited boos from the crowd.
A Water UK spokesperson commented: “The March for Clean Water is right to demand change and we support its aims. We agree that the system is not working. It is too complicated, too slow and is not delivering for people or the environment.
“No sewage spill is ever acceptable, and water companies want to invest a record £108 billion to ensure the security of our water supply in the future and end sewage entering our rivers and seas. Ofwat have proposed cutting this by £20 billion. As a direct result, more housing will be blocked, the recovery of our rivers will be slower, and we will fail to deal with the water shortages we know are coming. We cannot delay upgrading and expanding vital infrastructure any longer and need Ofwat to reconsider its approach.”
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