Britain’s rivers will not be left to go to ruin after Brexit, says EA

A NATIONAL newspaper has been slammed by the Environment Agency for printing an ‘inaccurate and misleading’ story claiming that EA chief Sir James Bevan has endorsed a proposal to reduce cleanliness standards on our rivers following Brexit.

The story appeared on The Guardian’s website two weeks ago, and has been doing the rounds on social media, causing outrage. Now, though, the EA has issued a direct response, stating that no such proposal has been endorsed. According to the EA, in Sir James’ ‘In Praise of Red Tape’ speech on environmental regulation, he merely suggested that the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) could be changed to give a better measure of the health of Britain’s rivers.

“To claim that Sir James argued to weaken laws on the cleanliness of polluted rivers, as The Guardian reported, is completely false,” said a spokesperson.
“Sir James’ speech instead praised the WFD, but highlighted areas in which it can be altered once we’ve left the EU to better suit our rivers.”

Post-Brexit we take back control of our rivers and use our resources for better environmental outcomes

He added:

“There are four categories in the directive that a river must meet to pass, and these revolve around bringing it back to its natural state. If it fails one, it fails entirely. As a result, only 14 per cent of rivers in Britain qualify for good status under the WFD, but in reality, they’re at their cleanest since the Industrial Revolution.
“The problem is, many of our rivers can never meet the criteria – for example, those in urban areas that cannot return to their natural state. As a result, resources and time are wasted trying to meet criteria on the WFD, which could be used in better ways.”

In essence, what Sir James is saying is that post-Brexit we take back control of our rivers and use our resources for better environmental outcomes, rather than try to meet criteria that don’t give an accurate reflection of their health.

What is the WFD?

Adopted in 2000, the Water Framework Directive established a new integrated approach among EU states towards the protection of the water environment.

It requires the improvement of all aspects of this environment, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater. Member states are required to implement management planning at river basin level, linking with other areas such as agriculture, land use, biodiversity, tourism, recreation and flood protection.

Britain will no longer be a member of the EU once the Brexit transition period comes to an end on December 31.