Summary
The Environment Agency’s (the Agency) plan to work towards new standards for England’s water bodies, including rivers, canals and lakes has not proved value for money after contribution of £8 million did not encourage significant improvement.
The report 'Tackling Diffuse Water Pollution in England: Environment Agency’ (HC 188) reviews the Agency’s agreement set out in 2000 to improve water quality over a 27 year period.
In 2009, only 26% of water bodies in England met the required levels of water quality under a more demanding classification system and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) predict that these levels will not have been applied to all water bodies by 2027.
In response to tackling diffuse pollution, The National Audit Office (NAO) examined whether the Agency:
- has a good understanding of the sources of diffuse pollution and the reasons why outlined standards are not currently being met, so that it can target its resourced at those responsible for the pollution;
- is raising awareness amongst polluters of the problem and of how changes in their behaviour can tackle this; and
- is making good use of incentives and sanctions to change the behaviour and practices of farmers.
The report found that although in recent years the Agency has gathered evidence on the causes and sources of diffuse pollution, work on this is incomplete. The Agency should improve their knowledge of the effects of diffuse pollution in order to decipher why standards are not being met.
Despite the Agency’s efforts to inform farmers of their responsibilities for diffuse pollution, the sector’s awareness remains low. The NAO recommend that the Agency develop a greater understanding of how to influence this sector; by demonstrating how reduced diffuse pollution can benefit them.
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