Increase in water network inspections shows shocking scale of permit breaches

• The Environment Agency is set to announce that it has completed 10,000 inspections of the water network in the last year and uncovered more than 3,000 permit breaches.

• Whilst The Rivers Trust is pleased to hear that inspections have increased significantly, the number of breaches is completely unacceptable.

• Regulators must ensure that the 3,000 individual actions identified to improve matters are acted on urgently.

“I’m glad to hear that the Environment Agency has stepped up its surveillance of the water network, which has such a big impact on river health, but the number of permit breaches is completely unacceptable. The fact that there is at least one breach in 22% of inspections suggests that this vital infrastructure is being neglected industry-wide, leaving rivers and communities paying the price. The EA must be tenacious in ensuring that the required improvements are made as soon as possible and the scale of enforcement continues, to drive meaningful action.

“When it is set up, the new water regulator must be given the resources and powers to be equally rigorous in addressing all sources of pollution, including those which are currently not permitted, let alone inspected, such as highway outfalls or dairy, poultry and pig farms. Collectively, these make up a large proportion of river pollution incidents so must be all be tackled if we are to see a real improvement in our rivers.”

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive