Southern Water has pledged to turnaround the health of three harbours in Sussex and Hampshire by 2030 as part of a commitment with 18 national and local stakeholder groups.
The organisations will develop a charter on the ongoing and planned efforts to improve the health of harbours at Chichester, Langstone and Pagham.
Southern hosted a meeting to establish what activities are currently going on in the areas around the harbours. It saw stakeholders agree to actively consider the impacts of these activities as well as future decisions and investment on the waterbodies.
An assessment of the current ecological status of the harbours showing what factors are contributing to their environmental degradation is already underway and will be published later this year. This will set out a natural capital baseline for decision-making to ensure a reversal in the decline of the harbours’ habitats.
Southern’s chief executive, Ian McAulay, said: “The natural capital baseline we are funding for this group is progressing well and will be ready later this year. It will be leading edge and the primary source of accurate evidence of flows and polluting loads from all sources which are entering watercourses.”
By measuring those, the company can take action to reduce pollution and improve water quality.
Economist Dieter Helm, who acted as independent chair, described the project as incredibly exciting. He said: “We are all agreed the status quo is unsustainable. It is fantastic so many different parties are willing to come together to focus on the harbours and ensure they are better when we hand them on to the next generation than they were when we inherited them.
“We have heard how much is already happening. Now we need to work in co-operation, break out of our siloes and map out the priority projects so that the funding and action comes together to secure the best environmental outcomes for the harbours and the local residents of today and into the future.”
The company has reduced nitrates entering the harbours from wastewater treatment works by 90% since 2015 and said these efforts meant that only 1% of nitrates in Chichester and Langstone harbours are from combined sewer overflows.
McAulay added: “For our part, in a conventional infrastructure approach, we are investing a total of £75 million in the area by 2025 to improve our service to customers and protect the local environment. These plans will directly contribute towards improving the health of these harbours.”
The company is building new storm tanks at nearby sewage plants and investing £36 million to increase the storm storage capacity as well as ensuring the network can cope with population growth in the area.
Nature-based solutions include restoring degraded land, increasing wetlands and encouraging the regeneration of sea grass and kelp forests.
Following the event, a steering group was formed to follow through on the commitments made.