15 February 2022
Professor Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading, said:
"I welcome this report which provides a scathing snapshot of the state of the water quality in England's rivers. I am appalled that we have reached a point where every single river in the country is considered dangerously polluted by chemicals.
"This report highlights the scale of the problem and makes a useful recommendation that the government, water companies and other agencies come together to take every action possible to clean up our dirty rivers.
"Fundamentally this is a question of long-term investment in infrastructure, which means spending cash. It is understandable that the committee isn't making this their number one priority, because asking the government for more money tends to lead to a dismissive wave from the Treasury. Collaboration is fine but will mean nothing without investment.
"We need to get real. This problem has arisen because of chronic, long-term under investment in sewers, water quality monitoring, and regulation. It will take billions of pounds over decades to fix, which society has to pay for. This is everyone's responsibility to solve.
"We can't just keep dumping the costs on nature, because it can only take so much punishment before it breaks, with dead rivers and water that kills. I don't want to live in that country."
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