The risk of flooding and water shortage in 2013 has increased because the Government is too slow in changing the way we manage our water, environmental leaders have warned.

The authors of the ‘Blueprint for Water’ report say that after two dry winters, it took Britain’s wettest ever summer to narrowly avert a serious drought. They warn that despite this summer’s flooding, another series of dry winters would put Britain right back under serious risk of drought.

The group of 16 leading environmental organisations, which includes Friends of the Earth, the Marine Conservation Society, the National Trust, the Rivers Trust, RSPB, Waterwise and WWF, has published a scorecard which measures the Government’s performance against the 10 steps to sustainable water by 2015.

While the scorecard commends the Government’s commitment to tackle unsustainable abstraction of water from rivers and wetlands, extend the use of metering at a fair price and to develop a catchment based approach to managing the water environment, it says a lack of actual progress on the ground or in legislation in many areas means the Government fails to score higher than a ‘C’ grade for any area of work .

The 2010 Blueprint for Water was launched in November 2010 and to monitor progress the Government is scored every two years on its progress. This year’s scores are as follows:

1. Waste less water: Progress has been patchy – C

• A lack of progress overall, despite ambition in the Water White Paper, Water for Life and elsewhere.
• Excellent progress on standards at an EU level for public sector procurement.

 2. Keep our rivers flowing and wetlands wet: Progress has been patchy – C

• The proposals set out in Water for Life are very welcome and we support Defra’s work on long term reforms.
• This should be complemented by inclusion of a timetable in the 2013 Water Bill.
• Alarmingly little progress on addressing current over-abstraction, with no clarity on how the Water for Life proposals will be implemented.

3. Price water fairly: Must try harder – D

• Critical lack of support for universal metering in Water for Life.
• Some recent progress on definitions of water stress.
• Only a few areas will achieve universal metering by 2015.

4. Make polluters pay: Must try harder – D

• The Catchment Restoration Fund has been established, but is not making polluters pay.
• Progress on the ambition for abstraction reform, but not sufficient to meet this target.
• Lack of progress on fines and enforcement, and cross-compliance.

5. Stop pollutants contaminating our water: Urgent action needed – E

• Poor progress on reducing levels of pollutants, with voluntary action not yet shown to work at the scale required.
• Poor progress on reducing pollution of water bodies from endocrine-disrupting chemicals and pesticides, which must be adequately dealt with in the water environment.

• Continued, disappointing delay in the enactment of regulations for implementing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).
• Little progress on colour coding to reduce misconnections.
• Insufficient commitment to
• real time monitoring and reporting of all Combined Sewer Overflows.

7. Support water-friendly farming: Progress has been patchy – C

• Agri-environment targeting has improved, but there is still scope for better delivery of environmental outcomes.
• Excellent progress on using modulation of CAP funds to protect wildlife and prevent pollution. Defra must ensure joined-up thinking on farming and sustainable land management in its CAP negotiations.

8. Clean up drainage from roads and buildings: Must try harder – D

• Lack of progress on both National Standards and retrofitting for SuDS.
• No roadmap for further action on SuDS.
• No clear narrative around the wider environmental and social benefits of SuDS.
• Patchy progress by Local Authorities.

9. Protect and restore catchments from source to sea: Progress has been patchy – C

• Good progress on the catchment-based approach and Nature Improvement Areas, which must contribute to a coherent ecological network.
• Poor progress on assessing the cumulative effects of river engineering.

• Progress on capital spending for flood risk management.
• Controls preventing floodplain development less certain, despite a coalition commitment to prevent unnecessary development.
• No progress on protecting vital peat soils, or on supporting climate adaptation along river corridors.