13/10/10
The award this week of a prestigious international environment prize to the River Thames is a deserved accolade for the people and organisations behind the transformation of a famous river.
The International Thiess river prize is awarded annually in Australia for outstanding achievement in river management and restoration. It comes with prize money of over £200,000 which the Environment Agency, as river manager, will give to the Thames River Restoration Trust.
The award also confirms the success of major investment in wastewater management by water companies over the past two decades.
Celebrating the announcement, the agency points to the benefits of enhancement projects of many kinds and the restoration of 70kms of the Thames. Among the results is growing biodiversity including a remarkable 125 different fish species recorded.
The Thames is a shining example of river improvement which is replicated throughout the country. Water companies have played a big part in catchment enhancement and restoration, not least through the Water for Wildlife initiative with the Wildlife Trusts.
But the most telling contribution to the revival of dead or dying rivers has been a step-change in wastewater treatment following decades of under-investment.
Of some £90 billion of capital investment since 1990 more than half has been targeted at wastewater management in a wide variety of major projects. The value of this investment to people and the environment is seen in 2009 river quality standards officially labelled 'best for a century'.
Water UK:
Rivers "cleanest for over a century"
Environment Agency:
River Thames wins world's largest environmental prize
For more information please contact:
Water UK Communication
020 7344 1809 (out of hours 07833 450544)
