River Wear in Durham.
More than half (52 per cent) of people questioned would not swim in their local river because they think it is too polluted. That was the shocking finding from a survey carried out for the Blueprint for Water, a coalition of leading conservation groups.
The survey, carried out by ComRes, also found 97 per cent of people in England recognise that rivers, ponds, streams and lakes are a vital part of the countryside and 94 per cent of people often visit a stream, river or lake to relax or for leisure, but three-quarters feel that the water environment is at risk.
When asked, more that eight out of ten people agreed that the Government should be doing more to protect English lakes, streams, rivers and ponds, with pollution, over use of water, drought and climate change identified as some of the key threats.
Over the last two years the Blueprint for Water coalition has been urging the Government to take action to change the way we manage our water.
The coalition wants a country where we are less wasteful of our water; where we keep our rivers flowing, clean and healthy and our wetlands wet; where the water we use is priced fairly and polluters are made to pay; where our waste is properly treated and not washed straight into waterways. In 2006, coalition members handed ministers a 10-step plan for improving the water environment for people and wildlife by 2015.
The Blueprint for Water has published their third document ‘2009 the time to act’. This publication sets out water priorities for 2009 and states that although significant progress has been made in some areas of water policy, there has been little progress in others.
Paul Wilkinson, head of Living Landscapes for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Rivers, streams and waterways are the life lines of the country, but in many places this life is draining away. Our water environment is under pressure from pollution, development and over abstraction, but it doesn’t have to be this way. The Blueprint for Water sets out in stages how this situation can be rescued for the benefit of people and wildlife, and why Government needs to act – now.”
The coalition is calling upon the Government to make the most of the new legislation on floods and water expected this spring, as well as key decisions on water company investment and implementation of the Water Framework Directive, to protect water for the benefit of both people and wildlife across the UK.
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