Chair: Ali Morse, The Wildlife Trusts
Vice Chair: Tessa Wardley, The Rivers Trust, and Emily Smith, Angling Trust
Link: Ellie Ward, Principal Policy Officer
Link’s Blueprint for Water Group works on freshwater policy issues and current work prioritises environmental resilience, sustainable abstraction, water quality and agricultural pollution (through joint work with Link’s Agriculture group).
In November 2025, we published a briefing setting out our ambitions and priorities for the forthcoming Water White Paper and Water Reform Bill. To fix our broken water system and restore our waters to good health, the Bill must deliver in six key areas:
1. Creating a strong, independent environmental regulator.
2. Strengthening the Water Framework Directive’s coverage and ambition.
3. Rolling out a new system of effective regional governance.
4. Enforcing polluter pays requirements, including Extended Producer
Responsibility.
5. Make space for water, from source to sea, including wide corridors of riparian
habitat.
6. Placing public benefit at the heart of water company governance.
In October 2025, Blueprint members responded to Ofwat's consultation on promoting water efficiency in wholesale charges for business customers. We outlined our strong support for the removal of falling block-tariffs, and proposals to reform wholesale charging rules to improve water efficiency. It is essential that large business users are not rewarded for large water use, or incentivised to use water inefficiently. Blueprint members also responded to Ofwat's consultation on the customer involvement in company decision-making rule, reiterating that environmental performance, impacts, and outcomes must be within scope for consumer engagement and representation. Blueprint also responded to Ofwat's consultation on changes to Price Control Deliverables in PR24.
In August 2025, Blueprint members shared views on new environmental performance reporting for Water Only Companies. We strongly welcome the development of a reporting framework for Water Only Companies, and are broadly supportive of the proposed metrics for this new framework. However, we remain concerned that performance reporting is largely focused on water industry process, rather than environmental outcomes. We therefore suggest that the new reporting framework should include impact/outcome metrics - for example, relating to how waterbodies in a water company area have improved over time - in addition to metrics concerning compliance with regulation and good operation of the network. Blueprint members have also shared thoughts on Ofwat's draft Climate Change Principles paper.
In June 2025, the Independent Water Commission released an interim report; Blueprint for Water responded to welcome the direction of travel, but to note that several critical elements from the original call for evidence were missing. We called on the Commission to address these areas in the final report, including examining delivery and implementation at local scale, monitoring, natural resilience and climate adaptation, the role of small waterbodies and - crucially - setting principles for any future reform of the vitally important Water Framework Directive Regulations. Link's full press release can be read here. Blueprint also responded to a consultation on a new Water Resources Management Plan delivery metric under the Environmental Performance Assessment, and submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into water regulation.
In April 2025, Blueprint submitted evidence to the Independent Water Commission. This included a full response to the call for evidence questions, plus accompanying papers on the future of WFD, invasive non-native species, and the importance of small waters. We need a water system that delivers an improved water environment, not only through protecting but restoring and enhancing nature. To do so, it must be truly holistic in approach and outcomes-focused, enabling and prioritising action that will deliver the greatest environmental benefit.
In September 2024, we published our Blueprint for Water scorecard for PR24, 'Achieving Environmental Ambitions', assessing the environmental proposals set out in water companies’ business plans against the ambitions we set out in our ‘Environmental Manifesto for the Price Review’. There is significant investment planned through the Price Review, and this is necessary and welcome, but spend is not the same as environmental outcomes. Our analysis explores areas where the industry has demonstrated reasonable ambition, areas where ambition is lacking, and areas where it is hard to judge environmental commitment. We outline several areas for companies and regulators to take action to improve the environmental impact of this investment ahead of Final Determination, and looking towards PR29 - this includes through greater focus on environmental outcomes, and through greater use of nature-based solutions.
In August 2024, Blueprint wrote to the Prime Minister to call for penalties imposed by Ofwat to be ring fenced for environmental improvement. This follows an announcement that Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water will be fined £168 million due to ongoing illegal discharges of sewage. This money should be ring fenced for nature's recovery. Blueprint for Water also shared views on Ofwat's draft determinations for PR24. The uplift in environmental investment in PR24 is welcome, however, Ofwat and the water industry must take further steps to ensure this delivers the maximum possible benefits for nature. Further action needed includes increasing the use of nature-based solutions, and restoring 'phased' biodiversity-critical schemes to AMP8.
You can read Blueprint for Water's vision report here: 'Actions to Recover England's Waters and Wildlife'. This sets out our vision for the freshwater environment and our ‘how to’ strategy for bringing our freshwaters back to health, before it is too late, with recommendations under three key themes - Recover Biodiversity, Drive Down Pollution, and Re-think Our Relationship With Water.
For further information, contact Ellie Ward, Link’s Principal Policy Officer.
Last updated: 19 December 2025
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