This week Sir James Bevan told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Water that “water is about the most important thing there is.”
Sir James highlighted the need to fix the climate if we want to fix our water problems, and that what happens to the climate will have a greater impact than anything done by the Environment Agency, Parliament or the water companies.
He was also keen to point out the disturbing statistic that only 14% of our rivers currently meet the criteria for goof ecological status; a number that’s not moved for several years.
“We are still seeing too much pollution from sewage, farming, industry and road-run off. And some things are getting worse, with new threats to our waters, including microplastics and so-called forever chemicals.
“How do we get our water quality to the state we want? Everyone has a role to play. The polluters – largely water companies and farmers – need to obey the law, stop polluting, and pay the full cost of cleaning up any damage they do. The politicians, the public and the media need to keep the pressure on the polluters to clean up their act. The EA and the other regulators need to regulate robustly and have the powers and resources to do so. And all of us need to treat water better and use it wisely.”
