Steve Reed, the new secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, has unveiled five core priorities for his department, and water is at the top of the list.
In a video posted on his Twitter account, he talks about the crisis point we face, commenting:
“We have record levels of sewage in our rivers, lakes and seas. Nature is dying. Confidence amongst farmers is the lowest on record. It will take years to reverse the damage that’s been done, but the work of change has begun.”
He goes on to list the top five priorities for his department as:
- Cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas
- Creating a roadmap to move us to a zero waste ecomony
- Boosting food security
- Ensuring nature’s recovery
- Protecting communities from flooding
You can watch the full video here.
On cleaning up Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas, Alastair Chisholm, Policy Director at CIWEM, said:
“Three in four professionals in this sector consider stronger Government policy and regulation is critical to solving water challenges. Water management and regulation needs an urgent, comprehensive and ambitious review in order to create the best policy response and targeted areas for investment.
“Thames Water is a stark example of the consequences of failing to properly prioritise and regulate water infrastructure investment. The UK’s largest water company serving 16 million customers is a headache at risk of becoming a migraine for the new Government.
“We must remember though that the problem is bigger than the water companies. Our infrastructure was simply not built for today’s population of 67 million. Without transformational change the decline in the health and resilience of water for our economy, society and nature seen over recent decades will not just continue, but accelerate in the face of growing pressures.
“At the heart of this investment should be skills. Unless we invest in a bigger and more diverse profession, we will not be able to deliver transformation after years of under-investment, inadequate regulation and progressive decline in the health and resilience of our water environment. Our members are extensively unhappy with the regulation and performance of the water companies, yet never before has their expertise been so critical to society and a fresh water future. Updated policy and regulation must be partnered with investment in skills to unlock green growth and green finance.”
