Important Defra consultation and other UK bathing water quality issues

Posted on April 6, 2022 Updated on April 6, 2022

1. Defra have launched a 6-week consultation on Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan for England closing 12 May 22. It is headline as a purely rivers issue but it isn’t, it directly and/or indirectly effects coastal waters and has resonance for bathing water and river quality across the UK . The consultation has been posted under the consultations page of the UKBMF website which can be accessed directly at: https://ukbeachmanagementforum.wordpress.com/consultation/consultation-on-the-governments-storm-overflows-discharge-reduction-plan-england-closing-12-may-22/

2. The Times recently carried yet another article on bathing water and specifically riverine issues quoting the work of the Rivers Trust and other campaign groups which it is suggested may be looking to use designation as a potential tool to forces greater priority for improvement at certain “popular” bathing sites. The article may be wrong in its description of the intent but I am personally concerned that is their intent then the possible outcome of using the current bathing water classification system to achieve it might be an own goal?

Designating a river that might or will consistently fail to achieve the minimum water quality is likely to result in de designation and the posting of permanent advise against swimming, long before any guaranteed agreement on investment is won via the ponderous 5-yearly cycle of water company investment planning. I do wonder whether the campaign groups involved have had access to advise from seasoned practitioner in bathing water management? And in turn whether that is a role that UKBMF might wish to investigate and critically that members would be willing to occasionally give some time to? By default UKBMF was formed from and remained a coastal grouping. Clearly times are changing and if nothing else water quality and issue around safety and land based facilities are likely to be common to both inland and coastal interests. I am minded to be proactive now, rather than reactive later, but it is not my decision to make. Views please.

3. Annual membership of UKBMF is again slipping very slightly, primarily because of inevitable loss of the odd member due to things like retirements or local reorganisation and there has been little or no compensating recruitment in the last couple of difficult years. If you value what you get for your modest £100 subscription per organisation, then please consider asking colleagues locally and sub regionally, regionally whether they too should consider join our happy little band of beach and bathing waters management professionals. You know who they are, I don’t. If it is for recruitment purpose then please do feel free to share any and all posts with colleagues outside your organisation who have common interests in matters beach and bathing water related. Alternatively, please provide contact detail for likeminded folk I might then be able to follow up on.