Thames Water has been accused of betrayal after it appeared to reverse on a commitment to help clean up a popular river in the Cotswolds.
The water company had agreed to what campaigners described as “critical” work to rid the River Evenlode, a tributary of the Thames, of pollution but it was missing from Thames Waters’ latest business plan.
A charity focused on improving the water quality of the River Evenlode has broken ties with Thames Water, saying the water company “betrayed” them by failing to commit to upgrading a number of sewage treatment plants they say is essential to improving the river’s quality.
Thames Water said its investment plans for the next five years are still subject to change, but acknowledged it was “not what our partners had expected”, adding that the business was facing a “challenging time” amid financial pressure.
Rising near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, the River Evenlode encompasses a number of popular swimming spots on its journey through the Cotswolds towards Cassington in Oxfordshire, where it joins the Thames.
But the water has become so polluted with sewage that locals have been warned against taking a dip for their own safety.
In 2021, Thames Water provided funding to a group called the Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP) as part of a 10-year initiative to improve water quality and restore the river to ‘good’ ecological status.
As part of the project, the ECP has been collecting and analysing data on the water quality in the area. A key finding is that the Evenlode contains high levels of phosphorus pollution from sewage. This causes algae growth that restricts oxygen levels, killing fish and other aquatic life.
The ECP recommended that Thames Water carried out phosphorus stripping upgrades at its sewage treatment works in the catchment area as part of its 2025-30 business plan.
The ECP said Thames Water had originally agreed to carry out this work, but the project is missing from the latest draft version of its business plan, which was published in October and has been submitted to regulators for approval.
As a result, the ECP has made the decision to stop taking any funding from the water company after 2025 when its current project ends.
Ann Berkeley, the ECP’s project manager, said: “Thames Water has repeatedly assured us that the required improvements will be made, but these are not present in the business plan. This is a betrayal of our trust and we no longer have faith in Thames Water’s assurances.
“In light of this, ECP has made the difficult decision to end our relationship with Thames Water at the conclusion of our project in 2025, symbolising our collective dismay at Thames Water’s lack of meaningful commitment to repairing the damage already done to our rivers.”
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We greatly value the close partnerships we have with our local communities and the Smarter Water Catchment partnership for the River Evenlode. However, we recognise the proposals within our draft PR24 business plan submission, which has yet to be discussed with our regulators and is subject to change, are not what our partners had expected and we’re sorry for the concern this has caused.
“The last year has been an extremely challenging year for the business. As we set out in our full year results, our performance was impacted by inflation, which significantly increased costs for energy, chemicals and capital items, and the penalties we received as severe weather events impacted operational performance.
“While we are still spending the same amount in real terms, the purchasing power of this amount has been impacted. Given this we continue to take a rigorous approach to financial discipline throughout the company in order to operate within budget and to prioritise improving the core performance of our business.”
Earlier this year Thames Water was forced into emergency talks with the water regulator Ofwat after it was revealed it was facing a £10bn black hole in its budget.
The group raised £750m from shareholders in July, but remains one of four water companies – alongside Southern Water, South East Water and SES Water – that Ofwat has raised the flag over for financial health.
