If our rivers aren’t fit for the future, neither are we

This post is by Tessa Wardley, director of communications and advocacy at The Rivers Trust

Rivers are having a moment. From sewage pollution to water scarcity, few environmental issues have captured political and public attention in quite the same way. Yet while headlines have helped shine a light on some of the pressures facing our waterways, they often tell only part of the story.

The State of our rivers report 2026 from The Rivers Trust paints a more complex picture. By analysing a broad range of the latest data on river health, it confirms that our rivers remain in crisis, but it also highlights an equally important truth: we know what is driving river decline, and we know what is needed to restore them.

River health is not a niche issue, it’s something that affects everyone. A healthy water environment underpins economic resilience, public health, food production, nature recovery and climate adaptation. Rivers are on the frontline, ensuring local communities, economies and farmland are protected and resilient to changing weather patterns. This summer’s drought and heatwaves demonstrate clearly the impact of climate change. If we want to build a sustainable future, protecting ourselves against weather extremes, we must prioritise healthy rivers.

This crisis has been years in the making The State of our rivers report 2026‘s headline finding is stark. Rivers across the UK and Ireland are struggling due to multiple pressures, including chemical pollution, agricultural runoff, nutrient pollution, industrial activity, urban development and sewage discharges. Many waterways are also fragmented by barriers, damaged by physical modification, over abstracted to meet growing demand for water and increasingly vulnerable to invasive species.

None of these pressures operate in isolation. They create cumulative impacts that weaken river ecosystems and reduce their ability to bounce back.

Rivers are among our most valuable natural assets, they supply our drinking water, support agriculture, sustain wildlife, help regulate floods and droughts, and provide places for recreation and wellbeing. Yet, for too long, river health has been treated as a nice to have rather than a foundational requirement for a thriving economy and society.

Climate change is making it worse As if existing pressures were not enough, climate change is intensifying almost all of them.

The State of our rivers report 2026 identifies climate change as a “threat multiplier”, worsening the effects of pollution, habitat degradation and water scarcity. Wetter winters bring more flooding, increasing the volume of pollutants washed into rivers from urban and agricultural land. Hotter, drier summers reduce river flows, concentrate pollutants and place additional stress on wildlife.

We cannot engineer our way out of floods and drought: there is no tank big enough to hold the volumes of floodwater required to prevent communities from flooding and storm overflows from discharging raw sewage. We must hold the water in ‘spongy’ cities and in the soils and landscapes of healthy river catchments. Climate adaptation plans that ignore river health are unlikely to succeed.

Sewage isn’t the only problem Public concern about raw sewage pollution is justified and important. It has exposed serious failings and generated long overdue scrutiny of the water sector.

But one of the most significant contributions of the State of our rivers report 2026 is its comprehensive look at factors, from chemical pollution and phosphate contamination to abstraction pressures and the adequacy of treated wastewater discharge permits.

Even if we could solve the sewage issue overnight, our rivers would not be saved. Analysis by The Rivers Trust has identified that some existing permits may be insufficient to protect river health under current environmental conditions and future climate pressures, and

Rivers, like our bodies, are complex living eco)systems, they respond to the combined effects of multiple pressures. Effective solutions, therefore, require co-ordinated action from regulators, water companies, local authorities, farmers, businesses and communities, and a comprehensive catchment management perspective.

Decline isn’t inevitable and action works Environmental debates can sometimes become trapped between complacency and despair. Neither is useful.

While the report paints a stark picture, it is far from a catalogue of doom and despair. It also celebrates when action works. Evidence clearly shows that targeted interventions can deliver meaningful improvements. Some pollutants, such as phosphorus, have declined over recent decades. Citizen scientists, including those taking part in The Rivers Trust’s bi-annual Big River Watch, are generating vast amounts of data that strengthen understanding and accountability. Nature-based solutions are helping communities manage flood risk and drought. River restoration projects are improving habitats and supporting the return of species, including Atlantic salmon in some catchments.

The story of our rivers is not one of inevitable decline. It is one of insufficient action in the face of known solutions. Where investment is made, where communities are empowered and where restoration is delivered at scale, recovery follows.

What policy makers should do next The report’s central message is about resilience. Rivers need to be fit for the future, but many are not.

That means moving beyond reactive interventions and taking more strategic and targeted action. This should be driven across government, engaging a range of local actors who benefit from a healthy water environment and looking beyond the water industry. Water reform, planning, agriculture, infrastructure, climate adaptation and nature recovery strategies need to be aligned regionally to deliver greater climate resilience underpinned by local river catchment management.

It also means embracing better evidence. One of the strengths of the State of our rivers report 2026 is that it brings together data, analysis and experience from across the UK and Ireland. By democratising information and making it accessible to decision makers, practitioners and communities, it helps to create the conditions for more effective action.

The challenge now is not a lack of knowledge but whether governments will prioritise acting on what we know.