Wildlife

Wild Animal Welfare and UK Water Quality and Aquatic Welfare

UK water quality improvements are delivering welfare benefits for the billions of aquatic animals living in rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

Key Facts

Sewage pollution affects 40% of English rivers with serious ecological and welfare impacts
Agricultural fertiliser runoff creates eutrophication that kills aquatic life through oxygen depletion
Water abstraction reduces river flows below levels that support fish and invertebrate welfare
Rivers Trust programs are delivering river restoration at the landscape scale
Legal action against water companies over sewage pollution reached record levels in 2026

Water quality is an animal welfare issue affecting billions of aquatic animals. Clean water advocacy directly reduces aquatic animal suffering.