Paul Whitehouse- Our troubled rivers

Paul was quite hard hitting but did he miss a target?

Paul Whitehouse certainly didn’t pull any punches in his programs on river pollution in which he appears to lay the blame at the feet of the water companies, with a supporting role for farmers. However, in a way why would we be believe otherwise? The water companies are run by investment companies who are more interested in profit than in the quality of the water in our rivers.   Yorkshire Water, for instance, is owned by the Kelda Group which is in turn owned by:

• Government of Singapore investment Corporation (GIC SI, Singapore).
• Corsair Infrastructure Management
• Deutsch Asset Management (Germany)
• SAS Trustee Corporation (Australia)

On Corsair’s website they trumpet  “Our purpose is simple, to create value inclusive of financial returns on behalf of our investors and portfolio companies.”
 
So we can’t expect the water companies to have the health of our rivers at heart. The only way to  make them do the right thing is by regulation.
 
There are two bodies that regulate the water companies:

• The Office of Water Services (OFWAT). This body’s main interest is in regulating the economic interests of the consumer, ensuring the provision of cheap water both now and in the future. It has little influence on environmental matters and is more concerned with keeping charges down.
• The Environment Agency (EA). The EA’s aim is “to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole" with the "the objective of achieving sustainable development" ( Environment Act 1995). The Agency reports to and is funded by the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs.

 
One of the EA’s main regulatory duties is looking after our rivers. Unfortunately  the Government has cut its funding by 56% since 2010 (Independent 29/8/22).  Little surprise that the EA finds it increasingly difficult to monitor the quality of our rivers. We understand that in recent years the number of EA staff tasked with investigating pollution incidents on the Aire have dropped from ten to two which, inevitably, means less effective monitoring. That is two inspectors to cover the whole Aire catchment from Malham down to Goole!
 
So it’s possible Paul Whitehouse missed an opportunity to point the finger at another culprit rather than just the Water Companies – the Government.
 
But all is not lost, and in our next blog we will suggest ways in which we can do things locally to make a difference.

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