Linda Pitkin/2020VISION
End river pollution and water scarcity
The state of our rivers is a national disgrace. The UK is ranked as one of the worst countries in Europe for water quality, with pollution beyond legal limits caused by a toxic cocktail of sewage and agricultural pollution. Currently, 40% of waters fail quality targets due to pollution from agriculture and land management and in 2022 alone, raw sewage was discharged into waterways over 300,000 times.
Our rivers are no longer suitable homes for wildlife, they are not fit for people to swim in, and thanks to climate change and growing demand, we are seeing water availability decrease before our eyes. This is a crisis – and one which the public wants to see urgently resolved.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is working to improve local rivers such as the Sherbourne in central Coventry and the Tame and Blythe in North Warwickshire through its projects, but additional legislation from UK Government could transform our rivers for good.
To end river pollution and unsustainable water use, we’re calling on all political parties to...
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
Enforce the law
Cuts to enforcement agencies and environmental protection budgets over the past decade have left our rivers defenceless against polluters. Environmental watchdogs must be empowered and sufficiently resourced to ensure they can monitor and inspect polluters and enforce penalties upon those who break the law.
River © Alicia Leow-Dyke
Halve nutrient pollution by 2030
Sewage, wastewater and agriculture are all suffocating our rivers and the wildlife that depends on them. The public rightly want to see heathy, safe and clean rivers, lakes, wetlands and coasts. Nature can be part of the solution – for example stopping rainwater from overwhelming the sewage system and agricultural pollution from leaching into freshwater habitats.
Linda Pitkin/2020VISION
Deliver stronger protection for chalk streams
Over 85% of the world’s chalk streams are found in the UK; these unique rivers are some of the planet’s rarest habitats yet are frequently polluted and drained almost dry - killing off vulnerable wildlife that relies on them. Strengthened legal protections are required to protect and reverse damage to these crucial habitats.
