24 Mar 2025

An independent commission set up to assess the potential for tidal range renewable projects in the Severn Estuary has reported its findings. The Severn Estuary Commission, funded by various organisations including The Crown Estate, rejected proposals for a large barrage across the estuary and said that governments should focus on supporting smaller projects to capture the […]

20 Mar 2025

A new report commissioned by RSA Insurance, an Intact company, and The Wildlife Trusts shows that every £1 invested in natural flood management (NFM) is expected to deliver £10 of benefits over 30 years. The report, Assessing the multiple benefits of Natural Flood Management, was released after it transpired that insurers paid out £585M in […]

20 Mar 2025

Last year, Professor Carolyn Roberts brought a landmark class action against six of England’s largest water companies for alleged breaches of environmental duties. The suit claimed the six defendants significantly under-reported pollution incidents, which allowed them to charge higher prices than would have been permitted if accurate reports had been made. This under-reporting was argued […]

20 Mar 2025

Thames Water was reported to have discharged 50% more sewage into England’s rivers last year, compared with the previous 12 months. In numbers, this rose from 196,414 hours of raw effluent in 2023 to 300,000 hours in 2024. The data was analysed by University College of London Professor Peter Hammond after Thames Water won approval […]

20 Mar 2025

Image description: offshore windfarm captured during sunset. Photo by Greece-China News/ Pexels   The Scottish Government and environment agency NatureScot have been urged to step in to protect freshwater pearl mussels before they become extinct, due to the threat posed by wind farm developments. Freshwater pearl mussels are critically endangered, and professor of aquatic systems […]

20 Mar 2025

A new study has revealed that a staggering majority of the world’s lakes have changed colour in the last 40 years. The research team analysed data sets containing 32 million satellite observations from over 67,000 lakes.   Photo description: Lake Bled surrounding Bled Island in Slovenia.The island has several buildings, the main one being the […]

20 Mar 2025

The government has announced reforms which it says will modernise “outdated” regulations around bathing water quality, and will “keep pace with Britain’s love of swimming”. The system for monitoring the more than 550 designated, outdoor, swimming sites in England and Wales will be updated for the first time since 2013 following a public consultation. The […]

20 Mar 2025

Water regulator Ofwat has concluded its investigation into Yorkshire Water, securing an enforcement package of £40m to be paid by the wastewater company. Their investigation found on average the firm discharged untreated wastewater into the region’s rivers for seven hours a day in 2023, with almost half its storm overflows found to be in breach […]