Climate change and water: Are we doing enough, fast enough?

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency to the Institute of Water

February this year was the wettest on record.

It was followed by the sunniest spring on record.

Climate change will increasingly bounce us between these extremes in the coming decades, and water – whether too much, too little, or its quality – will only become more of a concern.

The Environment Agency is an operator, a regulator, and an adviser to Government.

We are more effective and efficient because we bring these disciplines together.

In the last year alone, we handled 76,777 environmental incidents across the country.

We also:

• Created a healthier water environment, with over 1,700 kilometres of rivers improved.
• Increased biodiversity, creating or restoring over 3,000 hectares of habitat.
• And, ensured a further 48,000 homes are better protected against flooding.

Like the Institute of Water, we know that these things happen because people have devoted their careers to the environment.

But while we celebrate their successes, we do not ignore the many problems with modern society’s relationship with water.

The water classification results for England this year, showed just 16 percent of waters meet the criteria for ‘good ecological status’.

And our annual environmental performance assessment of England’s water companies showed that four out of nine companies are falling short of expected standards…

…based on serious pollution incidents, pollution per kilometre of sewer pipes, and compliance with permits.

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