29 May 2024
The MailOnline tested water quality at 6 of England’s 27 new designated bathing spots. It revealed that 5 of them are riddled with E. coli bacteria that can cause stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea. According to the MailOnline, “one of the spots has so much of the faecal bacteria that swimmers have been told to […]
22 May 2024
Climate change is worsening floods, droughts and is reducing water quality, posing an increasing threat to our health, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report. Fast-tracking implementation and better coordination of efforts by governments, water authorities and healthcare providers are urgently needed to prevent and reduce health impacts. The EEA report ‘Responding to […]
22 May 2024
The government has published supporting evidence for its ‘State of the water environment indicator’. The evidence summary supports the 25 Year Environment Plan and its outcome indicator framework. The headline figure is that just 16% of assessed surface waters and 79% of individual tests achieve good ecological status. In the 25 Year Environment Plan, water theme […]
14 May 2024
Deeply concerning’ failures to properly implement regulations designed to protect rivers, lakes and coastal waters in England mean key targets for improvement will be missed, a report by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found. As part of its role to monitor how environmental laws are working in practice the OEP has carried out […]
14 May 2024
Defra has announced that a total of 27 new wild swimming spots in England are being designated as bathing waters ahead of the summer and will immediately benefit from regular water quality monitoring. Following a public consultation, the new bathing water sites will be designated ahead of the 2024 bathing water season, which runs between […]
14 May 2024
The government has announced £11.5m extra funding to boost tree planting, habitat restoration and flood management across England through the Water Environment Improvement Fund. Projects to be funded this year include: The Limestone Becks River Restoration project in Lincolnshire, which will provide improved habitats for wildlife from water voles to invertebrates; Phase II of The York […]
14 May 2024
On Wednesday 15 May, the Environmental Audit Committee considers what progress has been made in tackling water pollution and supply issues since it last examined the area in detail. It relates to the Committee’s 2022 Water quality in rivers report. Watch evidence from Defra, CIWEM, Water UK, Ofwat and others, covering infrastructure investment, resilience, regulation […]
01 May 2024
This 3-minute piece on Channel 4 News Is critical of the Environment Agency testing regime for bathing waters, because some test results are discounted. Blurb Earlier this year, an investigation by this programme led to calls for a change to the system that’s meant to warn swimmers in England about pollution linked to sewage. We […]
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