Environment Agency secures record commitments from water sector
The EA, working closely with Natural England, has secured the largest ever environmental commitment from water companies since privatisation. 바카라 사이트�
The Environment Agency working closely with Natural England has secured the largest ever commitment from water companies to clean up the environment and invest in new infrastructure since privatisation. 바카라 사이트�
The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) sets out over 24,000 actions water companies must take over the next five years to meet their legal requirements for the environment. This series of targeted interventions represents a 拢22.1bn investment in the environment - four times more than was secured in the last Price Review바카라 사이트痑nd will deliver tangible benefits for our water system and for customers.聽
As part of the PR24 process the Environment Agency assessed actions proposed by water companies and, alongside바카라 사이트疧fwat and Natural England, provided technical guidance to make sure these actions will provide direct solutions to environmental pressures and help drive nature recovery.聽
The agreed actions will lead to improvements in water infrastructure to secure future supply, habitats and biodiversity and drinking water quality. For example, water companies have submitted plans to establish trials to remove nitrate, restore nationally important chalk streams, and install bespoke biosecurity measures to remove invasive species.聽聽
Further goals set out under WINEP include:바카라 사이트�
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Reducing the amount of water바카라 사이트痑bstracted, leading to an estimated 60 million litres of water being retained in the environment every day,聽
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Protecting and enhancing of 13,500 km rivers,바카라 사이트�
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Upgrading 2,350 storm overflows leading to an estimated annual reduction of sewage spills by of 85,000 annually,聽
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Improving 21 newly designated bathing water sites across England,聽
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Reducing phosphorous inputs to the environment at over 800 sewage treatment works,聽
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Installing 3,500 monitors at emergency overflows sites.
Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency said:聽
This unprecedented level of investment represents a vital step forward towards ensuring we have clean, safe, and abundant water now and for future generations.바카라 사이트�
Working with the water companies on this 拢22bn programme is a crucial way to realise the government바카라 사이트檚 goals of stimulating development and boosting economic growth, while ensuring the sector can meet its ambitious environment commitments.
We will work closely with Defra, Ofwat and other regulators to monitor water company progress and ensure they deliver what has been promised. If water companies fail to carry out their legal obligations to the environment, we will take action.바카라 사이트�바카라 사이트�
Steve Reed, Secretary of State for the Environment said:聽
It is no secret that our water system needs fixing and that our rivers, lakes and seas are choked by pollution.聽聽
Customers deserve the money they pay in bills to go towards improving the service they receive, and that is why the 바카라 사이트 will ringfence money earmarked for investment, so it can only be spent on projects like these.聽
We are also going further to fix our water system through the Water (Special Measures) Bill, by introducing new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring바카라 사이트痗riminal바카라 사이트痗harges against lawbreakers.바카라 사이트澛�
Natural England provides advice and guidance where water company activity may influence protected sites ,including Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), such as through water abstraction and discharges, and how this can be improved through the WINEP.바카라 사이트�
Marian Spain, Chief Executive of Natural England, said:聽
The scale of investment in the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) is a positive step towards delivering sustainable outcomes for the water environment, nature recovery, biodiversity improvement and sustainable growth.바카라 사이트�
Natural England will be working to maximise the opportunity of this significant investment, to get full value for money via integrated approaches and work with our partners including the Environment Agency, water companies and Defra to help deliver this ambitious programme.
Chris Walters, Senior Director, Price Review 2024 at Ofwat said:聽聽
We welcome the EA바카라 사이트檚 publication of the WINEP programme. In December we approved a record 拢104bn investment package, including over 拢22bn for WINEP.聽聽
This quadruples the investment of the last five years, providing water companies with an opportunity to turn around their environmental performance and regain customers바카라 사이트� trust by improving services.바카라 사이트�
We will monitor companies and hold them to account for their investment programmes so that they do this바카라 사이트�.
David Henderson, Chief Executive, Water UK said:
This programme will be the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment. It will help to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.
The Environment Agency and other regulators will drive water companies to embrace state-of-the-art technologies and groundbreaking innovations when delivering the actions set out under WINEP.聽聽
These collaborative efforts바카라 사이트痑re crucial to cutting pollution, managing water efficiency, and increasing resilience to climate change for the benefit of both nature and people. By doing so we and industry can stimulate development and support the 바카라 사이트바카라 사이트檚 objective of boosting economic growth.바카라 사이트�
The investment was secured through Ofwat바카라 사이트檚 final determinations announced in December and has been factored into upcoming changes to customer bills.聽
The WINEP data set will be published at 0800 on 29 January on