A Fresh Water Future

A Fresh Water Future

In the UK, our freshwaters are under stress like never before. Pollution from farming, wastewater and sewage, and impermeable urban surfaces is precipitating a steady decline in our water’s health despite a raft of existing regulation aimed at protecting it.

On top of this, climate change is exacerbating these challenges through droughts, floods and extreme weather.

In 2024 A Fresh Water Future set out ten areas for government action to address this decline and recover health and resilience of our water resources and environment. There has been much scrutiny of the water sector since and in summer 2025 the Cunliffe Review reported, making 88 recommendations for action. A Water White Paper, regulatory strategic guidance and new water legislation will follow.

A Fresh Water Future's 2025 update summarises the scrutiny of the water sector this year, the recommendations of government's commissioned Corry and Cunliffe reviews, alongside the headlines from speakers at CIWEM's last A Fresh Water Future conference. It proposes where government must focus to achieve demonstrable progress by 2029.

The government must now publish a White Paper and associated regulatory updates which answer all this scrutiny. Otherwise, its pledges to recover the health of the UK's rivers and seas will fail and water-related pressures will hamper its growth and housing ambitions.

The government has heard enough. Now it must act with ambition. Will it?

A Fresh Water Future Conference 2025

On 02 December 2025 in London, in advance of government's Water White Paper, water management experts will gather to discuss and build consensus on how to effectively implement the scrutiny and recommendations over the past year and more.

This conference ran for the first time last year, quickly establishing as the leading forum for discussion on the way forward for water. Find out more and book your place via the link below.

A Fresh Water Future 2024

Enabled by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, A Fresh Water Future was an independent review of water sector performance and governance and a co-created expert, stakeholder and public vision for future water management in the UK.

The project engaged hundreds of water management experts and stakeholders, and approaching 5000 members of the public to understand their priorities for improvement.

Ten recommendations covered:

• The need for an independent review of water regulation and governance
• The need to reform water company governance in the face of rising public anger at performance levels
• The need to review the capacity and function of regulators to ensure they are able to ensure improved performance in the face of contemporary pressures
• The need to improve asset maintenance and the use of data to inform effective use of money
• The need to deliver effective catchment system management to manage water as a system
• The need to improve the management of agricultural activities to minimise their impact on water environments and support farmers to deliver outcomes for water, environment and society alongside food production
• The need to take a sponge cities approach to managing water in our urban environments, managing rainwater effectively where it falls
• The need to improve public awareness on the pressures on water and how they can act to reduce these pressures.

News and comment

News, commentary and positions from CIWEM on A Fresh Water Future

Perspectives on water management: Discussions with water sector leaders

Achieving a fresh water future will need ambitious change across the water sector. In a series of articles that will expand through 2023 we speak to a range of senior water leaders about the state of things, what needs to change and how.

Reports

Read our research reports on water management issues. These have been developed collaboratively with experts from academia, planning, local government, engineering, and water and environmental management.

River water quality and storm overflows: A systems approach to maximising improvement

This report considers how a systems approach encompassing a wide range of solutions and interventions will be necessary to effectively tackle sewage pollution from storm overflows.

Surface water management: A review of the opportunities and challenges

This report provides a review on the opportunities and challenges in delivering surface water management, especially as it’s the most common flood risk, yet it remains the Cinderella of flooding sources.

With flash flooding such as that which hit parts of England in May 2023 and London in July 2021 projected to become more prevalent as extreme weather occurs more frequently, the need to manage surface water flood risk is crucial.