A coalition of nature groups (including Wildlife and Countryside Link, Rivers Trust, The Wildlife Trusts and Angling Trust) has released analysis of water company business plans for the next five years, recently given draft approval by Ofwat.
The scorecard recognises much needed commitments and funding increases in many vital areas, but also shows gaps in water protections and spending that they say need to be filled.
Campaigners are calling for much stricter fines for companies for serious pollution incidents over the next 5 years, with all fine funds paid into a Water Restoration Fund, a new ‘green duty’ for Ofwat, and for more prioritisation of sustainable ‘green infrastructure instead of grey infrastructure’.
Ofwat has told water companies that over the next 5 years they can spend £35billion on ‘enhancements’ relating to pollution, water quality, climate change resilience and customer service. This is triple the level of investment in the previous 5 years and includes £10 billion to reduce harm from storm overflows and £545 million on reducing leakage through smart technologies and better data. This is backed up by commitments from almost all companies to achieve zero serious pollution incidents by 2030.
However, despite this welcome increase in investment and commitments, nature groups are disappointed to see that under the plans, spills from Storm Overflows will still affect 38% of bathing waters and 53% of protected nature areas by 2030. Charities are also concerned that little is being spent on natural infrastructure. Company plans and Ofwat’s draft decisions show companies are relying heavily on expensive concrete infrastructure investment to tackle pollution, water quality and resilience.
Ofwat’s draft decision is that the water industry will spend just 2% of its total budget – 5% of the enhancement budget (£2bn) – on natural solutions. For example, to improve water storage capacity at Wastewater Treatment Works and Storm Overflows to prevent spills, some companies plan to spend nothing on natural solutions, whilst others show more ambition, proposing that almost a third of their spend in this area will be on green solutions. See table 1 for more detail.
The nature groups believe this is concerning based on research that has shown that nature-based infrastructure can be up to 50% cheaper and can provide 28% better value for money than traditional ‘grey’ infrastructure. Measures, like the creation of reedbeds and wetlands, can help tackle pollution, water quality, flooding and drought, and can be more cost-effective and long-lasting than concrete and chemical solutions – which could help reduce customer bills in the long-term. They also deliver huge additional benefits – creating new habitat for wildlife, carbon capturing, and providing quality natural spaces for communities to use.
Ellie Ward, Senior Policy Officer at Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:
“From flooding our rivers with sewage to leaky pipes wasting billions of litres of water, the industry’s actions have hurt the environment. Poor practices have caused untold harm to our rivers and wildlife, contributing to declines in iconic species like the Atlantic salmon, otters and mayflies.
“Water companies must pay for the pollution they have caused and get our waterways back on track – as homes for wildlife and places where we can relax and keep healthy. These business plans still fall short on the action rivers, lakes, streams and coastlines need. The Government’s upcoming review of the water sector must help remedy this through tougher monitoring and enforcement, ringfencing fines for nature recovery to ensure water polluters really do pay, and accelerating the use of nature-based solutions to meet environmental targets.”
Ali Morse, Water Policy Manager at The Wildlife Trusts and chair of Blueprint for Water said:
“The water industry has a key role to play in the restoration of our rivers, lakes and seas, but for too long these precious places have been short-changed. If companies are to rebuild public trust, they must do far more to stop pollution and conserve dwindling water levels in fragile chalk streams, playing their part in meeting Government’s legally-binding environmental targets.
“The coming five-year period is a critical one for nature’s recovery, so we need companies to step up their plans. This includes working with regulators to ensure more investment in the natural solutions that we know are a truly effective way of cleaning up our waters.”
Mark Lloyd, CEO, The Rivers Trust, said:
“With public concern about the state of our waterways at an all-time high, and customer trust in the water industry at an all-time low, it is absolutely critical that we are given the tools to assess our water companies’ performance on the environment for ourselves.
“Blueprint’s PR24 Scorecard is such an important piece of work, setting out how the water companies’ draft business plans aim to deliver for nature and assessing them side-by-side. Customers deserve to know how their bills will be used to end sewage pollution incidents, cut water usage, and invest in nature-based solutions.
“The huge amount of data published by Blueprint today is invaluable, however, the report is clear that we are still left largely in the dark about how water company investments will actually add up to improving the state of our rivers, lakes, and seas. This cannot continue and we will be calling on the industry, regulators, and government to be more transparent about how these plans will contribute to achieving our nature and climate targets.”
