- Written by Jonah Fisher
- environmental correspondent
image source, Getty Images
Government efforts to clean up England's rivers, lakes and seas have been criticized as “inadequate” by a major environmental watchdog.
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), a statutory body, said targets to improve water health would be “significantly” missed.
He said the government's plans lacked detail, commitment and sufficient funding.
A government spokesperson said the government had “done more than any other government” to restore waterways.
OEP was set up to hold governments and other public bodies to account for environmental issues after leaving the EU, given that EU oversight would no longer apply.
In its latest report, OEP investigated whether the laws protecting England's rivers, lakes and coastal waters from pollution are working properly and how they are enforced.
“We found the legal framework to be fundamentally sound, but the way it has been interpreted and implemented has been really poor,” OEP chair Dame Glenys Stacey told BBC News.
“It means the government is very unlikely to achieve its maritime ambitions for our country. In fact, it is very likely not to be achieved by a wide margin,” she said.
Currently, only 16% of England's waterways are rated as having good ecological status. The government aims to increase this rate to 77% by 2027, but OEP says it sees it as more likely to reach 21%.
“It's a very bad situation unless things change,” Dame Glennis said.
OEP criticized the government's “one-size-fits-all” approach to improving waterways, saying more detailed commitment, commitment and funding was needed.
The Environment Secretary now has three months to formally respond to the OEP report.
But a spokesperson was quick to comment, saying that monitoring of sewage discharges had been significantly increased in recent years and that there were plans to invest billions of pounds in sewage treatment infrastructure.
image source, Getty Images
“This government has done more than any other government to protect and restore our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, with record levels of investment, oversight and enforcement,” the spokesperson said.
“We welcome the report's recommendations for moving forward and will consider them in detail.”
Most campaign groups contacted by BBC News said the report confirmed what they already knew.
Louise Reddy, from Surfers Against Swayze, said: 'Years of under-investment, weak regulation and insufficient direction on how to implement the scheme have resulted in the government's plans to improve the health of England's waterways. It's no surprise that most are off track.” .
“The long-term health of our rivers depends on what we do now to support them,” said Rivers Trust CEO Mark Lloyd. told BBC News.
“This report confirms our long-held suspicions that current policies and laws are not enough. We need to pivot to save our rivers.”
