Severn Basin action plan must take flood risk into account, says MEP (East Staffordshire Liberal Democrats)

East Staffordshire Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

Severn Basin action plan must take flood risk into account, says MEP

September 24, 2009 4:39 PM
Originally published by West Midlands Liberal Democrats

Liz Lynne MEP. Local MEP Liz Lynne has called for co-ordinated action taking pollution and flood risks fully into account after a report that the River Severn and 74% of UK rivers still fail to meet European water quality standards.

The LibDem MEP commented after a new Environment Agency report that showed most rivers fell well short of the EU standard required in 2015, when 95% of rivers are required to be in 'good' or 'pristine' condition.

The River Severn and most of its tributaries are currently graded as 'moderate.' Across the country, only five out of 6114 sampled rivers were found to be pristine, and only 1600 in good condition.

Liz Lynne said: "It is good news that water quality standards in the River Severn and generally are slowly rising, but this report shows we have a very long way to go to get quality up to the level needed by 2015 under the new EU Water Quality Directive, which our government accepted.

"The Severn River Basin covers more than three quarters of my regional constituency. It is vital that the final version of the River Basin action plan due in December gives clear guidance on how we are going to get rivers here up to standard.

"I am also very concerned that action plans being drawn up take account of the increased risks of extreme flooding caused by climate change. As well as phosphates or other agricultural pollutants, water quality can be drastically affected after flooding, as we saw in 2007.

"Councils and the highways agency need to make sure they keep drains and channels properly clear to stop flash floods, which can cause appalling pollution as well as kill people."

Liz Lynne MEP was instrumental in the UK's bid for £33 million of aid from the EU Solidarity Fund to offset the cost of dealing with the 2007 floods which caused severe damage in Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, with parts of Birmingham also flooding.