Campaigners urge action as sewage pollutes rivers in Northumberland National Park
A new report from Campaign for National Parks reveals that sewer overflows inside National Parks spill more than twice as long on average as outside.
Home to abundant wildlife and some of the UK’s most treasured landscapes, National Park waterways should be protected but 37% of rivers in Northumberland National Park fail to meet good ecological status.
Dr Rose O’Neill, chief executive, Campaign for National Parks said: “National Parks like Northumberland should set the gold standard for clean and healthy rivers, but instead they are being ignored and neglected by Government, regulators and water companies.
“These places are loved by millions of people: if we can’t protect the jewels of our waterways, then we are failing the nation.”
She added: “Government in England and Wales is in the midst of the biggest reform of the water sector in decades: they must not forget places like Northumberland.”
In 2024, 303 hours of sewage were discharged from water industry combined sewage overflows (CSO) into rivers in Northumberland National Park.
Many rural communities within National Parks are below the threshold resident population size where more than basic sewage treatment is legally required, meaning that sewage treatment technologies that are standard elsewhere are not legally required.
Campaign for National Parks is now urging ministers to put National Parks at the heart of England and Wales’s biggest water regulation shake-up in decades.
They are calling for stronger laws, cleaner rivers, tougher action on sewage and farm pollution, and more power and funding for Park Authorities to protect iconic waterways.