14 Feb 2024

The Environment Secretary has announced that water bosses are set to be banned from receiving bonuses if a company has committed serious criminal breaches. Ofwat will be taking forward a consultation to define the criteria for a ban. That could include successful prosecution for a Category 1 or 2 pollution incident – such as causing […]

14 Feb 2024

The EU Copernicus Climate Change Service says January 2024 was the warmest January in the ERA5 data record, going back to 1940. The global surface air temperature was 13.14°C, which is 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average for January and 0.12°C above the previous warmest January, in 2020. Taking into account the average of the last […]

14 Feb 2024

A Fresh Water Future describes how better water management requires a spatially relevant approach, involving all the relevant actors in a way that empowers them to be engaged and to act. While this is a fine aim, SuDS champion Jo Bradley debates whether we can ever achieve it?

14 Feb 2024

The government has announced funding awards to improve lowland peat soils, including over £1.3 million to projects across the North. Peatlands are the country’s largest terrestrial carbon store, however, as a result of centuries of drainage for agriculture, just 1% of England’s lowland peatlands remain in a near-natural state, and these drained peatlands account for […]

14 Feb 2024

A new report from the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform explores in the built environment sector. The built environment contributes to biodiversity loss, particularly through changes in land use, disturbance of water cycle, unsustainable sourcing of a wide array of building materials, pollution, and contributions to climate change. Recognizing these impacts, leading companies and financiers […]

14 Feb 2024

The ICE Handbook of Urban Drainage Practice. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, Urban Drainage Practice provides an overview of current key challenges, opportunities and future directions of urban drainage in a practical and accessible way. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, Urban Drainage Practice provides an overview of current key challenges, opportunities […]

14 Feb 2024

Interesting new research published in Nature-based Solutions Sitting in our own soup? Combined sewers, climate change and nature-based solutions for urban water management in Berlin Highlights Pollution impacts from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are increasing with climate change. Interest in measures of success for future responses accompanies growing awareness of impacts. Stakeholder interviews and literature […]

07 Feb 2024

A toxic mix of oil, chemicals and bits of tyre from roads is polluting English waterways and no-one is regularly monitoring it, the BBC has found. Heavy rain forces run-off into streams and rivers. Campaigners say it causes “absolutely horrific” damage in places, including just downstream of where The Great British Bake Off is filmed. […]