Today, the Environmental Audit Committee (a cross party group of MPs responsible for scrutinising the government on environmental issues) has released a damning report on water quality in our rivers.   

This new report shines a light on the murky, degraded state of our river basins. From source to sea, a toxic ‘chemical cocktail’ is threatening public health and suffocating our rivers. Only 14% of English rivers are in good ecological status and not a single river in England has received a clean bill of health for chemical contamination.  

Decades of agricultural policy focused on intensification of land use encouraged unsustainably high pesticide and fertiliser use with inadequate measures in place to prevent excess runoff into catchments. Now a soup of slurry, pesticides and nitrate fertilisers has run off into our watercourses, adding to the human waste and plastics flushed into our rivers from urban areas and combined sewage outfalls. The high level of pollutants from these human and agricultural sources sweeps down to the estuary, where they fertilise stinking blooms of green algae that suffocate our protected estuaries.  

Many of our chalk streams are globally renowned and are, on paper, afforded most of the nature protections our government has to offer. However, the species in these precious and sensitive habitats are living on borrowed time due to poor water quality. The Trust, and other local organisations, have spent millions on restoring habitats along these rivers, but our efforts are undermined by the constant pressure of pollution preventing these sensitive ecosystems from being able to recover. Without improved water quality, iconic species such as brown trout cannot survive.  

After years of chronic underinvestment and failures in monitoring, governance and enforcement, this report must act as a catalyst for urgent change as clearly not enough has been done so far. We support the Environmental Audit Committee’s call for a ‘step change’ in the actions needed to tackle pollution in our waters, to allow nature to recover and adapt to a changing climate.  We need to see action across three key areas – agricultural pollution, sewage and wastewater, and runoff from towns and cities.  

The report clearly identifies the need for stronger regulations, greater enforcement, better government funding for investigations, proactive education and citizen engagement. However, it makes one thing very clear; the government should no longer allow the constant pollution of our rivers to appease outside interests. 

We know that if we clean up our rivers and estuaries it benefits people and nature as Chief Executive of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Debbie Tann, says: 

“Our rivers are the lifeblood of the natural environment, but we are currently treating them like a dumping ground. The impacts of water pollution can be clearly seen in our area, with blanket weed choking our chalkstreams and algal mats smothering our harbours.  Our waterways cannot cope any longer with what really amounts to chemical fly-tipping on an industrial scale. Creating cleaner and wilder rivers for both people and wildlife to enjoy will not be easy, but this report sets out the clear steps that our government must take to revive our rivers. The public want more than commercial promises and voluntary standards, they want an end to this environmental vandalism.”