28 Aug 2025

Image description: Manual pumping station. Image by Markus Distelrath / Pixabay   Yorkshire in drought Yorkshire went into drought in mid-June, with hosepipe bans enforced from early July. Reservoir levels continue to drop, holding just 62.9 per cent of their capacity compared to the early August average of 80.5 per cent. The picture for rivers […]

28 Aug 2025

Image description: Okavango delta, River, Landscape. Image by Christo Ras from Pixabay   Nature-Based Infrastructure fund Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) has committed £25 million to the Cornerstone Portfolio of Rebalance Earth’s forthcoming nature-based Infrastructure Fund. The investment marks one of the most significant allocations to nature in the British Isles, treating nature as infrastructure by […]

28 Aug 2025

Image description: sunset over a peat bog in the Scottish Highlands. Image by  K B / Unsplash    To improve our understanding of the conditions needed to restore peatlands, Professor Graeme Swindles from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s University has been leading a team to calculate peat accumulation rates over the […]

21 Aug 2025

Image description: A black tap with running water pouring into a sink. Image by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay   Ofwat has launched a consultation on proposals to ensure water companies involve consumers and listen to their views in key decisions that have a material impact on them. This follows Ofwat receiving new powers from government […]

21 Aug 2025

Image by Stephen Phillips / Unsplash   As part of a larger effort to reduce the UK’s water consumption, the government has drawn attention to the enormous demands on utilities caused by growing data storage – the Environment Agency has advised the UK public to delete old emails in a bid to save on water […]

21 Aug 2025

Image description: Haweswater reservoir. Image by Dave Noonan from Pixabay   United Utilities has announced a £3bn deal to refurbish the Haweswater aqueduct, which carries water from Cumbria to 2.5m customers across Greater Manchester and Lancashire. The 68-mile pipeline is almost 70 years old, and the refurbishment has been described as ‘one of the largest […]

21 Aug 2025

Image description: Long-range view over the Lake District. Image by Dave Noonan / Pixabay.   According to a comprehensive analysis of water quality in England’s largest lake, bathing water quality is poor throughout the summer across most of Windermere, indicating high levels of sewage pollution. the Big Windermere Survey uncovered high levels of bacteria found […]

21 Aug 2025

Image description: Two firefighters walking holding firefighting foam, a common source of PFAS. Image by Maria Moczydlak from Pixabay.   New research suggests exposure to some common PFAS or “forever chemical” compounds causes changes to gene activity, and those changes are linked to health problems including multiple cancers, neurological disorders and autoimmune disease. Researchers examined […]