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Otters, eels and salmon to return to the Thames and Mersey.

The improvement has been achieved mainly through investment by water companies, tougher action on polluters, changing farming practices and thousands of local projects.  The Environment Agency also published ambitious new plans to revitalise and transform over 9,000 miles of river by 2015.

The Environment Agency has released its results on the state of rivers, which showed improvements in water quality.  Figures from the Environment Agency’s annual General Quality Assessment (GQA) show that seven out of 10 English rivers and nine out of 10 Welsh rivers, achieved ‘very good’ or ‘good’ status in terms of chemical and biological water quality in 2008.

This improvement in water quality has supported the recovery of wildlife once thought to have vanished forever in some areas:

• 50 years ago, no salmon were seen on the River Tyne, but already this year more than 10,000 have been recorded migrating up river
• Otters have this year been recorded in both Greater Manchester and the lower Thames for the first time in 40 years and after also  moving into Sussex this year, can now be found in every English county
• The River Hamble, in Hampshire, has a new fish pass which enables sea trout, lamprey and eels to swim upstream for the first time in hundreds of years. 
•  The River Mersey, once the most polluted river in Europe, is the cleanest it has been for a century.   Salmon have now returned to the river.

However,  a new European directive sets even higher quality standards for rivers using a wider range of measures than previously.  Under the Water Framework Directive 26% of rivers in England and Wales are now described as of good or high status. More needs to be done to meet these new water quality standards.  The Environment Agency announced that it would be working to revitalise and transform a further 9,000 miles of river by 2015.  .

This will mean continuing action from the water industry to tackle discharge from sewage treatment works and the removal of water from rivers.  It will also require action from farmers, to stop pollution from land getting into rivers, lakes and coastal areas.  Pollution from towns and cities will also need to be tackled if the improvements required by Europe are going to be delivered.

The plans set out how each of these will be tackled, to clean up rivers, lakes, estuaries and the coast. 
  
Dr Paul Leinster, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said: “Our rivers are at their cleanest for over a century, which is why we are seeing the return of otters, eels and salmon to the Thames, Mersey and Tyne.

“But we need to go even further to meet the new EU measures for water quality.  That is why we have announced plans to clean up 9,000 miles of river over the next five years.  Our strategy will tackle the pollution and obstructions that prevent wildlife returning to some areas and we will working with farmers, water companies and groups such as the RSPB to get the best deal for our environment.”

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn and Welsh Assembly Member Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing, will now comment on and when satisfied with the content will approve the plans, which include comments made during a six-month public consultation held earlier this year. The final plans will be published on 22 December 2009.

Further information

• For more information our rivers, lakes and the general water environment, visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wfd.  Annual results on the state of rivers in England and Wales: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/34383.aspx
• To arrange an interview please contact the Environment National Press Office 
• Media enquiries: 020 7863 8710 or outside normal office hours, please contact the National Duty Press Officer on 07798 882 092.