The River Wye’s health status has been downgraded by Natural England, as wildlife charities accuse the government of failing to stop farming pollution harming the waterway. The government nature watchdog has updated the status of the river from “unfavourable-improving” to “unfavourable-declining”, meaning its condition is poor – and worsening. The assessment shows the river, which flows for 155 miles from […]

In a story entitled ‘Why is raw sewage pumped into rivers and the sea?’, the BBC lays bare the situation, as reflected in published Environment Agency data. In 2022, raw sewage was pumped into rivers and seas for 1.75 million hours last year – on average 825 times per day. This is down 19% on the 2021 figures, because of […]

Press release (or apology, if you like) here. Defra has covered the story thusly: Water UK has apologised for not acting quickly enough on sewage spills and vowed to ‘put things right’, starting with a £10 billion investment. […] Water Minister Rebecca Pow said: This apology by the water industry is not before time and I welcome it. […] Alan […]