30/11/09
While the Environment Agency has demonstrated progress in developing the River Basin Management Plans, there are concerns that major sectors and challenges have not been addressed in plans for England and Wales, to be published in December.
There was a general lack of substantive measures to address diffuse pollution from both urban and agricultural areas in draft plans submitted to Defra in September.
It seems another set of plans (catchment level) will be required to deliver some of the high level aspirations that were included.
Key stakeholders that need to contribute to the solution are still conspicuously absent in certain cases.
For example, given that diffuse pollution is know to be a problem everywhere, it is difficult to see why the impact assessments show no contributions from urban transport in eight of the ten river basins.
Recent work in the Humber basin (see figure below) shows that about 75% of phosphorus comes from rural and urban diffuse sources. Therefore, even if water companies controlled sewage treatment works to their technological limits, or beyond, they would not be the prime source of phosphorus in catchments.
| Sources of phosphorous in the Humber basin |
 |
| STW = sewage treatment works
(Yorkshire Water, 2009) |
Apparently no contributions are needed from agriculture in the North West and Severn River Basins either.
The carbon estimates reported for the water industry, we believe, are incorrect and are at least an order of magnitude out.
It is important that the final plans reflect the right contributions for all sectors.
Action at catchment level
There should also be commitment to tackle diffuse pollution in the first cycle, which should be linked with a defined and significant number of catchments in which detailed investigations and practical measures will be implemented.
Government agencies and local authorities that do not have water specific obligations and targets must have them, otherwise they will have no resources or incentives to contribute to or deliver the solutions needed.
We need every stakeholder to contribute, otherwise we cannot achieve the objectives or we may deliver what would appear to be a solution only to transfer the problem to another environmental compartment such as increased CO2 emissions.
There is a clear need for practical measures, new arrangements and structures to deal with diffuse pollution. Continuing over reliance on the water companies will not give us the answers we need.
