‘A ridiculous fact’: No healthy rivers left in London, environment committee told

There are no healthy rivers in the capital, the London Assembly environment committee has been told, after the last ‘good’ one was downgraded due to road runoff.

In the first of two meetings investigating the long-term health and supply of water in London, earlier today (July 11) the committee grilled a panel comprised of experts and stakeholders in the capital’s water network.

One line of questioning deployed by Liberal Democrat Assembly Member (AM) Hina Bokhari was on the current health of London’s rivers.

Debbie Leach, chief executive at Thames21, told the chamber a lack of data makes understanding where pollution is coming from difficult.

She added just one London body of water, the Carshalton Arm in Sutton, is currently classified as ‘good’ under EU standards.

However, Ms Leach was quickly corrected by Bella Davies, chief executive at South East Rivers Trust, who clarified the number has dropped to zero.

She said: “Just to add that no, it used to be, but it’s a really good example of unless you manage these things continually, particularly in London, you need to have that continual level of input unless they decline.”

Ms Davies added it had declined “mostly because of the impact on the fish around it. It was particularly having impacts from road runoff, that was preventing a lot of the wildlife surviving there.”

Asked by Ms Bokhari to confirm there are no remaining healthy rivers in London, Ms Davies said she believes “there are no rivers that are healthy in the whole country”.

“That’s a ridiculous fact then, isn’t it?” Ms Bokhari responded.

Dan Bicknell, adaptation manager at the Greater London Authority (GLA), told the committee the capital suffers because much of the focus on improving river quality is directed outside of London.

“It leaves London with some really poor quality rivers, sewage being the big issue but there are also others, diffuse pollution being a huge issue as well,” he said.

Across London’s 41 rivers, three are rated as ‘bad’, five are ‘poor’, and the rest are ‘moderate’.

The hearing also involved questioning of Thames Water’s interim chief executive, Cathryn Ross, regarding the financial security of the supplier as it battles a debt of £14 billion.