A £110m plan to restore English waterways will bring together polluters, charities and scientists in a bid to bring life back to the country’s streams, rivers and lakes.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman yesterday announced a £110m fund which her department said would provide £600m worth of environmental benefit to England 880 bodies of water and boost local involvement in the natural environment.

The majority of the money, £92m, will be spent over the next four years and will fund projects that clear pollution and remove redundant manmade structures and non-native flora and fauna – projects which will be shared between civil society organisations, the Environment Agency and Natural England.

A “significant proportion” of that £92m will be distributed via the Catchment Restoration Fund, which will be available from next year and which will co-fund projects bringing together those responsible for pollution, scientific agencies and charities again with the objective of waterway restoration.

The remaining £18m will be distributed this year among farmers to help them reduce or prevent them damaging their local water systems.

Spelman said that while the health of waterways has improved over recent years, there remains work to be done.

“With this funding we’ll help all our waterways and streams thrive by tackling problems that until now have been sitting in the ‘too hard’ basket,” she said.  

“Our new grassroots approach to boosting healthier waterways and flourishing wildlife has local experience and knowledge at its heart.”

Our Rivers campaign coordinator Ralph Underhill said, “This new funding may not solve all the problems overnight, but it is a significant step towards securing the future of the river environment in England which is under great pressure from a variety of threats including pollution and abstraction.”