This ICE submission focuses on regulatory reform, the need for longer-term strategic planning and the role of nature-based solutions.
The ICE welcomes the Environmental Audit Committee’s follow-up evidence session to the impactful 2022 report on water quality in rivers.
The key priorities should be:
- Reform the regulatory system to align it with national priorities such as net zero.
- Take a longer-term approach to investment and planning - the five-year cycle is too short.
- Actively promote the role of nature-based solutions in delivering a better water infrastructure system and take into account wider benefits over the whole life.
- Rebuild trust between the public, water companies, and regulators.
These topics were discussed at the ICE’s Presidential Roundtable in June 2023, which focused on whether the UK needs a water strategy.
ICE submission to the Environmental Audit Committee on water quality in rivers
Content type: Policy
Last updated: 11 November 2024
You may also be interested in@headerSize>

- Type
- Awards and competitions
Past President’s Future Leader named rising star at ICE East of England Merit Awards
Romilly Bobby, who was one of Professor Jim Hall’s Future Leaders, impressed the judges with her commitment to support early career engineers.

- Type
- Infrastructure blog
How much is climate resilience truly worth?
A new ICE report calls for a review into the value of infrastructure adaptation and climate resilience in order to boost investment.

- Type
- Infrastructure blog
How can we save water while continuing to honour diverse cultural traditions?
Two campaigns have shown that reducing our water use will require a whole-of-society approach – and provide lessons on how to do it.