Salmon and Trout Association: Blueprint for Water

Blueprint Coalition

The EU’s Water Framework Directive says we must restore the ecology of Europe’s rivers, lakes and wetlands by 2015, with member states’ plans in place by 2009.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

The Blueprint for Water team was a coalition of leading environmental organisations, including the Salmon & Trout Association and representing more than six million people in total, is calling on the Government to act now to give the water of England and Wales a future. Since 2007, the Blueprint for Water coalition has operated with Wildlife & Countryside Link, an umbrella Organisation of nearly 40 environmental organisations with a joint membership in excess of 8 million people (for more details visit; http://www.wcl.org.uk). S&TA is an Associate member of Link, and is eligible to apply for full membership in July 2009. We remain a fully active member of the Blueprint team.

Blueprint for Water

Water is our most precious natural resource. It is vital to people’s health and happiness, it is vital for wildlife and vital to our economy.

Our water environment is in crisis. Providing enough clean, safe water is becoming ever more difficult and expensive, and climate change is increasing the challenge. Our rivers are under pressure from pollution and abstraction, while most of our wetlands have been lost to drainage.

It need not be this way. The Blueprint for Water offers an alternative. An alternative where we are less wasteful of our water; where we keep our rivers flowing, clean and healthy and our wetlands wet. Where the water we use is priced fairly and those who pollute it are made to pay; where our waste is properly treated and not washed straight into waterways.

The Government has made a commitment to meet the objectives of the Water Framework Directive, which says the ecology of our waters must be restored to health by 2015. This Blueprint sets out the steps needed to meet this target.

10 steps to sustainable water by 2015

Waste Less water
Reduce water consumption by at least 20%, through more efficient use in homes, buildings and businesses

Keep our rivers flowing and wetlands wet
Amend or revoke those abstraction licences that damage rivers, lakes and wetlands

Price water fairly
Make household water bills reflect the amount of water people use

Make polluters pay
Ensure that those who damage the water environment bear the costs through more effective law enforcement and tougher penalties

Stop pollutants contaminating our water
Introduce targeted regulations to reduce harmful pollutants in water

Keep sewage out of homes and rivers and off beaches
Upgrade the sewage system to reduce discharges of sewage into urban environments and ecologically sensitive areas

Support water-friendly farming
Help farmers to prevent pollution and restore degraded soils, rivers and wetlands through advice, training and payments

Clean up drainage from roads and buildings
Construct modern drainage systems that prevent pollution entering rivers from buildings and roads

Restore rivers from source to sea
Regenerate rivers, lakes and wetlands in partnership with local communities

Retain water on floodplains and wetlands
Restore large areas of wetland and floodplain to create vital wildlife habitats, improve water quality and quantity, and reduce urban flooding

For full Blueprint for Water, click here…

One Year Review…

Blueprint for Water 2007 Review: 2008 a year of opportunity:
In November 2006, a coalition of leading environmental organisations, including the S&TA, launched the Blueprint for Water, which listed 10 steps to achieve sustainable water by 2015. However, despite this, 2007 will be remembered as a terrible year for water management, following the devastating summer floods, which resulted in a third of a million people without drinking water, thousands of people homeless and more than £2 billion worth of damage.

A year on from its initial launch, the Blueprint for Water Review, now under the banner of Wildlife & Countryside Link, was produced to highlight, in the form of a report card, the Government’s progress in achieving the 10 objectives. Overall progress in 2007 has been limited and there is a great need for the Government to try harder and act more urgently to preserve our water ecosystems.

We urge the Government to use this information to drive forward sustainable water management in the coming year, as this report card clearly shows they are currently underachieving.

Subject	Grade	Comment
Waste less water;	B Good work in many areas	• Excellent progress on Code for Sustainable Homes • Excellent progress on making Building Regulations more water efficient • Little progress on retrofitting existing housing • Greater promotion and awareness needed
Keep rivers flowing and wetlands wet	C Progress has been patchy	• First steps made to tackle problem abstractions through Periodic Review of Water Prices and abstraction charging scheme • Little practical progress
Price water fairly	B Good work in many areas	• Good progress on allowing compulsory metering in water-stressed areas • Media reports of Government commitment to full metering by 2015 welcomed
Make polluters pay	E Urgent action needed	• No progress • Series of derisory fines for serious pollution incidents • Reduction in EA investigation effort
Stop pollutants contaminating our water	D Must try harder	• Consultation on tackling diffuse agricultural pollution take place • No progress on phasing out sheep dip • Questions over political will to take action
Keep sewage out of homes and rivers and off beaches	D Must try harder	• Expensive work to tackle sewer flooding, but not enough to fix fundamental problems with much of our urban drainage infrastructure
Support water-friendly farming	D Must try harder	• Future of Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme still not secure • Extra pressure on water quality likely from loss of set-aside • Government proposals for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones fall short of 100% designation
Clean up drainage from roads and buildings	D Must try harder	• Defra’s Integrated Urban Drainage pilot projects have started • Consultation on reform promised early 2008 • No progress on removing barriers to widespread use of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
Restore rivers from source to sea	E Urgent action needed	• Little if any practical progress • Most of this done by local groups with commitment from EA and Natural England • Plans for SSSI river restoration on hold due to lack of funding • No clear way forward for action required to meet WFD objectives
Retain water on floodplains and wetlands	E Urgent action needed	• Little if any progress, despite Government’s ‘Making Space for Water’ commitment to sustainable flood risk management

For full Blueprint One Year Review, click here…

Blueprint for Water; The Time to Act- The challenge now for 2009 is to turn words into action.

2009 is a year of opportunity, but also of tough decisions for freshwater policy. This year will see the completion of the 2009 water industry Price Review, the River Basin Management Plans, a draft Floods and Water Bill, and the finalisation of the Cave and Walker reviews into the future of the water industry. The outcomes will have a lasting impact on the future of our water and wetland environment, and on our wellbeing.

2009: the time to act is our latest report, which sets out our priorities for 2009. Our recently completed public opinion poll has shown that people do really care about water. The challenge for 2009 is to turn words into action.

Blueprint for Water; Time to Act

Blueprint opinion poll press release