The Sustainable Solutions for Water and Nature (SSWAN) partnership has published an outline of a new model and discussion paper for regulation of the water environment. The new SSWAN model shifts regulation towards catchment-based approaches to support cheaper, more innovative, more collaborative projects that more accurately reflect local priorities. SSWAN proposes a four-tier regulatory framework: […]

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While sewage and intensive farming pollution steal the media headlines, an eco-toxic cocktail of hydrocarbons, metals and plastics runs off our roads into rivers and streams when it rains. Stormwater Shepherds and CIWEM have been pulling together the evidence. Poly aromatic hydrocarbons are nasty, toxic organic substances. They are carcinogenic; they cause mutations and deformities in aquatic organisms and they affect their […]

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Southern Water has been fined £330,000 after raw sewage escaped into a stream near Southampton for what the company admitted could have been nearly 20 hours. Almost 2,000 fish were killed as faulty equipment at a pumping station sent untreated effluent into the environment at Waltham Chase on the edge of the South Downs. Sitting […]

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How unhealthy are our rivers? The latest Rivers Trust State of Our Rivers Report finds that: No single stretch of river in England or Northern Ireland is in good overall health. Just 15% of English, 31% of Northern Irish, and 50% of Irish river stretches reach good ecological health standards. Toxic chemicals persist in every […]

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Last week, Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency delivered a speech at the 2024 NFU Conference. He talks about flooding, dredging, pollution, water resources, funding and more. Also covered by Sky News Environment watchdog chair tells farmers to ‘do better’ on river pollution Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell acknowledged the numerous “financial pressures” on […]

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Severn Trent has been fined more than £2m for polluting the River Trent near Stoke, with the Environment Agency calling its storm contingency plans “woefully inadequate”. Huge amounts of raw sewage were discharged into the river from Strongford wastewater treatment works near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, between November 2019 and February 2020. District judge Kevin Grego ruled […]

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The Environment Agency has launched a campaign to highlight the risks of growing high-risk crops, which can lead to pollution and flooding, in the South West of England Parts of Cornwall and north and east Devon are considered at risk due to underlying soil types, slope and proximity to sensitive watercourses, roads and properties. Inadequate […]

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The Welsh Parliament’s Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee has published a report making a series of recommendations to support improved performance at Welsh Water. Although there are mitigating factors including climate change challenges, the committee found the company to be “barely treading water when it comes to delivering for its customers and the environment. […]

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