Fourth Report - Water quality in rivers

The government agrees that improving river water quality is a principal objective for meeting the legally binding duty to halt the decline in domestic species by 2030, recognising its vital role for biodiversity and habitat restoration.

The government states it is already taking action through research projects, developing a chemicals strategy and a Prioritisation and Early Warning System (PEWS) for chemicals of emerging concern. They are also developing non-target screening in water, biota and sediment allowing the detection of the presence of more than 65,000 different chemicals.

The government agrees on engaging stakeholders and expanding the evidence base regarding pollutants and antimicrobial resistance, referencing ongoing programs, but does not explicitly commit to the Environment Agency extending its regular monitoring of substances in rivers.

The government agrees it is important bathers have access to timely information on water quality and refers to existing signage requirements and pollution risk forecasting services. They will make use of learning from existing trials such as sensor technology to indicate water quality.

The government agrees that designating river bathing waters to protect public health is important and complements ecological status, but highlights the distinction between public health measures and those that improve ecological health. It does not commit to actively encouraging specific designations or requiring water companies to outline plans.

The government discusses its ongoing package of support for farmers to manage nutrients sustainably through environmental land management schemes, but does not specifically commit to ensuring ELMS targets support for farmers adjacent to designated waters to minimise faecal contamination.

The Government agrees that minimum standards for mitigating water pollution from agriculture should evolve over time to improve water quality. They state they are already taking action to improve the effectiveness of the regulatory framework, referencing guidance on the Farming Rules for Water and the slurry infrastructure grant scheme.

The government is exploring the best way to make data generated by the Environment Act duties available to the public. Ofwat agrees that reporting needs to be suitably detailed, accessible and transparent to all, and note companies have existing obligations in relation to environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Ofwat wants to see serious pollution incidents reduced to zero by 2030 and the Government’s revised Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat includes an expectation for Ofwat to ‘challenge water companies to demonstrate how they will achieve zero serious pollution incidents by 2030’.

Ofwat expects performance-related executive pay to be linked to stretching performance delivery for customers, including environmental performance, and notes that it has written to remuneration committees underscoring its expectations. It will continue to examine this issue.

The government states that Ofwat continues to prioritise long-term investment and will continue to focus their regulatory approach to support long term customer and environmental outcomes.

The government highlights its Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat, which supports increased use of nature-based solutions and references funding and initiatives already in place to promote them, including the WINEP taskforce. However, it makes no specific commitment to action regarding the Environment Agency's sampling practice.

The Government agrees with the recommendation.

The Government welcomes the recommendation, notes that the Strategic Policy Statement makes clear that the current number of discharges is unacceptable and water companies must significantly reduce the discharge of sewage from storm overflows, and that outcomes will be set out in the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.

The Government acknowledges the water industry's failure to meet the pollution reduction target and describes actions being taken regarding wet wipes and disposable nappies, including a call for evidence and ongoing research, but does not directly address the target.

While the government will encourage Textiles 2030 to consider what the textiles industry can realistically do to reduce microplastic pollution, it is not appropriate to introduce a new target, especially as evidence on the impact, sources, and potential preventive measures are not conclusive.

The Government highlights Ofwat's efforts to incorporate a natural capital approach in their decision-making for the next Price Review (PR24) and the introduction of this approach to assess the environmental implications of Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) proposals.

Defra and HM Treasury are engaging in discussions in 2022 about reviewing the Environment Agency’s ability to recover costs through charges for permits and related activities.

The government agrees citizen science can play an important role, including assisting the Environment Agency with monitoring, particularly through Catchment Partnerships. They state that this is already happening through the Catchment Monitoring Cooperative and the CaSTCo initiative.

The Government welcomes the focus on citizen science and CaBA partnership monitoring and encourages water companies to engage with CaBA partnerships, expecting the Environment Agency's links to ensure that citizen science data is taken into account.

The Department for Transport and National Highways agree that increased ambition and delivery should be supported and will examine the feasibility of using existing funds in the current road period to support this where possible.

The government acknowledges the OEP's independence and states that it will be up to the OEP to decide how to prioritise its work, including considering the committee's recommendations.

The government agrees with the committee's conclusion, affirming that a significant shift in approach to improve water quality is essential for protecting freshwater biodiversity and achieving the target to halt species decline by 2030.

The Government acknowledges the need for action and refers to existing measures like the Environment Act 2021 and targets to reduce pollution, and plans to improve water quality in the update of the 25 Year Environment Plan in January 2023.

The Government acknowledges the need for action and refers to existing measures like the Environment Act 2021 and targets to reduce pollution, and plans to improve water quality in the update of the 25 Year Environment Plan in January 2023.

The Government agrees with the intention behind this recommendation and says there is information available nationally and at a catchment level as part of the Environment Agency’s River Basin Management Planning process and that they are working with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to help them calculate nutrient budgets and identify nutrient mitigation to allow development to continue.

The government agrees on the need to incentivise action for water body improvement through existing and future agri-environment schemes, with a focus on water quality and reducing nutrient leaching, but does not commit to calculating nutrient budgets for each river catchment.

The government agrees that citizen science can play an important role, including in assisting the Environment Agency with monitoring, particularly through Catchment Partnerships. They highlight the Catchment Monitoring Cooperative which obtained £1.7 million in funding from Ofwat’s Breakthrough Water Challenge fund last year to kickstart the scheme in eight catchments and the CaSTCo project.

The Government welcomes the focus on citizen science and CaBA partnership monitoring and encourages water companies to engage with CaBA partnerships. They expect the Environment Agency's links to the water industry and catchment partnerships should ensure citizen science data is taken into account.