Local projects across England will be able to clean up lakes and
rivers, protect communities from flooding and plant thousands of
trees, thanks to £11.5 million of government support.
The funding, which includes money from the Nature for Climate
Fund, will also unlock up to an extra £11.5 million from
organisations including the National Lottery, local rivers and
wildlife trusts or from private investment, bringing the total
possible investment to £23 million.
This uplift will be allocated to local catchment partnerships
through the Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF) supporting
180 local projects across England. Projects to be funded this
year include:
- The Limestone Becks River Restoration project in
Lincolnshire, which will provide improved habitats for wildlife
from water voles to invertebrates;
- Phase II of The York Urban Becks project, which aims to
create a more natural river course and support local habitats;
and
- The Woods for Devon project, creating woodlands to improve
water quality, support wildlife, and carbon capture.
Overall, the additional funding is expected to lead to an
additional 300km of English rivers being protected and improved.
It will also support the creation and restoration of around 160
hectares of inland and coastal waters.
Catchment partnerships take a collaborative approach to improving
river quality and enhancing biodiversity at a catchment level,
using local knowledge and expertise.
They bring together government, local authorities, landowners,
local eNGOs, regulators, farmers, academia, local businesses and
water companies.
Delivered by the Environment Agency, the Water Environment
Improvement Fund (WEIF) was established in 2016 and funds
projects that deliver on the government commitments set out in
the Plan for Water to ensure clean and plentiful water for the
future.
Water Minister MP said:
These local catchment partnerships do excellent work and I am
pleased that we are able to give this additional funding to help
deliver projects where rivers need it most.
It builds on recent measures to clean up our rivers including
consulting on a ban on water company bonuses, launching a new
Water Restoration Fund to reinvest water company fines and
penalties back into the water environment, and a fourfold
increase in Environment Agency inspections.
Chair of the Environment Agency Alan Lovell
said:
We welcome this uplift in funding for local projects across the
country which will help us work collaboratively with a range of
organisations and stakeholders to achieve our ambitions for the
water environment.
It builds on the steps we are taking to improve water quality and
protect the environment, including expanding our specialised
workforce and increase water company inspections this year, along
with our powers to levy uncapped penalties on those who pollute
our waterways.
CEO of The Rivers Trust Mark Lloyd said:
Increased funding is a very important ingredient in the recipe
for successfully restoring our rivers to good health and so this
is welcome news.
We are increasingly seeing the private and philanthropic sectors
getting involved to match this kind of funding which enables this
government support to go even further, enabling us to have a
greater positive impact in more places.
In recent years, the Fund has supported a number of projects
across the country. In 2021-22, £888,000 was given to the
Developing the Natural Aire project in Yorkshire to install fish
passes. It resulted in 50km of habitat being reconnected, 8,410
trees being planted and delivered 220 volunteer days and 123
community events.
The £11.5 million funding uplift is in addition to the existing
£3 million the Environment Agency has already been allocated for
this financial year for local project to improve water quality.
Today's announcement follows recent measures delivered to improve
the water environment, including:
- A new £11m Water Restoration
Fund to reinvest water company fines and penalties back
into the water environment.
- Requiring companies to monitor 100% of storm
overflows in England - providing a complete picture of when
and where sewage spills
happen.
- Removing the cap on civil
penalties for water companies and broadening their scope so
swifter action can be taken against those who pollute our
waterways.
- Requiring the largest infrastructure
programme in water company history - £60 billion over 25
years – to revamp ageing assets and reduce the number of sewage
spills by hundreds of thousands every
year.
- Increasing protections for coastal and estuarine
waters by expanding the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction
Plan, prioritising bathing waters, sites of special scientific
interest and shellfish waters.
- A targeted plan to
better preserve and protect the River Wye, including £35m in
funding.
- Speeding up the process of building key water supply
infrastructure, including more reservoirs and water transfer
schemes.
