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Wildlife at risk from inaction on water pollution
By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor
Sunday Herald
10th October 2004
Unless there is a multi-billion-pound investment to combat water pollution and over-use in the next decade, Scotland’s precious wildlife will suffer and die, a leading conservation group has warned.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has called for the Scottish Executive to inject at least £2.7 billion into water and sewage treatment before 2014. Otherwise, it claimed, seabirds, waders, fish, insects and plants will be under serious threat.
“Many of our rivers, lochs and coastal waters are at risk from pollution from sewage, mainly due to poor treatment and leakages,” said RSPB Scotland’s freshwater policy officer, Andrea Johnstonova.
“We are concerned because there are many bird species that depend on these water environments to survive, and pollution puts them at risk.”
Despite billions of pounds of investment over the past 10 years, sewage still contaminates rivers and shores around the country. Sometimes it can be mixed with industrial effluent containing heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.
According to the RSPB, this could put tens of thousands of seabirds that breed in the Firth of Forth in jeopardy. Eider ducks and kittiwakes are said to be “particularly susceptible”.
One problem is phosphorus in detergents discharged in sewage. This can foster the growth of blue-green algal blooms, toxic to wildlife and humans. The official watchdog, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, has estimated that 1113 kilometres of rivers and lochs are at risk of nutrient pollution from sewage.
Another risk comes from taking too much water from lochs and reservoirs for use by industry, agriculture and communities. The RSPB claimed that at some sites up to 50% of the water is lost through leaks.
More water than is necessary is being drained from peatlands in Lewis, Caithness and Sutherland, the group said. This threatens the “stunning” black-throated and red-throated divers that nest there.
The RSPB Scotland has submitted its views to the Scottish Executive as part of a public consultation on future water policy known as Quality and Standards III. The consultation period ends on Tuesday.
Increased investment, argued the RSPB, could protect 645 kilometres of rivers, lochs and coasts from nutrient pollution, and 500 kilometres from sewer overflows. It could also improve the quality of 92 square kilometres of rivers for important fish populations.
“The Executive is about to make one of the most important decisions about the future of Scotland’s water environment,” said Johnstonova. “We call on the Executive not to miss this opportunity, and invest in improving the environment for people and wildlife.”
The Executive pointed out it was already investing “massively” to address historic under funding of the water industry.
“We will consider carefully all responses to that consultation before decisions are taken on Scottish Water’s future investment programme,” said a spokesman.
Scottish Water said that it was spending £500 million to 2006 to clean up Scotland’s rivers, beaches and coastal waters. This involved removing 334 unsatisfactory sewage discharges and renewing 400 kilometres of sewers.
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