Proposals to tackle the worst impacts of sewage pollution from storm overflows have been welcomed by South Shropshire MP, Philip Dunne.

The government has announced a consultation on a Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan, which outlines several measures to reduce the environmental impact of storm overflows, as required by law in the Environment Act which Mr Dunne pressed for last year. Under the proposed plan:

• By 2035, the environmental impacts of 3,000 storm overflows (75%) affecting our most important protected sites will have been eliminated;
• By 2035, there will be 70% fewer discharges into bathing waters – (using last year’s figures that would have equated to 4,620 fewer discharges into our bathing waters during the bathing season;)
• By 2040, approximately 160,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated (40% of the total); and by 2050, approximately 320,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated (80% of the total).
• The consultation outlines how water companies are expected to achieve these targets, including mapping their sewer networks, reducing surface water connections and engaging in long-term collaborative planning.

The consultation also outlines how those water companies who do not meet expectations will be held to account, including through a new monitoring and reporting framework, which was also legislated for in the Environment Act. This significantly improves the ability of both Ofwat and the Environment Agency to take enforcement action where needed.

Mr Dunne chairs the Environmental Audit Committee, who published a report on Water Quality in Rivers in January this year, with recommendations to government on how to improve river water quality. This latest announcement from government builds on some of the recommendations in that report.

Mr Dunne said:

“The Government’s announcement today represents a sea change in policy action around sewage. For far too long—as we emphasised in our report on Water Quality in Rivers—policymakers, water companies and regulators have all turned a blind eye to the awful and disgusting practice of discharging raw sewage into our waterways.

“I welcome this announcement today, which acknowledges many of the Committee’s recommendations, and we look forward to the full Government response to our report.

“With greater accountability and responsibility on water companies to clean up their act, there may now be light at the end of our Victorian pipe system. We are under no illusions that the scale of the challenge is significant, but when executives are paid handsomely and utility bills rising, consumers expect and demand more. There is simply no excuse for the substandard infrastructure and damaging practices which have such a negative impact on our rivers, especially during a climate and nature crisis.

“Headline after headline about atrocious sewage discharges have made us all angry. I encourage all who care about the health of our rivers to respond constructively to the Government’s consultation so that lasting and effective changes in policy and practice can be made.”

Today also saw the publication of the Environment Agency’s latest figures for how often and how long each monitored storm overflow discharged during 2021. Discharge figures for treatment plants in 2021 showed an 8% reduction in the number of discharges compared to 2020, from an increased number of treatment facilities monitored (from 80% to 89% of assets in England). This may be indicative of less rainfall in 2021 putting less pressure on the system, but still showed 372,533 discharges for over 2.6 million hours.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Dunne said:

“The 2021 statistics on sewage discharges published today shows that there has been a welcome reduction compared with 2020 data. This may be indicative of less rainfall in 2021 putting less pressure on the system. But regardless of how many sewage discharges there were, and continue to be, it is still far too high and unacceptable. It is precisely why this problem needs to be tackled and why I welcome today’s announcement of Government action to do so.”

More information on the consultation can be found at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/water-industry/storm-overflows-discharge-reduction-plan/