"Our rivers and fish do not have time for long-winded reviews"

WildFish Conservation Charity tables special amendments in UK Government's Water (Special Measures) Bill

Oct 09, 2024

by Annette J Beveridge

WITH more than three million hours of sewage released into rivers and coastlines in England in 2023, natural biodiversity which includes otters, fish, beavers and kingfishers is at risk.

The new UK Government has vowed to tackle the problem and the Water (Special Measures) Bill’s Second Reading takes place in the House of Lords today, (Wednesday, October 9). The charity is to table some common-sense amendments.

While sewer systems can discharge overflow from pipes into rivers or seas, it should rarely happen. Every single river in England is below the safety standard. Only some are now considered to be in good health.

Conservation charity WildFish CEO Nick Measham said: “Our rivers and our fish do not have time for long-winded reviews and, by and large, we don’t need them.

“While WildFish will be tabling technical amendments to the Water (Special Measures) Bill, to make sure the new government can make rapid progress, there are many actions the government can take right now, without new legislation, and certainly before some long-winded review.”

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WildFish is calling for the end of ‘soft touch’ enforcement to deal with water company pollution offences and is asking for the Environmental Agency (EA) to review environmental permits to apply the existing law on sewage treatment.

It is asking for an amendment to the Environment Act 2021 to require the EA and not the water companies to monitor the in-river impact of sewage discharges.

Additional amendments include:

Boost transparency for the public and to publish real-time sewage effluent data by all water companies under the freedom of information law.
Continuous volumetric monitoring of all water abstraction from rivers or groundwaters for public water supply and real-time publication of data gained.
Disapply the Regulators Code and the statutory growth duty from both the Environment Agency and Ofwat when they regulate water companies.

Nick Measham added: “We hope the new government will rise to the challenge.”