The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched his 10-year Clean Rivers and Waterways plan to transform London’s rivers, ridding them of pollution, making them safe and accessible for Londoners and ensuring nature and wildlife can thrive.

The plan will focus on ten key locations across London where the restoration of blue and green spaces can deliver the fastest and widest benefits for Londoners.

London’s rivers and waterways stretch across more than 600 kilometres of the city but have suffered decades of neglect and pollution. Five times more sewage flowed into London’s rivers in 2023 than the year before, with devastating consequences for wildlife.

Today, none of London’s rivers are assessed as being in “good” condition and the equivalent of 1.8 Olympic-sized swimming pools of sewage-polluted water is discharged into London’s rivers from misconnected properties every day.

A healthy river is one with “good” status under the EU Water Framework Directive. None of London’s rivers were assessed as being in good overall condition under this framework.

More than 50 partners including boroughs, water companies, charities and community groups were brought together by the Mayor to develop the Clean Rivers and Waterways plan for London - one of the world's most ambitious programmes to transform urban waterways.

Over the next decade, the Mayor and partners aim to:

• Stop sewage and pollution flowing into rivers
• Improve river health with regular testing
• Create and restore 550 hectares of waterway habitat and 80 kilometres of river, enabling nature to return and thrive
• Improve habitats for fish and other wildlife
• Reintroduce beavers and water voles in suitable locations
• Develop a new river walking route in London
• Where possible, deliver waterways that are clean and safe enough to swim in.

To help kick start the 10-year plan, which is backed by £1.8 billion from partners over five years, the Mayor has pledged an additional £2.7 million to support new blue and green restoration projects in the city over the next three years. This boosts the existing £13.55 million he has already pledged to transform the capital’s waterways.

£1.25 million funding will support two interconnected areas of green and blue spaces along the River Wandle and Grand Union Canal, and improve rivers in the Lower Lea, Royal Docks and Lower Roding. 

£1.48m for two world-leading, large-scale urban rewilding projects in Redbridge and Hillingdon, creating and restoring richer, nature-led landscapes that support wildlife, bring greener space closer to local communities, and help protect neighbourhoods from the impacts of climate change.

Ten locations across the city have been chosen to deliver fast, transformational change for millions of Londoners:

• River Brent catchment 
• Yeading Brook (Harrow, Hillingdon):
• Upper Lea Valley (Enfield, Haringey, Waltham Forest): 
• Lower Lea Valley and Royal Docks (Newham, Tower Hamlets): 
• Grand Union Canal (Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham):
• Salmons Brook and Pymmes Brook (Enfield): 
• River Roding (Newham, Barking and Dagenham): 
• Ravensbourne catchment (Croydon, Bromley, Lewisham): restoring habitats and improving access along the river, restoring sections of the river to its natural state, to reduce flood risk and improve biodiversity. 
• Wandle catchment (Croydon, Wandsworth, Sutton, Merton):
• Lower Crane Valley (Hounslow, Richmond):

The Clean Rivers and Waterways plan builds on the work the Mayor has already started through his £12 million Green Roots fund to improve blue and green spaces in London. This fund has supported community projects across the city including opening up 40km of new accessible riverside path along the River Crane.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

“London’s rivers and waterways are the lifeblood of the city but for too long, they have been neglected, polluted or cut off from the communities around them. Habitats that should support otters, kingfishers, water voles, fish and other wildlife have been damaged by sewage, road runoff, litter and decades of underinvestment. The impact has been felt by nature and by Londoners, particularly those communities that already experience the greatest environmental inequality.

“I firmly believe access to nature is an issue of social justice. Through this ambitious plan we will work with partners to tackle pollution, restore nature and open up new swimming and recreation opportunities, improving access to help Londoners enjoy and reconnect with their waterways.

“We will clean up London’s rivers in the same way we cleaned up our toxic air, bringing about lasting change as we work to build a greener, fairer city for everyone.”

Thames Water - proud to support the Mayor's Clean Rivers and Waterways plan

Tessa Fayers, Director of Wastewater and Bioresources at Thames Water, commented:

]"We are committed to helping waterways thrive and we are proud to support the Mayor's Clean Rivers and Waterways plan as it builds on the improvements we have already seen in London.

"The £7 billion London Tideway Tunnel, made up of the Thames Tideway and Lee tunnels, has now diverted more than 21 million tonnes of sewage away from the tidal Thames in less than two years, and ZSL's recent State of the Thames report spoke about a continued recovery of the tidal river.

"But there is so much more to do for the health of our waterways and no one organisation can do it alone, which is why the Mayor's plan is crucial and why Thames Water is delivering the biggest upgrade of its network in 150 years."

Charlie Wood, Environment Agency Director for London, said:

"We welcome the collaborative approach set out in the Clean Rivers and Waterways Plan, which is taking action to improve river health, restore wildlife habitats and create cleaner, healthier waterways for Londoners.

“Together with partners, we have improved more than 38km of river habitat over the last 10 years, regulated the delivery of treatment works and tunnel infrastructure, and supported nature-based solutions to reduce sewage pollution and improve water quality.

“Restoring London's rivers will take continued collective and decisive action. We must build on this momentum to deliver the transformational changes set out in the Plan for the benefit of people, nature and future generations."

Click here to download the Plan