On Tuesday, just as Britain’s second heatwave of the year was about to hit, the Environment Agency announced: “Today marks 50 years since the last severe drought in the UK. We must continue to evolve to meet future water supply challenges. By working together across the sector, we can strengthen water resilience for the future.” 

The previous week, Paul Powlesland, (whose potential imprisonment - for effectively doing the Agency’s work without a permit, has received much mainstream press coverage) had posted on X:

“Bad news! It’s not against Thames Water for illegally dumping billions of litres of sewage in the Roding, or the criminals who’ve dumped thousands of tonnes of rubbish on its banks, but against myself and a small volunteer charity for restoring a river without a permit! Within a week of the River Roding Trust volunteers completing the arduous work of restoring 250 metres of the Aldersbrook, EA investigators threatened us with prosecution. This is despite the fact that the Trust has repeatedly asked the EA, (over four years) to do this vital work and despite the fact that it hasn’t investigated the illegal sewage outlet on the Cranbrook a few hundred metres away, which discharges 750,000,000 litres of raw sewage straight into the River Roding every year.”

To the EA specifically, he said: “In February, I led a team of volunteers to do your job for you and clean out tonnes of silt and leaves, as well as hundreds of bags of rubbish. Through the effort of community volunteers and donations, and at zero cost to the taxpayer, we turned a forgotten silted up ditch back into a river again. Last night’s intense rainstorm showed why our actions are the very definition of ‘strengthening water resilience’. A huge amount of rain fell in a short time, but the restored section of the Aldersbrook has been able to hold hundreds of thousands of litres more water, stopping it from running into the Roding, thereby reducing local flood risk. Perhaps more importantly, this water - instead of running into the Roding and hence the sea - is now being held in the Aldersbrook and gradually released to be used by nature. It’s feeding marshes, trees and wildlife, topping up groundwater and helping reduce our flood/drought cycle. If you want to strengthen water resilience, we need thousands more projects like this around the country, so why you are threatening me with two years’ imprisonment, rather than offering to meet and discuss how we can work together to restore the Roding and its tributaries, which could become a blueprint for you cooperating with local river guardians nationwide?” 

If, like me, you’re with Paul and his trusty team, please email CEO Philip Duffy [email protected] to express your feelings and ask the Agency to properly do the job it’s being paid to do. After all, if there weren’t any slack to pick up, caring volunteers could be offering their services elsewhere…