Environment Agency secures record commitments from water sector - Environment Agency
The Environment Agency working closely with Natural England has secured the largest ever commitment from water companies to clean up the environment and invest in new infrastructure since privatisation.
The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) sets out over 24,000 actions water companies must take over the next five years to meet their legal requirements for the environment. This series of targeted interventions represents a £22.1bn investment in the environment - four times more than was secured in the last Price Review and will deliver tangible benefits for our water system and for customers.
As part of the PR24 process the Environment Agency assessed actions proposed by water companies and, alongside Ofwat and Natural England, provided technical guidance to make sure these actions will provide direct solutions to environmental pressures and help drive nature recovery.
The agreed actions will lead to improvements in water infrastructure to secure future supply, habitats and biodiversity and drinking water quality. For example, water companies have submitted plans to establish trials to remove nitrate, restore nationally important chalk streams, and install bespoke biosecurity measures to remove invasive species.
Further goals set out under WINEP include:
- Reducing the amount of water abstracted, leading to an estimated 60 million litres of water being retained in the environment every day,
- Protecting and enhancing of 13,500 km rivers,
- Upgrading 2,350 storm overflows leading to an estimated annual reduction of sewage spills by of 85,000 annually,
- Improving 21 newly designated bathing water sites across England,
- Reducing phosphorous inputs to the environment at over 800 sewage treatment works,
- Installing 3,500 monitors at emergency overflows sites.