09 Feb 2024

A group of conservation organisations are calling on planners to work together to ensure that wildlife is protected in the Irish Sea. The ‘Ecological Considerations for Marine Spatial Planning in the Irish Sea’ report urges planners in all six nations bordering the Irish Sea to collaborate and cooperate “for the sake of nature”. The Irish […]

07 Feb 2024

A toxic mix of oil, chemicals and bits of tyre from roads is polluting English waterways and no-one is regularly monitoring it, the BBC has found. Heavy rain forces run-off into streams and rivers. Campaigners say it causes “absolutely horrific” damage in places, including just downstream of where The Great British Bake Off is filmed. […]

07 Feb 2024

The Guardian reports that seventeen landfills across England are known to be producing a highly toxic liquid substance containing some banned and potentially carcinogenic “forever chemicals”, in some cases at levels 260 times higher than that deemed safe for drinking water. However the government says it does not know where these landfills are. Over a […]

07 Feb 2024

More designated bathing water sites would have been rated ‘poor’ in 2022 had all water quality samples been included in assessments, an investigation has found, with regulators accused of a ‘painting a better picture’ of the situation at the expense of public health. The ENDS report has found that the number of ‘poor’ rated bathing […]

07 Feb 2024

Following on from World Wetlands Day (2 Feb), the World Wetland Network is running a participatory science survey of the state of the world’s wetlands. The survey is open until 30 April, after which a senior science team assesses the findings, which will be published at Ramsar COP15 in 2025.

07 Feb 2024

The Environment Agency has published new guidance on Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs), which help to deliver the ambitions of the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. They set out a planned approach to managing flood and coastal erosion risk around the coast of England to 2105. There are 20 SMPs covering the English coast. You can […]

07 Feb 2024

The London Assembly claims that instances of sewage flowing into London’s rivers in 2023 were almost five times the amount for the same period the previous year. The London Assembly used published Thames Water data which monitors discharge from 118 sites across the Thames Water network feeding into 33 rivers and waterways. The data shows […]

07 Feb 2024

A blog by Alex Plant, Scottish Water Chief Executive Officer The amount customers pay to keep Scotland’s water cycle flowing is increasing. It’s going up because the climate we rely on for the water needs of our nation is affecting every aspect of our services, and we must do more to maintain and replace our […]