The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has welcomed the Government response to its report, Water quality in rivers, as demonstrating a welcome shift in attitude and an increase in Government ambition on water quality after decades of inaction.

Ministers have agreed with the majority of the recommendations in the EAC report published in January 2022 – the EAC said that both the Government and the water industry regulator Ofwat accepted that the next water industry price review process needed to prioritise long term investment in the sewerage network, to take better account for natural capital and to increase the use of nature-based solutions.

Government response "paves the way for major upgrade of England’s overloaded Victorian sewerage infrastructure"

This paves the way for a major upgrade of England’s overloaded Victorian sewerage infrastructure, the Committee says.

Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, said:

“Improving water quality in our rivers is not an easy task and will not be solved overnight. In 2021, sewage poured into our waterways over 370,000 times: this is simply unacceptable. But the Government has clearly been listening and Ministers have shown a determination to engage constructively with the Committee’s recommendations.

“The Government response to our report is broadly positive, and I welcome moves to improve significantly the amount and analysis of monitoring, to hold water companies to account and better understand the dangerous chemical cocktail coursing through our waterways. Enforcement of permit conditions is crucial, and the Committee will in due course be examining the capacity of the relevant agencies to deliver effective environmental protection in this area. I look forward to evaluating the further action on effective monitoring of sewage discharges promised at the next update of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

“We welcome the increased focus by Ministers on prioritising water quality improvement through guidance to Ofwat in its Strategic Policy Statement, the recent consultation on water quality targets and sewage overflow measures and the latest iterations of WINEP and WISER guidance to inform the environmental improvements water companies are required to deliver in the next price review period.“This is a critical period for transforming human impact on our waterways and I welcome the way in which the Government is engaging and seeking to put right the indifference of successive previous administrations. The Committee will continue to hold the Government, its arms-length bodies and the water companies to account as they implement these plans to improve the water quality in England’s rivers.”

Government Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan Consultation “will revolutionise how water companies will tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage”

Commenting on storm overflows, the Government response says:

“Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan Consultation will revolutionise how water companies will tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage, which the Government and the public have made clear are completely unacceptable. Water companies will face strict limits on when they can use storm overflows and must completely eliminate the harm any sewage discharge causes to the environment under our plans. Under the proposed plan:

• By 2035, the environmental impacts of 75% of overflows affecting our most important protected sites will have been eliminated;
• By 2035, there will be 70% fewer discharges into bathing waters;
• By 2040, approximately 160,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated; and by 2050, approximately 320,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated.

"Water companies will be encouraged to accelerate these timelines wherever possible while balancing the impact on consumers. The Government expects costs on water companies to deliver this programme will reduce through innovation, better asset management and maintenance, and identifying more effective local solutions. We will monitor the delivery programme, and the Government will not hesitate to set faster delivery timelines for targets if delivery costs reduce.”

Other key issues the EAC has highlighted in the Government response include:

Monitoring

The Government says that it is committed to improving monitoring of water quality, through measures introduced to the Environment Act. Ministers support industry-funded research to understand better the chemical cocktail coursing through waterways as a critical pre-cursor to cleaning up our rivers. 

Following widespread criticism from members of the public, campaigners and parliamentarians, water companies have now committed to improve transparency around the industry’s use of storm overflows. Improved overflow monitoring is essential to transforming understanding the frequency and nature of discharges of sewage from combined sewer overflows.

The EAC recommended better analysis of Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) data to identify where discharges are likely to breach permit conditions. The Environment Agency is taking this work forward, and the Government says it will consider how to communicate this effectively to the public.

However, the EAC recommendation to Government to require industry to install volume monitors as well, so as to gauge the amount of untreated or partially treated sewage being discharged, was rejected by Ministers.

Enforcement

The EAC report concluded that improved enforcement was crucial to deter unpermitted sewage discharges. Following EAC’s recommendations, the Environment Agency is reviewing how it audits the self-monitoring of wastewater treatment works by water companies.

The Environment Agency also plays a significant role in enforcement. The Committee welcomes the increased funding being provided to the EA for enforcement, but is concerned that the extra inspectors for which funding has been provided may not have sufficient powers to enforce action against permit breaches, and that the additional posts fall short of what is required in terms of site visits. EAC has noted previous EA statements about its policy on following up reports of Category 3 (lower impact pollution) incidents.

Agricultural pollution

The EAC is concerned that the Government has rejected its recommendations around agricultural pollution, despite figures showing that diffuse pollution from agricultural sources prevents 40% of rivers and other water bodies from achieving good ecological status. The response reveals Government concerns that nutrient neutrality policies could stall housebuilding, which the EAC recognises is a potentially conflicting priority where a balance needs to be struck. Urgent work is required by Natural England to find a framework for local authorities to be able to provide clarity of the mitigation measures necessary for developers to build without exacerbating risks to river pollution.

Ministers have also rejected the EAC’s call for a presumption against planning permission for new intensive livestock units in areas that are suffering from excessive nutrient pollution, such as in the Wye Valley.

Other sources of water pollution

The EAC looks forward to the Ministerial responses to the Government consultations on fats, oils and greases, and on wet wipes and other sanitary products.

However, despite the impact that shedding microplastics from clothing has on the environment, which EAC has previously highlighted, the Committee is disappointed that the Government has rejected its recommendation to including voluntary targets to reduce microplastic pollution from textiles in its Textiles 2030 clothing sustainability scheme.

Government - “As the committee rightly points out, we agree that there is more to do”

The Government - or relevant regulator - says it either agrees fully or partially with the majority of the 55 recommendations in the Water Quality in Rivers report. The Government or relevant regulator rejects 5 recommendations, agrees with 23 and partially agrees or noncommittally responds to a further 27 conclusions and recommendations.

“However, as the committee rightly points out, we agree that there is more to do and we intend to set out a comprehensive approach to improving water quality in our update of the 25 Year Environment Plan in January 2023.”

The Government has also agreed with the EAC’s recommendation that the Committee will to invite the regulator to appear before this Committee routinely to discuss Ofwat’s progress against the objectives of the new Strategic Policy Statement.

Click here to download the Government Response to the EAC report Water Quaility in Rivers in full