Press Statement: Water White Paper is not the transformational change we need

"The long-awaited Water White Paper contains some positive steps to reform water management, but without significant new government funding it will not be the radical, transformational change that we hoped for or that communities, our environment and the economy need.

"The government is clarifying the regulation of water companies, which is a positive step, but there are still significant gaps in the White Paper that raise alarm bells. The government seems to be shying away from implementing properly funded, independent regional planning bodies, linked to well-funded local delivery, which we believe are essential to transform the resilience of our landscapes.

"The commitment to double current funding for Catchment Partnerships is a small step in the right direction but it is not nearly enough to provide a solid local base on which to build Regional Systems Planning. Our rivers and their catchments have been continually hampered by a lack of resources. The government cannot let this continue if it hopes to meet the public demand for clean, healthy and resilient waterways.

"We’re also extremely disappointed by the lack of attention paid to integrating water company activities with flooding and land use, including the farming sector, and the light-touch approach to monitoring. We need a strategic and targeted monitoring framework that provides us with better data to understand the breadth of threats to river health, target our solutions, and to restore public trust.

"Now is not the time for half measures. The government is selling this as a once in a generation plan, so they must seize the moment and get it right, now. We will continue to press government to fill these gaps and reach further as they hammer out the details in their promised Transition Plan, and to take action now wherever possible, rather than waiting for slow-moving legislation."

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The Rivers Trust