Swimmable rivers: Towards clean and healthy waterways in London

The Environment Committee has published its report - Swimmable rivers: Towards clean and healthy waterways in London - calling on the Mayor to set ambitious and transparent targets for improving specific sites, including designating four new sites as bathing waters by 2028 and a further six by 2034 with a clear delivery plan, by year.

Other recommendations for the Mayor in the report include:

• Ensuring that funding for improvements to London’s rivers and waterways is clear and transparent.
• The Greater London Authority (GLA) should work with Thames Water and other partners to set out key actions between now and 2034 to reduce sewage pollution, including from sewer overflows and misconnections
• Target designating four new sites as bathing waters by 2028 and a further six by 2034 with a clear delivery plan, by year.
• The Mayor should host a ‘one-stop shop’ page on the GLA website to link to all key water safety information in one place.
• Contributing funding for a ‘misconnections officer’ to help Councils speed up enforcement action to compel people to ensure their wastewater is correctly plumbed into the sewer system and doesn’t end up in local rivers.