01 Aug 2023

Targeted green prescribing could save over £635 million per year Wildlife Trusts programmes help tackle anxiety, depression and social isolation “Nature is an essential part of health and social care” –The Wildlife Trust Nature-based health and wellbeing programmes could save hundreds of millions of pounds each year and reduce society’s reliance on the NHS, according […]

01 Aug 2023

Ofwat has concluded that only seven of the 42 PR24 bespoke performance commitments (PCs) submitted by water companies in April are potentially suitable for further development. These come from six firms: South West, Anglian, Thames, SES, Affinity and Southern. Most of the others, which were received from 12 companies in all (four firms opted not […]

01 Aug 2023

Spring, the innovation off-shoot of UKWIR, is seeking sector-wide views on the UK 2050 Water Innovation Strategy (published in 2020), to inform the future direction of the joint document. Spring, the UK & Ireland centre of excellence for water innovation, is inviting water professionals to complete a survey to share their views on how they […]

01 Aug 2023

Across England’s 189,700 miles of road, runoff surface water polluted with microplastics, trace metals, hydrocarbons and other organic pollutants enters our rivers every time it rains. CIWEM has been awarded a grant from the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund to illustrate the scale, nature and impact caused by this pollution, and offer potential solutions. The pollution […]

01 Aug 2023

The government has published indicative guide prices and information on calculating costs for developers buying statutory credits. They start at £42,000 per credit for a low distinctiveness habitat, up to £650,000 for high distinctiveness habitats (lakes). Defra notes that buying statutory biodiversity credits is a last resort option for developers unable to use on-site or off-site units […]

01 Aug 2023

Six new landscape scale projects will support nature recovery in England and improve habitats for wildlife. The projects will be supported with £7.4 million funding from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The projects will also help manage flood risk, improve access to nature, and protect endangered species. The nature recovery projects […]

26 Jul 2023

The Welsh Government has published a Schedule 3 Post Implementation Review for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, which requires SuDS on most new development, was commenced in Wales in 2019. (It is yet to be commenced in England). The review is grouped into four categories: Governance […]

26 Jul 2023

Study reported in the Guardian identifies about 900,000 households with service lines definitely or possibly made of lead, a known neurotoxin One in five New Yorkers may be drinking lead-contaminated water, a new report has found. Roughly 900,000 households – or 21% of the city’s residents – live in properties with lead or possible lead service lines, […]