The Environment Agency has today (6 August) published the latest quality classifications of water bodies in England.
New data to drive action to improve England's rivers and lakes - GOV.UK
In response to this update, Helen Venn, OEP Chief Regulatory Officer, said: “The latest update on the condition of water bodies under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Regulations released today is very worrying given the already poor state of our country’s precious waterways.
“This is why we have an open investigation because it is our view that Defra and the Environment Agency are failing to comply with environmental law and these failures are leading to a continued failure to improve water quality.
“While there is an understandable focus in government on longer-term reform of the water sector, there is an urgent need for action now to better protect and improve water quality, alongside those forward-looking plans.
“The WFD Regulations require plans to be in place for individual water bodies. These plans define the environmental objectives for each water body, and should set out the measures that will be implemented to achieve them. When we looked in detail at these plans, however, we found they didn’t address specific issues at individual sites. We continue to engage with Defra and the EA in relation to the action they are taking to ensure compliance with the law, are also considering our next steps, which could include further enforcement action.”
The latest update on our on-going investigation into compliance with the WFD regulations by the EA and Defra can be found here: OEP confirms possible failures to comply with key laws in place to protect and improve water quality | Office for Environmental Protection
