01 Sep 2020
For the purposes of the day, BLUE defined rewilding the sea as any effort to improve the health of the ocean by actively restoring habitats and species, or by leaving it alone to recover. One of the discussion points of the conference was that rewilding in the oceans might involve “re-framing ambitions” with rewilding projects […]
01 Sep 2020
The worldwide effort to combat critical levels of biodiversity loss will fail without far greater involvement from local communities, according to an international declaration. The “Edinburgh declaration”, published on Monday, urges leaders to work more closely with sub-national governments, indigenous peoples, national parks, local councils and wider society in meeting 20 biodiversity goals set out […]
01 Sep 2020
Restoration potential maps have been developed to provide a national ‘high level’ indication of where intertidal and subtidal seagrass, native oysters and saltmarsh could potentially be restored based on some key physical attributes. The maps are accessible on the Coastal Data Explorer portal hosted by the Rivers Trust that is being developed as part of […]
01 Sep 2020
During expeditions to oil and gas reservoirs in the central North Sea in 2012 and 2013, scientists of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany) discovered that methane bubbles emerged from the seabed around abandoned wells. The gas originates from shallow gas pockets, which lie less than 1000 meters deep below the seafloor […]
26 Aug 2020
Defra: In October 2019, we commissioned an independent review of the arrangements for determining responsibility for surface water and drainage assets. The review was carried out by David Jenkins. While the review will now be considered in full by ministers, the government is immediately accepting 12 of the recommendations. Executive summary I was asked towards […]
26 Aug 2020
Guardian Water companies in England discharged raw sewage into rivers on more than 200,000 occasions last year, according to data obtained by the Guardian. The analysis reveals untreated human waste was released into streams and rivers for more than 1.5m hours in 2019. The figures, obtained via environmental information requests, trace releases of sewage from […]
26 Aug 2020
Wildlife & Countryside Link / Blue Print for Water: Recently, you spoke of “thoughtful reform” of the Water Framework Directive regulations to deliver “even better outcomes”. In light of growing public concern about water pollution, over-abstraction of sensitive rivers and streams, and serious ongoing shortcomings in water quality, any weakening of Water Framework Standards would […]
26 Aug 2020
Possible Economic Impacts of Covid on the Water Sector Ofwat, Water UK and selected water companies have set up a working group to collaborate on increasing their joint understanding of how Covid-19 is impacting the water sector, how the sector can best respond and the potential impact on stakeholders. The organisations will work collaboratively to […]
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