what progress has been made?

On taking office, Coffey first said river pollution wasn’t a priority for her because other ministers were looking at it. Three months later her tone shifted. “I want to tell people that I do care about the sewage in our waters. Actually, I really do give a shit about water quality,” she told environmentalists at a nature reserve. By April last year, she had launched a wide-ranging Plan for Water to fix the problem.

Yet for all the words, targets and plans, the pollution of the country’s rivers and seas seemed to be getting worse rather than better.

A pioneering but embarrassing real-time map by Thames Water exposed storm overflows discharging sewage for weeks into waterways in Oxfordshire, including in Witney — Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton’s former constituency.

The ecological state of the Wye, once a river princes travelled to for salmon, was officially downgraded amid heavy pollution from chicken farms. London’s last healthy river, the Wandle, was also downgraded. Sewage spills across England fell to about 301,000 in 2022, but remained shocking at more than 800 a day.

In the face of these headwinds, Clean it Up called for water firms to be stripped of self-monitoring, regulators to be bolstered, spill targets to be strengthened, investment to be brought forward and scores of new bathing waters to be designated in rivers.

“The campaign put the core issues front and centre of public debate,” said Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford.

There has been progress, even victories. Cash for new water company infrastructure was brought forward. Firms promised to follow Thames Water’s lead and release spill maps by the end of 2023.

Dead fish at Silchester Brook in Hampshire, after sewage was released by a water treatment works near by

ALAMY

The government flipped from keeping fines for polluters low to making them unlimited. The water sector said that The Times had pushed the issue to the top of the agenda, and apologised for spills.

• Water UK boss: We’re sorry. This is our chance to put things right

A national plan to effectively end raw sewage discharges by 2050 was strengthened, despite earlier industry lobbying. All sewage spills are now monitored.

But it has sometimes been a case of two steps forward and one backwards. The number of rivers where wild swimmers will be helped with bathing water monitoring rose last year from two rivers to a meagre three. Officials were later accused of “moving the goalposts” by changing the rules for people applying for bathing waters, raising the number of swimmers proven to use a water body and adding a requirement for a nearby toilet.

• Exposed: the secret plot to sink tougher sewage rules

Ali Morse, water policy manager for The Wildlife Trusts, said: “Overall, it’s a mixed picture, with progress in some areas and backsliding in others. All evidence suggests that we’ll fall short of meeting any of the targets the government has set itself on improving the water environment.” England’s green watchdog said said last month that water goals were “off-track”.

Citing water company investment plans, unlimited fines and monitoring of storm overflows, the environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “Obviously nobody wants polluted water. That’s why we’ve focused on it as a government and why we brought in the Plan for Water. It’s a huge delivery plan. A lot of progress has already been made … The Labour party and Liberal Democrats don’t have a plan for doing anything else.”

Rebecca Pow, environment minister, has defended the government’s record on tackling water pollution

LUCY YOUNG FOR THE TIMES

A year into Clean it Up, a new cast of characters is grappling with where things go next. Coffey and her Labour counterpart, Jim McMahon, have both been replaced, by Steve Barclay and Steve Reed, respectively. Sarah Bentley, the former Thames Water boss who waived her bonus over sewage spills and said she was “heartbroken” by them, was succeeded in January by Chris Weston, the new chief executive.

Rishi Sunak has told Barclay to hold water companies accountable. Several sources said Sunak had also instructed the former health secretary to make the issue “go away” — a characterisation those close to Barclay said they did not recognise.

Barclay has largely been more on the front foot than Coffey. Last month he told the heads of ten water firms he will strip them of self-monitoring powers in the next 12 months and return the duties to the Environment Agency. But there is no new funding for the EA, yet. Observers point out that Pow made the same pledge three years ago, and it didn’t come to pass.

Despite increased farm inspections, it is far from clear the government has a handle on the contribution of agriculture, which is a bigger source of pollution than water firms. The subject was missing in Barclay’s speech to a major farming conference in January. Later that day he told The Times he would “get tough” on water firms. On farmers he merely said the government was working with them “on their role”.

At Upper Moorend farm near Ledbury, wetland pools have been created to reduce phospates from chicken manure soaking into the River Wye

ADRIAN SHERRATT

The political desire to keep sewage spills out of the headlines appears to be hampering public access to data. Water companies reneged on their promise to release real-time spill maps by the end of 2023. There is no technical justification for the delay, simply the desire to avoid Barclay’s opprobrium, said one industry veteran. Six water firms are also withholding data from The Times that could reveal illegal spills, and are now the subject of scrutiny by the data watchdog.

How do things unfold from here? A decisive moment comes this summer when the economic regulator Ofwat signs off the water industry’s £96 billion spending plan for 2025 to 2030, or chooses to put curbs on the spending over concerns about the average 31 per cent water bill increase required. An investigation by Ofwat and the EA into possible wrongdoing at sewage works is likely to publish its findings this year.

In the longer term there is the challenge of more extreme weather wrought by climate change. “Heavier downpours and flash flooding are flushing pollution into rivers, and summer heatwaves are causing water levels to drop faster, which increases the concentration of pollutants in waterways,” said Emma Howard Boyd, former chairwoman of the EA.

In the short run, the election looms over everything.

• Sewage will influence most voters at the next election

“River pollution is established as a voting issue,” said Ash Smith, a campaigner at Windrush Against Sewage Pollution. Polling shows more than half of people will factor handling of sewage into their vote. The Lib Dems and Labour have both made sewage one of their key attack lines, with London mayor Sadiq Khan recently wading into the issue. But Labour is yet to substantively set out its stall on how it would do things differently to the Tories.

Extinction Rebellion activists protesting near sewage treatment works in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire

ALAMY

Despite the pressures farms and roads put on rivers, water firms will continue to be the focus for most politicians and activists. One campaigner, Matt Staniek, has already been “striking” once a week outside a shop run by water company United Utilities for three months in protest at pollution into Lake Windermere. Many will hope, for the 27-year-old’s sake and the sake of England’s largest lake, that he doesn’t need to be there in another year’s time.

The Times is demanding faster action to improve the country’s waterways. Find out more about the Clean It Up campaign.