The Trust is steadfast in its opposition to the discharge of sewage into our precious rivers and seas. Such practices have far-reaching, detrimental consequences for the environment and wildlife that depend on these delicate ecosystems, as well as posing a risk to human health and wellbeing.  

Once again during the past week, we have seen untreated sewage pouring into the Solent and its harbours, following heavy rainfall. These discharges have a direct harmful impact on our coastal water quality, affecting the marine environment and many of the habitats that support our resident and visiting wildlife, including our internationally important seagrass meadows. 

The risk to human health that these discharges bring also has a direct impact on the Trust’s conservation activities. As we work to restore our seagrass meadows to their historic levels (we have lost more than 90% of them in the past 100 years), it is particularly frustrating to have had to cancel a number of volunteer seagrass seed collecting sessions during the past week. Seed is only available to collect for a short period of time and our restoration efforts for the coming year have been significantly impacted. Our Seagrass Champion volunteers inspire us with their enthusiasm and dedication, and we could not achieve much of what we do without them, but we cannot put their health and safety at risk by working amid these sewage discharges.   

We understand that these discharges are permitted under certain conditions of extreme rainfall but this does not excuse the many discharges that have occurred outside of such conditions. The marine environment has been forced to absorb and process our mishandled waste for decades and has paid a high price. It is time for us to pay the marine environment back, with real investment and a revolution in thinking about how we process and discharge our waste water. 

In our commitment to rectify this issue and in addition to our hands-on conservation activities, the Trust works with water companies to encourage responsible wastewater management practices. Our dedicated policy team actively engages with politicians, Members of Parliament, and local councillors to elevate the importance of addressing sewage discharge and its far-reaching repercussions. We will persist in pressing water companies to halt the discharge of sewage into our rivers and seas, until tangible measures are undertaken.