Understanding the Bathing Water Rules Reform: Why now is not the time to give up on river bathing waters
With a public consultation open on proposed changes to bathing water rules in England and Wales, and poor health classifications recently issued for bathing water sites in England, our experts explain the role of bathing water designation and discuss how, with reform, the designation system could be a powerful tool for protecting and improving our waters.
04/12/24
With a public consultation open on proposed changes to bathing water rules in England and Wales, and poor health classifications recently issued for bathing water sites in England, our experts explain the role of bathing water designation and discuss how, with reform, the designation system could be a powerful tool for protecting and improving our waters.
Despite the official bathing water season being over for a couple of months, this autumn has brought a flurry of news for those of us invested in outdoor swimming and river health.
On 25th November, the Environment Agency published the 2024 health classifications for England’s 450 designated bathing water sites. Despite 92% meeting minimum standards overall, the news made sorry reading for inland bathing waters, with only 53% classed as ‘sufficient’ or ‘better’ for bacterial water quality. In particular, the inclusion of 27 new sites – 22 of them inland – has driven a drop in the overall proportion of sites achieving either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ ratings.
This news followed the launch of a public consultation by Defra on reforms to bathing water regulations in England and Wales, which itself pre-empted a report from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) stating that current legislation and guidance is ‘out of step with the needs of today’.
As longstanding advocates for rivers fit to swim in, we’re disappointed if not surprised at the latest data on bathing water quality.
In fact, it highlights the scale of the challenge we are up against in restoring our inland waters to good health. The Rivers Trust has been calling for an increase in the number of river bathing waters for several years , and these calls have been echoed far and wide, including in high-profile river health campaigns by the Times and iNews. With a disproportionately high number of new, river-based designated bathing sites receiving a ‘poor’ classification, you might be forgiven for wondering why. But the unclean bill of health for our rivers is making us more determined to advocate for new inland bathing water sites, not less.
The purpose of bathing water designation is primarily to ensure the health of water users; if a site is popular, designation is crucial for public safety. The consistent increase in people taking up wild swimming for the sake of their physical and mental health should be met by joined-up government action to ensure it is as safe as possible. Aside from protecting recreational river users, bathing water status should also drive improvements for nature.
But when it comes to bathing waters, urgent improvement does not always equate to instant improvement. With a myriad of systemic pressures such as under-funded environmental regulators leading to poorly enforced regulations on agricultural pollution, and lower levels of wastewater treatment than our European neighbours, making rivers safe to swim in was never going to be easy. Nonetheless, it is always best to start that work now rather than later.
With so much focus on policy and legislation right now we have a golden opportunity to influence how our bathing waters are designated and managed, making sure that the health of water users and the environment are top priority. We have submitted our response to the government’s consultation on the reform of bathing water regulations, and we would encourage all river users, and environmental advocates, to do the same.
Our thoughts on the proposed reforms
Firstly, we are pleased to see an increase in flexibility in the designation and monitoring of designated bathing water sites. One crucial change proposed is to consider all river users, not just swimmers, in assessing the popularity of sites up for designation. Surfing, rowing, and other water sports also involve immersion or regular contact with water, therefor our public bodies have a responsibility to acknowledge participants and take any possible step to protect their health.
We also welcome the suggestion to reconsider the timing of the official bathing water season. Outdoor swimming and water sports are not restricted to between mid-May and late September, so monitoring the water quality at locations for those sports should take place for as long as they are being used. Defra has suggested that dates for monitoring could be adapted to suit individual sites, which we would support, although we await any detail on how these bespoke decisions would be made.
Despite these positives, there is much room for improvement in what the government has put forward.
In our view, the most positive reform suggested is the end of automatic de-designation for sites that fail standards for five consecutive years. The existing policy does little to protect public health or the environment, and instead allows regulators to abandon any ambition for improvement at struggling sites at five years. However, the suggested alternative of conducting a review to assess if it is feasible and proportionate for a struggling site to achieve sufficient water quality rings major alarm bells.
We do not know what the details of this particular reform would be but, given the well-documented strain on resources at the EA and Natural Resources Wales, there is a serious risk that making the necessary improvements to bathing water quality will be seen as too expensive or too much hard work. This would only lead to a swathe of potential bathing water sites being refused designation, or even worse, existing sites losing their designation, wasting years of hard work and depriving river users of vital information and the hope of improvements.
What we want to see in reforms to bathing water regulations is a focus on solutions, set out clearly in action plans with specific, time-bound measures, from designation onwards. This process should place greater accountability on responsible bodies to take steps to improve water quality and instigate regular reviews of actions taken to assess whether sites are on track for improvement. Opportunities to save costs while delivering more for bathing waters are being missed; taking a catchment-wide approach that uses nature-based solutions to improve water quality, and making the most of citizen science data, would allow public funds to go further.
Above all, it is imperative that any consultation, reform, or management of our bathing waters is inclusive of all stakeholders. That means landowners, farmers, water companies, local authorities, businesses, NGOs, and communities must all have a say.
The consultation is open until 23rd December 2024, and you’re invited to have your say. If you’re not sure where to start when planning your response, read our blog containing guidance and advice regarding some of the consultation’s questions.
