EA insiders slam agency’s ‘completely useless’ water monitoring regime

The latest review of UK river health in 2016 - required under the Water Framework Directive -  revealed that just 14% of rivers were in good health, but the true picture is unknown and likely to be bleaker because the agency undertakes spot sampling just four times a year in some cases, and at most 12 times a year, ENDS has been told. 

Sampling rivers once a month or less will miss intermittent pollution events such as raw sewage spills from storm overflows and runoff from farms in bad weather, say agency staff and environmental NGOs.