Government’s water reform launch signals generational opportunity to review and reform water management

At a launch beside a murky River Thames, Environment Secretary Steve Reed OBE harked back to the Great Stink, Bazalgette’s pioneering London sewers and pledged a full review of water management. CIWEM policy director Alastair Chisholm welcomes the ambition, and urges government to ensure the review is independent and genuinely cross-government.

The Secretary of State - and the government with the Water (Special Measures) Bill - made it clear that future poor performance and pollution from water companies won’t be tolerated. “I can’t undo the failings of the past, but I can stop them from happening again” said Reed.

That comes in potential jail sentences for those who obstruct regulatory investigations and better cost recovery mechanisms for the Environment Agency for legal costs. In a lower burden of proof and automatic fines for more minor incidents. In cost recovery for the Environment Agency when taking forward investigations and enforcement. These and other measures in the Bill signal his ambition to end pollution for profit and repair a “broken water sector”.

This is a welcome statement of authority for government and its regulators that provides a foundation on which to review the wider sector, bear down on all sources of pollution and build the health and resilience of our rivers, lakes and seas.

Review

Beyond the eye-catching headlines, Reed’s announcement of a full review of water management - spanning water industry, agriculture, chemicals, highway pollution and more - is hugely welcome. And not confined to pollution, there was strong emphasis on water resource development alongside efficiency so there is enough water for people as well as nature.

More detail is to follow later in the autumn but the pledge to engage engineers, scientists, managers, conservationists, campaigners, farmers, infrastructure operators and the public both directly and through public consultation aligns with CIWEM’s calls in A Fresh Water Future and offers the opportunity for detailed consideration of what does and doesn’t work, with a commitment to further legislation if required.

Government – which has already announced it will take forward some measures recommended by the work – could do worse than using its wider recommendations and focus as a blueprint for the review.

This offers real hope of a serious approach to tackling the wide-ranging and complex challenges which plague our water. However, recalling the Great Stink and the transformative work of Sir Joseph Bazalgette in building London’s original sewer network, Reed emphasised that an equally ambitious programme was now needed to address contemporary water problems.

This review, when it comes, marks a landmark opportunity of the kind that may only come once in a generation. We have one shot at reviewing water and recovering our rivers and seas over the coming years. We have to get it right.

Independence and authority

So the authority and independence of this review is the next question. Its mandate must come from Number 10 and the Cabinet Office. Reed presented cleaning up our waters as an opportunity and enabler of growth. This hints at some wider-government understanding that a vibrant economy and society needs a healthy and resilient water environment.

It is of paramount importance then, that this review cuts right across the activities of all government departments. From Defra, through housing, transport, energy, health and more. It mustn’t be kept in a Defra-sized box, or it will fail to match Reed’s ambitious pitch.

Recognition of those who care

Reed paid thanks to those who have pushed in recent years for action on water.

Campaigners, citizen groups, professionals like CIWEM members and more. And in a welcome acknowledgement he thanked those who work in the water sector “because they care”.

That recognition – when many have felt abuse in the streets as they work on water pipes and other infrastructure – is a grown-up recognition of what thousands of committed professionals do in the water space.

Of course to deliver the improvements this government claims it wants to drive forward we will need many more such professionals, and Reed recognised this too. CIWEM’s growing policy-to-practice function will be supporting capacity building in a widening range of practice.

To those who heard Reed’s speech this morning it offers reassurance that the work of water professionals is recognised and valued, and their future may look a little brighter and more optimistic. At CIWEM we look forward to supporting government in achieving its ambitious goals. And holding them to what was pledged beside a rainy River Thames in September 2024.