The Rivers Trust
Environment,  EXTRA,  FEATURES,  January 2025

The Rivers Trust: reflecting and looking ahead

Environment charity The Rivers Trust shares their hopes and goals for the year ahead, striving for “a proactive approach to our bathing waters that puts the health of communities and the environment first”

The reflection and looking ahead that accompanies the turn of the year can bring up mixed feelings. Alongside optimism, change can cause a lot of anxiety, but if nature teaches us anything, it’s that the only guarantee in life is change. As far as our environment is concerned, there is certainly a lot of change happening at the moment, including some affecting our rivers and, in turn, outdoor swimming communities.

In December, we submitted a response to a Defra consultation on Bathing Water regulations in England and Wales. The consultation was launched ahead of a report from the Office for Environmental Protection stating that the current legislation is out of step with the needs of today – a truth universally acknowledged.

What The Rivers Trust will continue to advocate for in 2025 and beyond is a proactive approach to our bathing waters that puts the health of communities and the environment first.

We want to see yet more inland bathing sites being designated, which starts with reopening the application process. Then, designation must represent the start of a collaborative process to create an action plan, focusing on solutions to bathing water quality issues and underpinned by specific time-bound measures and greater accountability on the responsible bodies to track progress.

If we view the regulation and management of our bathing water sites solely through the frame of barriers like the cost and feasibility of improvement, we will never achieve the ambition of leaving rivers in a better state for future generations than they are currently in. But if we view it through the frame of opportunity – to create a safer, healthier, and more nature-connected society, we might just have a chance.

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