The petition of residents of the constituency of South Norfolk,
Declares that the water quality on the River Yare is deeply concerning, putting wildlife and people at risk.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to clean up British waterways, call upon Anglian Water to uphold the highest possible water quality levels, and for the Environment Agency to provide residents with the information they need so they can enjoy the River Yare all year round.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Ben Goldsborough, Official Report, 22 April 2025; Vol. 765, c. 1020.]
[P003056]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy):
We want to assure you that cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas is a top Government priority. The unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never have happened. We now have record levels of illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas. This is completely unacceptable.
Within days of coming to office, we ringfenced money earmarked for investment in water infrastructure, so it cannot be diverted for bonuses or dividends. Where this money is not spent, it will be returned to customers.
Our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act became law in February. This gives stronger powers to the water industry regulators, so they can better hold water companies to account. It gives Ofwat new powers to ban unfair bonuses when water company executives fail to meet high standards. It introduces stricter penalties, including imprisonment, where water company employees obstruct investigations by environmental regulators, and it enables the regulator to impose automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing.
We have expanded powers so the environmental regulators can recover costs for a wider range of enforcement, and introduced mandatory monitoring of emergency overflows. Water companies must now publish annual pollution incident reduction plans and implementation reports to outline progress.
But we went even further by announcing the independent commission. Sir Jon Cunliffe is currently undertaking the biggest review of the water sector since privatisation to ensure we can attract the major investment needed to clean up our waterways and boost water supplies. The commission concluded its eight-week public call for evidence on 23 April, receiving over 50,000 responses. The commission plans to publish an interim report in the coming weeks, focused on five key themes: 1. strategic direction, 2. legislative framework, 3. regulatory reform, 4. company structures, ownership, governance and management and 5. infrastructure and asset health. The commission is due to provide its final report to Government in the summer.
In addition to the Government’s measures, Ofwat has announced £104 billion of private sector investment in the water sector over the next five years. This will build and upgrade water infrastructure in every region of the country, cutting sewage spills, improving water quality and giving us a reliable future water supply. It will create tens of thousands of jobs around the country, help us build 1.5 million homes, support major infrastructure projects and power new industries. This is regional economic growth in action—the cornerstone of our plan for change.
The current status of water quality in the River Yare, e.g. latest monitoring data or classification.
The table below summarises the water quality monitoring that is being done on the River Yare for the monitoring year April 2025 to March 2026.
Summary of Environment Agency water quality (chemistry) monitoring in the River Yare April 2025 to March 2026Monitoring reason and monitoring summary |
|---|
| Agency Chemical strategy monitoring | Locally commissioned issues monitoring | Oslo Paris convention monitoring | Monitoring for water company periodic reviews |
|---|
Point code | Point name | NGR | Frequency | PBT substances, i.e. metals, pesticides, solvents, PFOS etc | Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate), phys chem (temperature, pH. conductivity, dissolved oxygen) | Phys chem, nutrients, metals, PCBs | Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate), phys chem (temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen) |
|---|
YAR003 | Blackwater River US Shipdham | TF94822OG562 | Monthly (12 times/year) | | | | X |
YAR110 | R.Yare Earlham bridge | TGI890008200 | Monthly (12 times/year) | | X | | X |
YAR120 | R.Yare Cringleford old bridge | TGI998505957 | Monthly (12 times/year) | | X | | |
YAR180 | R.Yare Trowse Mill | TG2430006800 | Monthly (12 times/year) | | X | | |
YAR200 | R.Yare Bramerton woods end | TG2910006200 | Monthly (12 times/year) | | X | | |
YAR230 | R.Yare Buckenham Ferry | TG3500004400 | Monthly (12 times/year) | X | | X | X |
YAR230 | R.Yare Buckenham Ferry | TG3500004400 | Quarterly (4 times/year) | X | X | | |
River Yare WFD classification
An overview of any known sources of pollution.
See below.
A summary of recent or ongoing interventions to improve water quality in the River Yare. In addition, could you please confirm if and how this type of information is shared with local residents.
There are numerous pressures on the River Yare and potential sources of pollution along its length. The Environment Agency is involved in many interventions and actions to improve the river, ranging from natural flood management to farm visits to regulatory inspections of water company assets. The Environment Agency would be happy to provide further details of these in relation to any specific area. Please contact Graham Verrier, the Environment Agency’s East Anglia area director, if you would like further information:
Areamanagercorrespondence.eastanglia@environment-agency.gov.uk
The Environment Agency carries out monitoring for water quality, ecology and fisheries at various points along the river. Sampling takes place according to environmental need within a co-ordinated monitoring programme, with some sites being sampled regularly for long-term monitoring programmes, and others determined by environmental risk. The data from these is available here:
https://engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/data-publications-water In addition, locations that are designated as bathing waters are specifically monitored between May and September for microbiological parameters to indicate the site’s suitability as bathing water. There are no designated bathing waters in this location.
The Environment Agency is significantly increasing its regulation of water companies nationally, and at a local level, it has established four new water industry compliance teams, and one water industry enforcement team focusing on Anglian Water. The Environment Agency has completed over 730 compliance inspections of Anglian Water’s wastewater assets for the year up to 31 March 2025, which is more than in the previous four years combined. For this year, 2025-26, the Environment Agency intends to double this number again to over 1,600. In the River Yare catchment, the Environment Agency has completed 30 compliance inspections in the last 12 months.
The Environment Agency has a water environment improvement fund and chalk partnership fund, which it can use to fund projects where it works in partnership to improve the water environment. See appendix 1 below for details of such projects.
Appendix 1: Supplemental information
We are currently working on the following projects in the Yare catchment with partners:
Yare Catchment Ambition:
Project summary:
Environmentally minded landowners in the Yare catchment are keen to work with Norfolk Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency to improve the river and habitats on their land. NRT have been working in 2024-25 to scope out sites for potential river restoration in the Yare catchment, undertake topographic surveys and prepare concept designs. This project aims make a difference at the catchment scale, ensuring the improvements are bigger, better and more joined up. In 2025-26 we will undertake detailed design and potentially implement restoration at one frontrunner site, if additional funding is secured.
Project Benefits:
The benefits are:
Restoring priority chalk stream habitat to benefit the characteristic aquatic plants and invertebrates, e.g. creating areas with different flow types and areas for marginal plants.
Creation of ponds and scrapes, as part of some stretches of river restoration. Connection to the river will mean that they are an ideal habitat for fish fry.
Improving connection between the river and its floodplain, particularly in areas that have previously been extensively modified, will help sediments to settle out and improve water quality.
Providing an element of natural flood management and alleviating high/low flow pressures.
River Tas: Chalky Water:
Project summary:
The River Tas is a tributary of the Yare, in Norfolk. Both are considered to be chalk streams due to the amount of baseflow from the chalk aquifer. However, they flow over mixed geology. The Tas catchment contains some rare examples of lowland valley fen and other priority habitats, as well as a small population of native crayfish.
Organisations working in the River Tas catchment have come together to develop a common vision and fund a strategy for the catchment that will identify opportunities for river restoration, natural flood management, restoring biodiversity and landscape connectivity.
One of the key drivers is that there are concerns around water-dependant habitats drying out, and we do not have an up-to-date understanding of the hydrology of these sites; the last surveys were done in the 1970s. It is thought that over-deepened watercourses and drainage ditches are a key pressure on this group of four fens within South Norfolk. All four valley fens are within the Tas catchment and have peat-based soils with interesting fauna and flora. They are all designated as special sites of scientific interest, and Flordon Common is a special area of conservation.
Also, properties and land were seriously affected by flooding in December 2020, with about 20 properties flooded. Engagement with landowners and communities in the area has helped to find landowners willing to undertake natural flood management interventions to hold water back and reduce the probability of flooding in future. This could complement the water resources pressures, if superficial drainage in and around the protected sites could be reduced.
We will also work to restore habitats for pollinators and create ponds and hedgerows to connect up and create stepping stones for priority habitats in the catchment.
Project Benefits:
The funding would help the partners and landowners to work together more collaboratively and achieve more for the environment—bigger, better, more joined up. The key benefits are improved hydrology—more flow for the chalk stream, higher water table in fens—reduced flood risk to properties, restored chalk stream river habitat, improved water quality and landscape connectivity for biodiversity.
Yare Farming and Floodplains
Project background:
The project works directly with landowners to enable them to make improvements to the hydromorphology of the floodplains to hold water on the floodplain and create biodiversity benefits.
Project benefits:
The project will reduce drainage by controlling the water level in ditches, making the floodplain wetter. This will recreate linear open water features and allow a transition from wet to drier habitats, boosting biodiversity and niches for different species. It will create a better connection between the river and floodplain. It will hold and store water locally, then slowly release it supporting summer flows. The catchments we are working in are all chalk streams. Restoring a more natural function in the headwaters will have the biggest benefits for flow in the chalk streams. Improving floodplain connectivity will benefit natural processes at the site and local river reaches, buffering river flows—high and low—increasing infiltration and groundwater recharge, and allowing silt and sand to settle out during high flows.