Southern CEO calls for funding cycle alignment to improve environment

Southern Water has called for alignment of funding and strategy to enable multi-sector collaboration to tackle pollution incidents with nature-based solutions.

Following a summit to discuss water quality improvements in two Sussex harbours, the company will work with 16 organisations to implement nature-based solutions at the sites.

Together with businesses, local authorities, Rivers and Wildlife Trusts and others, Southern will implement nature-based solutions and technological innovation, agricultural best practice, water and nitrogen efficiency standards in new housing, and encourage consumers to use water more efficiently.

Southern said the collaborative approach could form a template for similar projects elsewhere in the country.

“We urgently need better alignment in terms of funding cycles, strategy and plan revisions, common tools and shared goals,” chief executive Ian McAulay said. “We need to understand what the biggest and quickest wins are and where we can achieve the greatest impact from our shared efforts and collective investment. We must take action now, commit to working in an open, honest and supportive way and demonstrating progress.”

The group of local and national organisations called for practical, realistic and affordable action to benefit the environment, economy and local community.

“Only a collective effort will address the challenge we face,” McAulay added. “Southern Water recognises it must be part of the solution and is playing its part through a sustained programme of investment and activity. We see a real opportunity for nature-based solutions as part of our environmental vision, which is the foundation for everything we do as a company.”

Participants agreed to create a natural capital baseline and to ensure there is a clear shared vision in place for the harbours.

Dieter Helm, who chaired the summit, said: “The status quo is unsustainable and therefore it will not be sustained. This is the chance to grasp the prize of a greatly enhanced natural capital of the harbours with all the multiple benefits this will bring – and it can only be achieved in an integrated way, with all the parties joining together in a comprehensive natural capital plan.”

For AMP7 Southern committed to spend £1.7 billion to improve the capacity and efficiency of its wastewater network and reduce the use of combined sewer overflows (CSOs).

This included £13 million to improve instrumentation and data capture from CSOs including at the harbour sites and a scheme to reduce groundwater infiltration into sewer networks.  It recently announced a £5 million environmental improvement fund, which will in part be spent on delivering improvements for the harbours.