A critical moment for freshwater: our response to the Water White Paper
20th January 2026
Today, the Government has published its long-awaited Water White Paper setting out its initial proposals for reforming water management in England.
The White Paper responds to the Independent Water Commission’s final report, led by Sir John Cunliffe, and paves the way for the new Water Reform Bill.
The White Paper proposes to ‘explore setting new ambitious targets for the water environment’ with monitoring to assess the condition of the ‘whole water environment’. This could make a real difference, especially in supporting measures to protect small waters – a vital part of the freshwater system. We look forward to the work that starts now to help make these changes happen.
Reforms outlined in the White Paper will be this Government’s big chance to deliver on its promise of a fundamental reset for water policy, cutting pollution and restoring freshwater wildlife. To make good on this promise, reforms must:
- Protect the best freshwater habitats
- Bring clean water back to England’s landscapes.
Protecting the best freshwater habitats
To transform the freshwater environment, the Water Reform Bill must go further than current legislation in setting the quality standard for England’s waterbodies.
Encouragingly, Government has committed in the White Paper to ‘explore setting new ambitious targets for the water environment’.
The Water Framework Directive sets a target of ‘good’ ecological status for most waterbodies, and only one waterbody has ever been set a ‘high’ target. Yet high ecological status is the benchmark for waters that are close to natural conditions. These are the habitats that support rich and diverse native plant and animal communities, including many rare and threatened species. Good is not good enough for England’s best waters.
- Woodfidley Passage - mixed woodland, wetlands and heathland near Beaulieu Road Station, New Forest National Park. (c) Will Perrett/Alamy
Most waterbodies are impacted by pervasive pollution and habitat degradation, and for these waters, good ecological status is a sensible short-term target. But for the best waterbodies, this bar is far too low. Waterbodies can lose almost half of their expected invertebrate species and still be classed as ‘good’ under the Water Framework Directive. This lack of ambition is taking its toll on our most important rivers: although many have partially recovered over the last 20 years, the highest quality waters continue to decline.
Along with other environmental charities, we have joined our partners at Wildlife and Countryside Link in calling for the Water Reform Bill to set a new target for 50 further waterbodies to achieve high ecological status.
Our ask:
- Set high ecological status targets for the 50 best waterbodies in England.
This focused, affordable intervention would have disproportionate benefits for wildlife, and make a major contribution to Government’s wider nature recovery commitments.
Bringing back clean water to England’s landscapes
Pollution from multiple sources now impacts most of the water environment. To restore freshwater wildlife, we urgently need to bring clean water back to our landscapes. While cleaning up and restoring large rivers and lakes is essential, it will take decades to see results. And this is time that freshwater wildlife does not have.
To rapidly return clean water to landscapes, the Water Reform Bill must explicitly support small waterbodies. Small waters, such as headwater streams and ponds, make up most of the water environment and often support concentrations of rare and threatened species. Crucially, they offer an opportunity for fast recovery.
- Headwater stream in the New Forest
Because they have small catchments, and sit at the top of river systems, small waters are less impacted by pollution, and are much easier to restore to a pristine, unpolluted state, or – in the case of ponds – create anew. As a result, they can rapidly provide clean water and boost biodiversity. Small waters are the fastest route to visible, ecologically meaningful recovery.
By directing a modest proportion of current investment towards creating and restoring small waters, the Government can rapidly boost freshwater wildlife while the long-term work of restoring larger waters continues.
Our approach was backed last week by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in their Annual Progress Review for England, which noted that ‘a practical intermediate step could be to focus interventions on smaller upper catchments, where larger proportions of catchments could be de-intensified with greater ecological benefits.’ The OEP also noted that trends in small waters ‘remain poorly understood’.
Ignoring small waters has left a blind spot at the heart of water policy. Today’s commitment by Government to optimise monitoring to ‘improve our ability to assess the condition of the whole water environment’ could mend this gap in our understanding of freshwaters. This could create a much-needed driver for the management of small waters, unlocking their potential to power freshwater biodiversity recovery.
Our ask:
- Bring small waters into the statutory (Water Framework Directive) monitoring programme.
- Integrate small waters into River Basin Management Plans.
Together, these measures would drive the restoration and creation of small waters and help bring clean water back to England’s landscapes.
What happens next?
The White Paper states that Government will publish a ‘Transition Plan’ this year, providing instructions to the water industry and water regulators, and will bring forward the Water Reform Bill in this Parliament.
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