A coalition of nature groups has released an analysis of water company AMP8 business plans for the next five years showing that the water industry will spend just 2% of its total budget - 5% of the enhancement budget ( £2 billion) – on natural solutions.

Wildlife and Countryside Link is the largest environment and wildlife coalition in England, bringing together 86 organisations, including Rivers Trust, The Wildlife Trusts and Angling Trust.

The Blueprint for Water PR24 scorecard recognises much needed commitments and funding increases in many vital areas, but also shows gaps in water protections and spending that need to be filled.

Mark Lloyd, CEO, The Rivers Trust: said

“With public concern about the state of our waterways at an all-time high, and customer trust in the water industry at an all-time low, it is absolutely critical that we are given the tools to assess our water companies’ performance on the environment for ourselves.

“Blueprint’s PR24 Scorecard is such an important piece of work, setting out how the water companies’ draft business plans aim to deliver for nature and assessing them side-by-side. Customers deserve to know how their bills will be used to end sewage pollution incidents, cut water usage, and invest in nature-based solutions.

“The huge amount of data published by Blueprint is invaluable, however, the report is clear that we are still left largely in the dark about how water company investments will actually add up to improving the state of our rivers, lakes, and seas. This cannot continue and we will be calling on the industry, regulators, and government to be more transparent about how these plans will contribute to achieving our nature and climate targets.”

The campaigners are calling for much stricter fines for companies for serious pollution incidents over the next 5 years, with all fine funds paid into a Water Restoration Fund, a new ‘green duty’ for Ofwat, and for more prioritisation of sustainable ‘green infrastructure instead of grey infrastructure’.

Ali Morse, Water Policy Manager at The Wildlife Trusts and chair of Blueprint for Water commented:

"The water industry has a key role to play in the restoration of our rivers, lakes and seas, but for too long these precious places have been short-changed. If companies are to rebuild public trust, they must do far more to stop pollution and conserve dwindling water levels in fragile chalk streams, playing their part in meeting Government’s legally-binding environmental targets.

“The coming five-year period is a critical one for nature’s recovery, so we need companies to step up their plans. This includes working with regulators to ensure more investment in the natural solutions that we know are a truly effective way of cleaning up our waters.” 

Ofwat has told water companies that over the next 5 years they can spend £35 billion on ‘enhancements’ relating to pollution, water quality, climate change resilience and customer service. [This is triple the level of investment in the previous 5 years and includes £10 billion to reduce harm from storm overflows and £545 million on reducing leakage through smart technologies and better data. This is backed up by commitments from almost all companies to achieve zero serious pollution incidents by 2030.

Disappointed to see spills from Storm Overflows to still affect 38% of bathing waters and 53% of protected nature areas by 2030

However, the environmental NGOs say that despite the welcome increase in investment and commitments, they are disappointed to see that under the plans, spills from Storm Overflows will still affect 38% of bathing waters and 53% of protected nature areas by 2030. The charities are also concerned that little is being spent on natural infrastructure, saying that the company plans and Ofwat’s draft decisions show companies are relying heavily on expensive concrete infrastructure investment to tackle pollution, water quality and resilience.

Dr Emily Smith, Environment Manager at Angling Trust said:

“We welcome the significant uplift in environmental expenditure that is being proposed by water companies for 2025-2030. This will go some way to tackle the urgent need to rectify years of underinvestment that has contributed to the severe decline in our rivers, lakes and seas. However, whilst it was great to see the spending being proposed and to see the ambition in some areas, it was still lacking in others, particularly the limited spending on natural solutions. It was also hard to see what this spending will actually deliver on the ground. Before final determinations, there needs to be a clearer indication of what this spending will translate to in terms of environmental improvements and outcomes.”

Scorecard shows water industry to spend just 2% of its total budget on natural solutions

Image: Scorecard summary of key water industry draft spending commitments

According to the PR24 Scorecard, under Ofwat’s draft decisions the water industry will spend just 2% of its total budget - 5% of the enhancement budget ( £2 billion) – on natural solutions. For example, to improve water storage capacity at Wastewater Treatment Works and Storm Overflows to prevent spills, some companies plan to spend nothing on natural solutions, whilst others show more ambition, proposing that almost a third of their spend in this area will be on green solutions.

The nature groups say research has shown that nature-based infrastructure can be up to 50% cheaper and can provide 28% better value for money than traditional ‘grey’ infrastructure. Measures, like the creation of reedbeds and wetlands, can help tackle pollution, water quality, flooding and drought, and can be more cost-effective and long-lasting than concrete and chemical solutions – which could help reduce customer bills in the long-term. They also deliver huge additional benefits - creating new habitat for wildlife, carbon capturing, and providing quality natural spaces for communities to use.

Ellie Ward, Senior Policy Officer at Wildlife and Countryside Link, said:

“From flooding our rivers with sewage to leaky pipes wasting billions of litres of water, the industry’s actions have hurt the environment. Poor practices have caused untold harm to our rivers and wildlife, contributing to declines in iconic species like the Atlantic salmon, otters and mayflies.

“Water companies must pay for the pollution they have caused and get our waterways back on track – as homes for wildlife and places where we can relax and keep healthy. These business plans still fall short on the action rivers, lakes, streams and coastlines need. The Government’s upcoming review of the water sector must help remedy this through tougher monitoring and enforcement, ringfencing fines for nature recovery to ensure water polluters really do pay, and accelerating the use of nature-based solutions to meet environmental targets.”

Scorecard - plans show lack of help for households to cut water use

Another area of disappointment in water industry plans is a lack of help for households to cut their water use from multiple companies, a key part of ensuring waterways aren’t subjected to excessive loss of water.

Anglian Water, Wessex Water, Yorkshire Water and Southern Water are proposing very low reduction targets for household consumption. In contrast, South West Water is proposing a reduction of nearly 13% by 2030, and Northumbrian Water a reduction of nearly 15%. However, Blueprint for Water cautions that the figures alone can be misleading; as companies that failed to take action in the past have more scope now to deliver an impressive improvement.

Thousands of environmental campaigners are expected to take to the streets this Autumn to protest about the state of the UK’s waters in the March for Clean Water. Campaigners have welcomed the recent announcement from Steve Reed MP of a water sector review but warned that it must be done rapidly so it can inform forthcoming legislation on water reform and work alongside business plans. They argue the review must introduce rules to make polluting big businesses pay to clean up the environment – with heftier pollution fines specifically used on action for nature. It must also give more power and support to regulators such as Ofwat so that water companies are held to much higher standards, with appropriate action taken on those who don’t meet them.

The regulator has given draft approval to water company business plans and budget and will approve final plans by the end of the year. [4] Ahead of this final approval nature groups are calling for key actions to restore the country’s waterways, including:

• A Green Duty on Ofwat (and all public bodies) to give the regulator a duty to contribute to delivery of nature and climate targets. This would drive action and spending into restoring our waterways and progress towards the Government's nature targets.
• Government to issue clear stronger direction to boost the uptake of natural solutions including reedbeds and wetlands to help clean up our waters and provide more habitats for nature. Ofwat and The Environment Agency must work together to increase use of these by water companies.
• Targets to ensure there are no serious pollution incidents by 2030 – and ring-fencing of any related fines to restore nature damaged by water industry practices
• An end to the removal of too much water from our waterways, which is destroying chalk streams.
• Each water company to provide a summary of the outcomes that their business plan will deliver for the environment.

Click here to download the Blueprint for Water PR24 Scorecard