Call for action to save ecosystems
Untreated sewage waste pumped into our protected waters has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the region and ecology of Chichester Harbour, campaigners say.
Last week, Southern Water was fined £90m after admitting pumping 16bn to 21bn litres of untreated sewage into delicate ecosystems, over a six-year period from 2010.
According to Chichester Harbour Trust, water quality ‘continues to deteriorate’ due to excess nitrates and storm discharges, ‘compounded by over-development of the surrounding area’.
And it claimed that last year alone, Southern Water pumped untreated waste water into the harbour on 117 days.
The trust added that there is a ‘lack of local leadership’ in coming forward with solutions to prevent what is an ‘emerging environmental catastrophe’ – and has called for action.
“The illegal disposal of untreated sewage waste into coastal waters over a period of many years has done incalculable damage to the region and to the ecology of Chichester Harbour, a fragile intertidal environment.”
Those were the words of the Chichester Harbour Trust after Southern Water was fined a record £90 million for ‘persistently breaching environmental regulations’ during the period of 2010 to 2015 (see our special report pages 28 and 29).
And Chichester Harbour Trust fears the situation is ongoing.
“Regrettably, we observe that the damage to Chichester Harbour continues,” the trust statement read.
“Water quality continues to deteriorate due principally to excess nitrates and storm discharges, compounded by over-development of the surrounding area.
“Natural England produced a devastating report on the state of Chichester Harbour SSSI (site of special scientific interest) earlier this year.”
Last year alone, Southern Water pumped untreated waste water into the harbour on 117 days, according to the Trust. A spokesperson added: “Southern Water continue to connect up major new housing developments in the district to the existing sewage system, for which it is quite clear they do not have the capacity – and this is before the revised Chichester District Local Plan which calls for an additional 12,500 homes to be built in the area over the next 15 years.
“Southern Water doesn’t appear to have a coherent plan to address the problem.”
In response, Southern Water said it has ‘actively demonstrated’ its leadership over the future health of Chichester and Langstone Harbours. This was through its work ‘convening a multiagency group of senior leaders’, to work together to tackle the issue of water quality and ‘protect the precious natural habitat of the harbours’. Following that meeting, Southern Water ‘committed to funding’ the development of a natural capital baseline assessment to secure ‘the long-term, environmental and economic future of these important natural habitats’.
Chichester Harbour Trust claimed there is a ‘lack of local leadership’ in coming forward with solutions to prevent what is an ‘emerging environmental catastrophe’.
It added: “We call on our local democratically elected leaders and representatives to step up, show dynamic leadership and serve their communities and ecosystems before it is too late.”
Chichester District Council said it is ‘committed to working’ with its partners to ‘improve and protect the harbour for years to come’.
A spokesperson said: “We have been raising concerns with OFWAT and have met with them; we have held a number of meetings with ministers; we’ve questioned and held Southern Water to account at our overview and scrutiny committee; we regularly meet with Southern Water to address concerns raised and identify improvements; and, we are already committing to water efficiency standards and to achieving nitrogen neutrality within planning applications for new housing now and in new homes within our Local Plan Review.”