Nature charities call for Water Restoration Fund to be formalised in Water (Special Measures) Bill - The Rivers Trust

A coalition of water and nature-focused charities including The Wildlife Trusts, the Rivers Trust and Sustainability First have called on Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to formalise and strengthen the Water Restoration Fund in the upcoming Water (Special Measures) Bill.

The Water Restoration Fund was introduced by the previous Conservative government to ensure that Water Company fines pay for remedial work on rivers and their catchments. The money was to be distributed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

The funding application was heavily over-subscribed ahead of the June 2024 deadline. A decision was initially expected in July and then November, but as yet no outcome has been shared. After reaching out to the RPA directly, and with no reassurances on the fund, the charities are now increasingly concerned that the current Labour government may potentially be planning to discontinue the scheme.

The letter, sent today by Wildlife & Countryside Link and other environment organisations, urges the Environment Secretary to add an amendment to the government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill guaranteeing the future of the fund.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The Rivers Trust: “Environmental charities like us are too often paying out of our own pockets to clean up the mess left by polluters. The Water Restoration Fund is vital not just for generating further funding for environmental improvements, but because it is underpinned by the principle that polluters should be footing the bill. We are already fighting an uphill battle to restore our waterways to good health, and to abandon this fund would put this ambition in serious doubt.”