Image description: View from Sabrina Bridge over River Severn in Worcester. Photo by Darren Tolley on Unsplash
New figures released by the Environment Agency (EA) show £8.5 million has been collected from water companies through Enforcement Undertakings (EUs) over the last financial year – the highest annual total on record.
The EA says these EUs will be reinvested directly into repairing harm to rivers and habitats.
What are Enforcement Undertakings (EUs)?
EUs are one of a range of tools available to the Environment Agency.
EUs are legally binding agreements between the EA and companies that have breached environmental rules. The undertaking requires the company concerned to take steps to prevent repetition of the offending and to put right the damage it has caused. Often this will involve a payment to a third-party wildlife trust or environmental charity.
The EA says one of the key benefits offered by EUs is that the money can help deliver immediate benefits to the environment, without requiring lengthy and uncertain court proceedings.
47% increase in EUs since the last financial year
The EA says £8.5 million was obtained through Enforcement Undertakings in the 2025/26 financial year, up from £5.8 million the previous year and just under £2 million in 2023/24.
Water company Severn Trent Water (STW) paid £4.6m to the Environment Agency to settle pollution cases in the past year, the highest total of any provider. Offences included unauthorised sewage discharges into the River Blythe in Solihull, Broadway Brook in Evesham, Worcestershire, and Marehay treatment works in Ripley, Derbyshire.
The payments follow a “major increase” in enforcement activity, the government added, including 10,000 inspections of water company sites, more staff and increased powers.
How will the money be used?
The EA says they will ensure this record funding goes directly to charities and projects that restore the harm done to waterways and improve water quality, working to leave them in a better position than before any incident. The funding supports a wide range of local environmental improvements, including habitat restoration and river recovery projects. This will help rebuild habitats for threatened species like water voles and salmon that pollution has driven from Britain’s waterways.
For example, the money recovered from STW will be directed to local charities including the Trent Rivers Trust and Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, “who have the expertise to deliver targeted improvements in the affected catchments through measures such as habitat restoration, barrier removal and water quality improvements”.
Similarly, £300,000 secured from Wessex Water following their pollution of the River Gascoigne will be used by the Yeovil Rivers Community Trust to improve habitats in the area, including vital work to support endangered water vole populations. It will create reedbeds, wetlands and ponds at Yeovil Country Park and along Preston Brook.
While environmental organisations welcome the funding, they are mindful it only represents a portion of the investment required to address long-term challenges facing rivers. Chief executive of The Rivers Trust, Mark Lloyd, said: “We would prefer that pollution events didn’t happen in the first place and continue to push for the necessary action to ensure this – including ambitious reform of the water system.”