Protect Our Chalk Stream Rivers

Chalk stream rivers are irreplaceable, unique habitats, home to iconic species, including otter, kingfisher and salmon, and have even been named “England’s rainforests”.

They are also extremely rare, with only around 200 chalk streams left in the World, two of which are in North East Hampshire.

Despite this, they have not been protected and last year alone chalk streams were hit by 14,000 hours of sewage discharges.

Thames Water has taken little action to rectify this injustice, instead using customers' bills to pay out hundreds of millions in shareholder dividends, and to service the nearly £20 bn of debt they've taken on.

Alex and the Liberal Democrats are calling for an end to sewage dumping:

• Water executives should be banned from paying themselves bonuses until sewage dumping stops.
• Ofwat should be abolished and replaced with a new regulator with teeth.
• Water companies should be reformed as ‘public benefit companies’. They would have to consider economic and environmental policy objectives when running the company, not just give a return for their shareholders.
• Water companies should have representatives of local environmental groups on their boards.
• A sewage tax should be introduced on the water company profits to urgently fund the clean up of the most polluted lakes, rivers and coastlines.