July 2026
We’re all determined to see the UK Government deliver on its promise of ‘once in a generation’ reforms to fix the system.
For our new water laws to make a difference, we need a new approach that recognises the importance of all freshwater and marine habitats for England’s wildlife.
A new apex target for national water quality
The Clean Water Now campaign is calling for the Clean Water Bill to include a new apex target for national water quality – a clear, overarching goal that drives improvement across freshwater and marine habitats.
Encouragingly, Government has committed in the White Paper to ‘explore setting new ambitious targets for the water environment’.
To be effective, these new targets must be underpinned by a monitoring system that reflects the full diversity of England’s waters. They should include:
Protecting our waters from emerging pollutants
Current water quality monitoring focuses on a limited number of traditional pollutants and misses many harmful chemicals now known to affect both freshwater and marine life. To protect our waters from source to sea, we need a modernised system that tracks emerging pollutants like PFAS, aka ‘forever chemicals’ and microplastics across all waterbody types and pathways, from rivers, estuaries and coastal waters, to sewage discharges and road runoff.
Monitoring must also be aligned between freshwater and marine environments. Currently, PFAS is monitored more routinely in rivers than in coastal waters, despite clear impacts on marine wildlife, while upstream there is still no statutory environmental monitoring programme for plastics, even though they predominantly originate on land.
PFAS are known as 'forever chemicals' due to their highly persistent nature which causes them to accumulate in the environment and in wildlife, while microplastics are now found throughout the food chain, from plankton to seafood.
Without comprehensive, well-resourced monitoring, and full public access to the data, we can’t understand the true state of our waters or take effective action to restore them.
Ending the neglect of small waters
Habitats such as ponds, headwater streams and small wetlands make up around 75% of England’s freshwaters and support more than 70% of freshwater species. Yet they remain largely overlooked in official water monitoring.
Excluding these habitats from statutory monitoring and protection means ignoring the largest and most biodiverse part of the freshwater environment. If we’re serious about protecting nature, it’s essential to bring small waters into the statutory monitoring programme.
Ambitious targets for our most important waterbodies
Current legislation – set out in the Water Framework Regulations – sets a target of ‘good’ ecological status for most waterbodies. But ‘good’ isn’t good enough for our highest quality habitats.
‘High’ ecological status represents waters that are close to natural conditions. These are the habitats that support the richest plant and animal communities, including many rare and threatened species. Our most important sites should be managed with the ambition of achieving and maintaining this standard.
Protecting wildlife habitats starts with understanding the condition they’re in. A robust and comprehensive programme - monitoring all waterbody types from ponds to coastal waters – is essential.
If the Clean Water Bill is to truly deliver the ‘once in a generation’ change promised, it must encompass the whole water environment – from source to sea.
Latest Blog Posts