£11m of water fines secured for river recovery projects

Nature groups have welcomed news that the £11m of water company fines due to be paid out in grants to local groups for river restoration last July under the Water Restoration Fund will now be awarded as planned, rather than funnelled into Treasury coffers as was feared. Defra confirmed that projects will begin this year, and focus on improving the water environment in the same regions where the fines and penalties were issued.

The Rivers Trust, which has been pursuing the promised funds since last autumn, was pleased at the news, and called on the Government to set out its plans for the fund in the longer term after Defra opted not to put the Water Restoration Fund on a statutory footing in the Water (Special Measures) Act.

A Rivers Trust statement said: “Not only do we, and other charities, want to see fines paid to the Environment Agency ring fenced for river restoration in this way, but we would also like to see Ofwat penalties and fines paid by other polluters added to the pot. This country’s precious streams, rivers and lakes are in dire need of billions of pounds of investment to restore natural habitats and improve our resilience to climate change and pollution. These funds would make a meaningful contribution to that effort, which is being delivered by a wide range of hard-pressed charities.

“The Water Restoration Fund would pay for removal of dams and weirs, re-wiggling rivers, re-naturalising riverbanks with trees, back waters and wetlands, fencing out livestock and a wide range of other projects that improve the resilience of ecosystems to flood, drought and pollution.”