South West Water fines diverted into clean-up project

South West Water says it is right they should be held to account and adds they want to show customers they really do care about the environment

More than £2m in fines paid by South West Water (SWW) are to be invested in local water projects.

Penalties paid by water companies have been ringfenced since April 2022 to improve the waterways.

The money is being put into the new Water Restoration Fund (WRF) to offer grants to local groups, farmers, land-owners and community schemes.

SWW said it was "right that we were held to account, but we really do care about our environment".

'Taking tough action'

Up to £11m in fines and penalties from water companies nationwide was to be put into the WRF, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said.

The aim was to improve rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands and access to nature in England in areas where illegal pollution had occurred, he said.

"We're taking tough action to ensure our regulators are well-equipped to hold those who pollute them to account.

The money is being put into a new fund to offer grants to local groups, farmers, land-owners and community schemes

"Through the Water Restoration Fund, I will be making sure that money from fines and penalties, taken from water company profits only, is channelled directly back into our waterways," he added.

SWW, which was fined £2.15m in April 2023 for environmental offences in Devon and Cornwall, said: "It's right that we were held to account, but we really do care about our environment and we need to do more to prove this to our customers and visitors to our region.

"We have a plan, it is working and we won't stop until everyone can feel proud about the performance of their water company in the South West." 

Applications for the WRF are open, with grant awards expected to be issued from late July.

South West Water provides water and sewerage services to Devon and Cornwall, plus small parts of Dorset and Somerset.

Laurence Couldrick, chief executive of the West Country Rivers Trust, said he welcomed the WRF, "but ultimately we don't want to see pollution happening in the first instance".

He said: "If it does happen, we want to see that money locally invested to restore that precious environment.

"There are loads of things we can do to help our rivers, such as giving more space for water to expand into wetlands and that helps create really valuable habitats, but also buffers the river from pollution from agriculture."