Urgent investment needed for “wicked” rivers’ problem

The water sector is at the forefront of the UK's sustainability revolution, but this is not without its challenges.
The need for greater investment, underpinned by robust data, was the subject of British Water's second annual Creating a More Sustainable Water Sector Conference in Manchester on 21 March.
Opening the conference was keynote speaker, Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Rivers Trust, a charity representing 65 local catchment rivers throughout the UK and Ireland.
The organisation recently published its State of Our Rivers report, which revealed that pollution from sewage, agricultural runoff and industrial activities has severely impacted the health of rivers.
In his keynote, Lloyd gave an overview of the challenges facing the water sector, the opportunities for integrated and collaborative solutions that can improve river health and increase biodiversity and called for better data to guide and strengthen this vital work.
“The health of rivers is a wicked problem that we are struggling to solve. The reasons are well known. Agriculture and land management are primary contributors, contributing to 62% of failures, the water sector...