Press statement: The Rivers Trust’s response to the publication of the Cunliffe Review Interim Report

Today, Sir Jon Cunliffe’s Independent Water Commission publishes its interim report, marking a key milestone in this hugely important process that has the potential to transform our water system.

The interim report stops short of clear recommendations, at this stage focussing on some fundamental areas for change, most encouragingly picking out clearer government direction, regional and local planning and decision-making, streamlined regulation with long-term direction and investment as key to success. We are looking for much more detail in the final report with clear recommendations for radical change in these areas which must be adopted by the Government; this would help drive better outcomes for the water environment.

The Commission has clearly picked up on the need to take a more integrated approach to water management, by taking action throughout the area of land that drains into our rivers – at the river catchment scale. We look to the final report to go much further on this including recommendations for a clear statutory role and long-term funding for Catchment Partnerships to develop catchment plans and to support community involvement and for well-directed, funded and streamlined regulators to increase enforcement action against all polluters.

Healing our rivers will require all sectors to improve the way that they manage water at local, regional and national scales. The interim report naturally focuses on the water and sewage companies, but there needs to be much more consideration of other sources of water quality and quantity issues such as highways, households and particularly agricultural land management, which has a similar or greater impact on the health of rivers to that of the water industry.

We would also like to see the Commission give greater attention to a better system of monitoring river health. This is largely lacking in this interim report and, must include our proposal to bring together all sources of data, including from citizen scientists, into a common framework to provide a much more detailed picture of the health of rivers. This would greatly help all sectors make more informed decisions about what solutions are needed where, to achieve the greatest impact more cost-effectively.

Ultimately, we would like to see more ambition in the Commission’s final recommendations, aiming to really transform the water environment rather than settling for gradual improvement.

Water is fundamental to nature’s recovery, the growth of the economy, the health and security of communities and to life itself. Threats to homes and businesses from failing water supplies and flooding are real and present and will only get more acute as the climate changes and more housing developments are built. Water users face severe risks from chemical and biological pollution and wildlife continues to disappear. We need comprehensive, bold and urgent change to address the major failings of the whole water management system, not just the regulation and operation of the water companies.

The Rivers Trust will provide additional input over the next month to urge the Commission to shoot for the stars rather than the moon in its final report. We will then expect to see the Government move swiftly and boldly to realise this high level of ambition.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive