Read the full Coalition report here.

Summary

All life depends entirely on water. Yet, reflecting broader climate and ecological crises, the current state of England’s water environment is poor and declining. We go from floods to drought without a long-term strategic plan to adapt to and manage new climatic extremes – urgent action is needed.

The 25 Year Environment Plan (YEP) states that clean and plentiful water will be achieved, improving at least three quarters of our waters to their natural state ‘as soon as is practicable’ by; reducing abstraction, minimising pollution and leakage and maximising water efficiency. The plan sets out good direction for the future but the targets are not ambitious enough considering the challenges ahead and strategic actions need to be identified and delivered to achieve the plan’s ambitions.

The introduction of the Environment and Agriculture Bills provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to set the foundations for delivery of the 25 YEP and ensure positive on-the-ground environmental outcomes for current and future generations.

There is a risk that we fall short of achieving the desired outcomes without a clear and accountable roadmap for strategic delivery by Government and partners. This paper sets out some overarching strategic principles which we recommend the government adopts to underpin such a framework, including: catchment governance; a focus on nature-based solutions; intelligent financing and resources; regulation, enforcement and advice; robust monitoring; and behavioural change. We recognise this is just a starting point and there will need to be holistic long-term actions set in place for delivery beyond the 25 YEP to secure the future of sustainable management of our water environment and freshwater biodiversity – protecting our local rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and all other waterbodies.

The paper describes eight key strategic actions for government, which have been identified to deliver this framework and enable the required transformation:

1. Ensure that Local Nature Recovery Strategies integrate water priorities, opportunities and data into their development and delivery, with the integral support of Catchment Partnerships.
2. Treble the funding for the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA), including for local Catchment Partnerships, providing funds on a multi-year basis.
3. Ensure the forthcoming Environmental Land Management (ELM) Scheme is effective for the water environment, providing incentives for farmers and land managers to deliver multiple public goods relating to water, using a strategic policy and regulatory framework.
4. Require water companies to spend much of their £1bn annual National Environment Programme on nature-based solutions for people and nature.
5. Commit sufficient funding for the enforcement of regulatory standards and implementation of the polluter pays principle in order to ensure that environmental regulations applying to agriculture can be effectively and consistently enforced.
6. Improve water security through delivery of abstraction reform by 2021, introduction of water efficiency targets in the Environment Bill and requirements for water efficient development in the Future Homes Standard & National Planning Policy Framework.
7. Ensure greater coherence and integration of monitoring and evidence across climate, air, soils, water, biodiversity, and other functions in Defra and throughout government to deliver the 25 YEP. To support this, Government should Commit £1-2 million annually to establish and maintain a national monitoring co-operative, making data available to all practitioners.
8. Fund a national campaign delivered by NGOs locally to change consumer behaviour with regard to water use and the way people dispose of items and chemicals down drains and toilets

Dorset LNP has produced a Dorset version to see how it would be delivered locally https://dorsetlnp.org.uk/publications/voices-for-dorset/