Watchdog report: Battle against water pollution 'ineffective'

The public spending watchdog said the Environment Agency (EA) spent 8m annually tackling "diffuse" water pollution, such as run-off from agricultural land and roads.

But last year only 26 per cent of rivers, lakes and other bodies of water in England met required European levels for water quality.

According to the National Audit Office (NAO) a failure to meet the EU requirements, which demand 60 per cent of water bodies reach good standards by 2027, could potentially lead to fines of up to 250m a year.

A report by the NAO said the EA had not sufficiently identified the extent to which the failure of lakes and rivers to meet water quality standards is down to diffuse pollution, as opposed to "point sources" –– single identifiable places such as a sewage works.

The study said the agency was targeting the agricultural sector as the main source of diffuse pollution, which comes from multiple dispersed sources such as fields and roads.

But there was limited information on the impact of different farming practices on diffuse pollution, which in the agricultural sector comes from nutrients such as phosphates and nitrogen fertilisers as well as animal waste. As a result it was not possible to know if the EA was effectively targeting its resources by encouraging certain farming practices.

The report also found awareness among farmers about the responsibility for diffuse pollution remained low, with almost three quarters (72 per cent) surveyed by the NAO saying agriculture contributed only a little or not at all to the problem.

The NAO said EA advice and voluntary initiatives across government to change farming practices had limited impact and needed to be co-ordinated.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said poor water quality had serious financial and environmental costs. "Many farmers remain unconvinced of their contribution to the problem, so the Environment Agency should intensify its efforts to raise awareness."