Hi Jeff,
you may remember a short film I made for WWF – Rivers on the Edge:

It was part of WWF’s long-running campaign to get the UK government to look again at the unsustainable abstraction of water from rivers.
Yesterday the Government published its Natural Environment White Paper, containing two new commitments:

“We will reform the abstraction regime. The new regime will provide clearer signals to abstractors to make the necessary investments to meet water needs and protect ecosystem function.
We will also take steps to tackle the legacy of unsustainable abstraction more efficiently.”

This is a first and a VERY BIG DEAL. Time for all river lovers to lift a cautionary jar of ale in celebration. The devil will be in the detail and WWF will be checking the detail very carefully. But good news nonetheless.

Best fishes,

Charles (Rangeley-Wilson)