18 May 2022

From Defra In 2020, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Ofwat led a review of the water industry national environment programme (WINEP) ahead of the next price review (PR24). They wanted to ensure the next round of WINEP actions achieves greater environmental benefits for every pound invested by water companies […]

18 May 2022

Interesting report, covered in the Guardian At least 239 barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across 17 countries in Europe in 2021, in a record-breaking year for dam removals across the continent. Spain led the way, with 108 structures taken out of the country’s rivers. “Our efforts to expand dam removals across Europe are […]

18 May 2022

The manual sets out key stages in the delivery process of NFM – from initiating a scheme and understanding the interests of local people to selecting, designing and constructing the interventions, as well as monitoring and managing their performance – and the role of local communities, landowners, regulators, utility companies and local authorities. “We want […]

18 May 2022

Press notice Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation must be done “urgently, using every tool we can,” says a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). “Drought In Numbers, 2022,” released today to mark Drought Day at UNCCD’s 15th Conference of Parties (COP15, […]

18 May 2022

The salinisation of fresh-water habitats is a growing threat to biotic communities. To protect the biodiversity and ecosystem services and goods associated with these systems, effective monitoring is essential. Here, researchers present the Salinity Association Group Index (SAGI), a novel tool for the assessment of salinity in fresh-water habitats. Three case studies demonstrate how SAGI […]

11 May 2022

The Guardian reports that the Liberal Democrats condemn ‘environment scandal’ as party releases figures compiled from Environment Agency data Untreated sewage was discharged into England’s coastal bathing waters for more than 160,000 hours last year, according to figures collated by the Liberal Democrats to mark the start of the summer sea-swimming season. Data compiled by […]

11 May 2022

Less than 1% of the Earth’s surface is covered by freshwater, yet freshwater ecosystems hold a disproportionately large amount of the world’s species and genetic diversity. At the same time, these ecosystems and species are under threat from human activities. To contribute to halting this biodiversity decline, a new task force of the IUCN Species […]

11 May 2022

Sewage flooding a river for hours was blamed on Anglian Water’s slow response to the incident. The company has been fined £18,000 for failures at a pumping station near Peterborough that an investigation said showed up their “reactive attitude” to pollution. District judge Ken Sheraton said Anglian Water should have given “a higher category of […]