01 Nov 2023

An exclusive investigation by the Guardian suggests England is to diverge from EU water monitoring standards. Campaigners fear the change of approach could lead to more pollution in England’s rivers and waterways if the new measuring methods are less rigorous. While in the EU, England was covered by the water framework directive (WFD), and a […]

12 Oct 2023

An investigation by the Guardian and Watershed Investigations has highlighted how hundreds of potentially toxic road runoff outfalls are polluting England’s rivers. No regulator is monitoring the scale of impact of dangerous chemicals on wildlife or public health. Last month, National Highways reported it had assessed its discharge points and found 1,236 outfalls and soakaways […]

12 Apr 2023

Defra has announced (10 April) that four swimming spots in England are being designated as bathing waters ahead of the warmer months and will soon benefit from regular water quality monitoring. Following a two-week public consultation, Sykes Lane Bathing Beach and Whitwell Creek at Rutland Water, Firestone Bay in Plymouth, and a section of the […]

18 May 2022

Demonstrating a welcome shift in attitude from the Government on water quality, Ministers have agreed with the majority of the recommendations in the Environmental Audit Committee report, Water quality in rivers. Read the Government Response Read the Report: Water Quality in Rivers Inquiry: Water Quality in Rivers Environmental Audit Committee The Government and the water […]

13 Apr 2022

From the Guardian Water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers 372,533 times last year, a slight reduction on the previous year. The water companies covering England released untreated sewage for a combined total of more than 2.7m hours; compared with 3.1m hours in 2020, according to data released by the Environment Agency (EA) on […]

22 Feb 2022

Welsh fishing boats to have monitoring devices. Wales has become the first nation in the UK to require all of its licensed commercial fishing boats are fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). Boats 12m or more in length were already required to have such a system in place, but an Order coming into force […]

28 Oct 2021

The Rivers Trust have also teamed up with a number of other organisations, including lead water company United Utilities, to bid for funding for a Catchment Monitoring Co-operative. The partnership was successful in securing £7.1m from OFWAT’s first Water Breakthrough Challenge, to demonstrate how we can build the evidence base we need to transform our rivers. […]