UK River Report #8: Small Wins and Thames Water Sins, as Much Needed Change Must Begin

Welcome back dear reader to the eighth installment of the UK River Report. Unfortunately, I must confess that this month's post will be shorter than usual, due to university exams claiming much of my time and energy. Instead, I have been able to collate a series of recent news and updates into a brief synopsis for you to peruse at your leisure.

A small win for England's largest lake:

After many months, the Environment Agency has finally heeded the advice of Save Windermere campaigners and moved its previously ineffective monitor at Cunsey Beck to where it will be able to detect outflows from the nearby sewage pipe [1]. This should not have taken as long as it did and with the Environment Agency insisting on carrying out its own tests, continuing to question the work of Save Windermere, if the government was truly committed to its pledge to England's largest lake and 'work with local partners', there ought to be a greater level of trust and respect toward those who care about its future most [2, 3].

Retention scheme rebuke:

Despite its £20 billion worth of debt, having been kept afloat by a £3 billion emergency loan, it still required the government releasing a statement warning that 'rewarding themselves for failure is clearly not acceptable' for Thames Water to pause planned bonuses to their exec worth £1 million, on top of their already excessive annual salary [4]. Given the evident priorities of Thames Water, it seems appropriate the company has since been fined a record £122.7 million over breaches relating to sewage spills and shareholder payouts, with confirmation that this will be paid by the company and its investors, not customers [5].

Combined sewer solution:

Returning to Geoff and the Great Ouse, he wrote to me with confirmation from Anglian Water regarding the severe contribution of surface water toward combined sewer overflows and the need to promote sustainable drainage solutions. Despite the separation of surface and wastewater drainage arguably the only viable solution to this crisis, with millions of homes still connected to combined sewers, neither the government or water companies are yet to take the initiative [6].

Reservoir requirement:

Leading on from what Geoff has argued from the start, any shift away from combined must be supported with the construction of new dams and reservoirs, to help limit flooding and maintain ample water supplies for when required. The very dry spring we have had may have helped the government realise this pressing issue, with a real risk of drinking water shortages in England in the next decade without the construction of new reservoirs [7].

Thank you for taking the time to read this month's issue of the UK River Report. I hope you found it informative. If you would like to get involved and raise awareness of river pollution in your area, please head over to the UK River Report website and check under the 'Get Involved' page to complete our survey, or feel free to get in touch via the 'Contact' page, if you feel you have more to discuss than the survey can offer. 

With hope for the future,

Federico 

References:

1. Save Windermere. Dye River Dye: Exposing Monitoring Failures on Cunsey Beck in the Windermere Catchment. Save Windermere; 2025. [cited 2025 May 26]. Available from:

https://www.savewindermere.com/blog/dye-river-dye?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=681a1af16fb32f03b6f1932c&ss_email_id=681f15a7052af10038cc7082&ss_campaign_name=EA+Backs+Down%3A+SONDE+Monitor+Moved+After+Save+Windermere+Pressure&ss_campaign_sent_date=2025-05-10T09%3A01%3A08Z

2. Murugesu JA. Water Quality Monitors Moved After Activist Tests. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 May 27]. Available from:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0m9mz472jeo

3. Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, Reed S. Government Ambition to End Sewage Discharges Into Windermere. GOV.UK; 2025. [cited 2025 May 27]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-ambition-to-end-sewage-discharges-into-windermere

4. Race M. Thames Water Halts Bosses' Bonus Scheme. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 May 28]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g3300yyyno

5. Sri-Pathma V, Labiak M. Thames Water Fined £122.7m in Biggest Ever Penalty. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 May 29]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgeg5vy9q8eo

6. JDP. Does Your House Have the Right Drain Connections? JDP; 2021. [cited 2025 May 30]. Available from: https://www.jdpipes.co.uk/knowledge/underground-sewer/does-your-house-have-the-right-drain-connections.html

7. Poynting M. Drinking Water Shortage in Decade Without New Reservoirs, Minister Says. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 May 30]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8dv6l2jlzo