With serious pollution incidents up 60% and the driest spring in more than 100 years, the Final Report of the Independent Water Commission - known as the Cunliffe Report - comes at a critical moment in which reform of the water sector is urgently needed. 

With over 80 recommendations to Government, does the Report go far enough to address the mounting pressures facing our waterways?

National Water Strategy: 

We welcome the recommendation for a new, long-term National Water Strategy. Such a Strategy will be critical to navigating the compounding pressures on England’s rivers, which are likely to only grow more severe with drier weather, development pressures and nature depletion.  

Earlier this year, we wrote to the government alongside 215 local councillors to call for the urgent release of the shelved Chalk Stream Recovery Pack, a national strategy for chalk streams. As a new National Water Strategy comes forward, the Government must recognise the unique pressures faced by chalk streams, Britain’s rarest rivers, and the vital need for catchment-scale recovery. 

Comprehensive Planning Framework: 

The recommendation to create Regional Water Authorities is a critical step forward in empowering local communities to have their voice heard, boosting accountability in the planning process and delivering at a catchment level. We urge the Government to move quickly in establishing these Authorities, while ensuring they receive adequate funding and powers to deliver planning and monitoring objectives.  

This should be delivered in tandem with a key amendment to Clause 52 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which would place responsibility on Strategic Planning Authorities for the protection and enhancement of chalk streams.  

The Report also recommends a review of the ‘Right to Connect,’ which requires water companies to connect new developments to the water system, regardless of infrastructure capacity or abstraction pressures. On the River Itchen and Test, Atlantic salmon which face extinction are put at further risk by over-abstraction in drought conditions. With high mandatory housing targets introduced across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the demand for finite and already stressed water resources will continue to soar – with nature paying the price. This Right must be urgently reviewed, to reflect the true state of our rivers, which are routinely subject to over-abstraction to the detriment of wildlife.  

Regulator Reform: 

The report recommends the creation of a new regulator in England, merging the functions of Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the water functions of the Environment Agency and Natural England. With the UK as one of the world’s most nature depleted countries, nature protection must be the overarching priority. 

To deliver a genuinely powerful environmental regulator, the Government must address fundamental issues of resourcing, funding and remit – or risk simply transferring existing shortcomings to a new regulatory body. 

Setting new targets: 

A review of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as recommended in the Report, must be undertaken to set new legally binding targets for the water environment. We urge the Government to adopt ambitious environmental targets, underpinned by robust delivery plans and held accountable to interim targets. The existing ‘one-out-all-out’ principle must be retained – as without this principle, rivers risk being assessed as ‘good’ overall, despite failure in other aspects (e.g. chemical pollution). 

The Report also recommends that WFD targets are expanded in scope to incorporate public health and amenity value. Whilst this reflects the deep interconnectedness between rivers and their surrounding communities, any measures introduced must maintain robust protections for the water environment to deliver a true ‘win-win’. 

Want to get involved? 

To speak up for nature, write to your MP and tell them why your local river or chalk stream matters to you. Ask them to: 

• Urge the Government to publish a national strategy for chalk streams, and
• Support the chalk stream amendment to Clause 52 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, when it returns to the House of Commons.