Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Acknowledged
Designation of stretches of river as bathing waters will help to drive coordinated action to...
Conclusion
Designation of stretches of river as bathing waters will help to drive coordinated action to improve water quality: but achieving rivers safe to swim in is only one aspect of securing an overall improvement in water quality. Designation of bathing waters must therefore go hand in hand with further measures to preserve and improve riverine biodiversity. (Paragraph 72) Agricultural pollution
Government response summary AI-generated
The Government agrees that minimum standards for mitigating water pollution from agriculture should evolve over time to improve water quality. They state they are already taking action to improve the effectiveness of the regulatory framework, referencing guidance on the Farming Rules for Water and the slurry infrastructure grant scheme.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The Government agrees that protecting public health through designating bathing waters, in particular rivers, should complement ecological status. We believe that measures to reduce bacterial load in the water to meet bathing water classifications should have a positive impact on ecology (for example reduction in spills from storm overflows and reduction in diffuse agricultural pollution; both of which lead to nutrient loading). As the committee’s report acknowledges, however, these are different targets and public health measures which are important to meet bathing water microbial standards (e.g. UV disinfection of treated waste water), do not necessarily improve the ecological health of rivers. For example, sewage effluent treated with UV disinfection for public health reasons can still contain high levels of phosphorus, which can damage habitats. Our aim is to restore good ecological status and river bathing designation may offer mutual benefits in achieving this in relevant locations.
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