UK rivers 'being used as open sewers' by water companies and agricultural industry, charity says
The WWF said there needs to be rougher regulation
The Government is aiming to bring 75 per cent of England’s rivers to close to their natural state in its 25-year plan. (Photo: Reuters/Henry Nicholls)
Florence Snead
5 hours Thursday August 22nd 2019
Rivers in the UK are being treated as “open sewers” by water companies and the agricultural industry, it has been claimed. It is also “very unlikely” that targets would be met for 75 per cent of rivers in England to be in a healthy state by 2027, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned.
The charity said that the aim was unlikely to be met unless there was tougher regulation and work to restore rivers to a more natural state.
“Our rivers are the lifeblood of the countryside – vital for wildlife and people, as well as our economy,” said Dave Tickner, chief freshwater advisor at the WWF, in comments first reported by the BBC. “As we prepare to leave the EU, the UK Government must fast-track flagship legislation to better protect and restore our waterways and invest in effective monitoring and enforcement to ensure water companies and agricultural industry can no longer use our rivers as open sewers.”
The WWF added there needed to be a “strong and independent watchdog” to hold the Government to account on the state of the environment.
More:
https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/uk-rivers-england-pollution-water-quality-wwf-environment-news/