The UK’s Environment Agency (EA) has announced it has secured the ‘largest ever’ environmental commitment from water companies since privatisation, as part of a collaborative project with Natural England.
The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) sets out more than 24,000 actions that water companies must undertake over the next five years to comply with legal environmental requirements. This series of targeted interventions represents a total investment of £22.1 billion – four times more than was secured in the last Price Review, the EA noted.
“This unprecedented level of investment represents a vital step forward towards ensuring we have clean, safe, and abundant water now and for future generations,” commented Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency. “Working with the water companies on this £22 billion programme is a crucial way to realise the government’s goals of stimulating development and boosting economic growth, while ensuring the sector can meet its ambitious environment commitments.”
Agreed actions
As part of this process, water companies provided a number of proposed actions, which were assessed by the EA, with the agency, alongside Ofwat and Natural England, providing technical guidance.
Agreed measures include efforts to reduce nitrate levels, restore chalk streams, and install biosecurity measures to control invasive species.
Additional objectives include reducing water abstraction, protecting and enhancing some 13,500 kilometres of rivers, upgrading 2,350 storm overflows, improving designated bathing water sites, and installing monitoring equipment at emergency overflow locations.
‘A positive step’
“The scale of investment in the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) is a positive step towards delivering sustainable outcomes for the water environment, nature recovery, biodiversity improvement and sustainable growth, added Marian Spain, chief executive of Natural England. “Natural England will be working to maximise the opportunity of this significant investment, to get full value for money via integrated approaches and work with our partners including the Environment Agency, water companies and Defra to help deliver this ambitious programme.”
Elsewhere, David Henderson, chief executive at Water UK, added that the programme will represent “the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment. It will help to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.” Read more here.
