Press statement: Independent Water Commission Report could lead to dramatic improvements for environment and public

The Independent Water Commission’s review of the water sector provides a very clear-eyed analysis of its key failings: lack of a systems approach; too many siloes and plans; lack of attention to polluters other than the water companies; short-term, blinkered planning; weak, confusing and conflicting regulations; poor strategic direction from government; too much focus on keeping customer bills low historically; and an absence of a clear pathway to delivery of plans.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive said: “Many people will have wanted this report to go further and for it to be allowed to consider nationalisation of the water industry. This is understandable. However, I believe that the recommendations in this comprehensive report, if implemented by government, would lead to a dramatic improvement in the water environment and far more cost-effective delivery. We applaud the Commission and Sir Jon on the report and urge government to implement the recommendations and to act as fast as possible to revive our rivers before they get worse.”

The report makes some excellent and wide-ranging recommendations, some of which we particularly want to highlight:

• Calls for increase in funding for Catchment Partnerships and the creation of new regional planning bodies, as part of a systems approach to managing water with clearer strategic direction from government.

• Demands that a clear path for delivery of plans is created to avoid plans being written but not delivering change.

• Greater clarity about the roles of regulators and regulations, with proposals for simplification of the framework in which water companies operate by integrating the water functions of several regulators into a single regulator.

• Recommendations for ending Operator-Self-Monitoring by water companies and improvements to monitoring water quality, including continuous monitoring and incorporating contributions from citizen science.

• Recognition that sewage pollution is only part of the problem, and that parallel action is required to tackle pollution from agriculture and highways.

• Recommendations for greater assessment of the health of, and investment in, water company assets and sensible changes to the ways in which these are assessed for cost benefit by regulators.

• Incorporation of public health in water standards as part of a review of national targets, but ensuring that there is no weakening of ambition.

• Calls for more nature-based solutions that have broader outcomes rather than hard-engineering approaches that only achieve one objective.

• Proposes new mechanisms for funding water treatment with extended producer responsibilities that could see chemicals and pharmaceutical companies paying to prevent their products polluting rivers.

• Recommendations for constraints on the business models of owners of water companies to prevent them prioritising short-term gain and profits, and creating a new public purpose for the industry.

Now that this landmark review is complete, the government must take urgent action to act on Sir Jon Cunliffe’s recommendations. For example, steps to improve regional governance can start right away through the existing structure of the Catchment Based Approach, and we can bring much-needed improvements to water monitoring by bringing together government, industry, and citizen science initiatives, as per the recommendations of the Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo). Let’s keep up this sense of urgency to start the vital process of reforming our stumbling water sector, and restoring trust in it.