Outlining a multi-layered strategy to address river pollution

With the state of the Rivers Itchen and Test high on Southampton residents minds, there is sincere interest to the response of the government to the recent UK petition to: Provide funding for a nationwide, nature-rich river corridor network.

The UK Government responded to Petition 727016 on January 14, 2026, outlining a multi-layered strategy to address river pollution through infrastructure investment, stricter regulation, and nature-based solutions.

Action Taken: The Government passed the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, which introduced immediate penalties for polluters and banned performance bonuses for water company executives while pollution targets remain unmet. As of early 2026, it is now a mandatory legal requirement for water companies to publish Pollution Incident Reduction Plans (PIRPs). These plans force transparency on how companies identify and respond to sewage leaks. Additionally, the Water Restoration Fund has been utilised to reinvest fines from water companies back into local environmental projects.

Future Actions: The Government has committed to a £104 billion private investment program over the next five years to upgrade aging sewage infrastructure and reduce storm overflow spills by 45% by 2030. From April 2026, water companies must publish annual implementation reports to be scrutinised by the Environment Agency. A comprehensive Water White Paper is also expected, which will propose long-term reforms, including the creation of a single, more powerful water regulator and a "roadmap" to restore 20,000 kilometres of watercourses through the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.

The petition was titled:

Provide funding for a nationwide, nature-rich river corridor network.
Support farmers and landowners to make space for water with more, easily accessible funding schemes. We call on government to commit to providing financial incentives to help farmers create & maintain connected land along all river corridors (with buffers, wetlands, riparian tree planting) at scale.

Signed by 10,420 people

Photo: River Itchen from Cobden Bridge by Xan Phillips