View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.
This consultation is now closed - you can access all consultation content in the Challenges and Choices links document.
UPDATE: As a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, and following feedback from some of our stakeholders who are themselves affected by the outbreak, we have extended the deadline for submissions to the Challenges and Choices consultation by 5 months. The new date for final submissions is 24 September 2020.
We urgently need to protect and improve our waters and find a better balance that meets the needs of people and nature.
Water keeps us alive, drives our economy and sustains wildlife.
Our rivers, lakes, canals, coasts and groundwater, and the essential services they provide society, are worth billions of pounds to the UK economy.
However, wildlife and the benefits we get from our waters are threatened by the damage we are causing through development, industry, flood protection and agriculture. The climate crisis and a growing population are adding to these pressures and without concerted action will lead to irreparable harm to our planet, ourselves and future generations.
This consultation explains why water is such a vital resource. It describes the challenges that threaten the water environment. It explores how we can work together to manage our waters and looks at who should pay for the actions needed.
This consultation covers all the river basin districts (RBDs) that are entirely in England, and the Severn and Northumbria RBDs which lie partly in Wales and Scotland respectively. Further information on RBDs, including the management of significant water management issues across Wales, can be found on the Supporting Information page.
See the Guide to consultation for more detail and options on ways you can respond.
We are seeking your views on the challenges our waters face and the choices and changes we all need to make to help tackle those challenges.
By responding to this consultation you will be helping to shape the management of the water environment. The information gathered through this consultation will help us update the current river basin management plans, starting with the publication of draft plans in 2021.
We will also use your responses to help us consider how some of the current approaches to the management of water in England will need to change in response to a changing climate and a growing population. We are calling this work the Water Story.
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