Devon's water quality is under the spotlight at a public meeting tonight
South West Water says it has a £900 million by plan by 2023 to 'radically improve storm performance'
Water quality - and concerns over sewage - are being discussed in North Devon later.
A public meeting will see rivers' groups surfers, farmers and the National Trust all having their say.
The agenda for tonight's council meeting - which is open to everyone - says it 'aims to understand the issues and look for solutions' and will include South West Water giving an update on their work to reduce storm overflows.
There's currently a number of pollution alerts in force across the North Devon coast according to campaign group Surfers Against Sewage.
Chair of North Devon Council's Policy Development Committee, Councillor Liz Spear, said: "We have heard from residents their concerns around water quality and sewage affecting our incredible beaches and waterways.
"We have therefore invited a range of colleagues from relevant groups and agencies to this special public meeting where we hope to be able to gain an understanding of the issues and look for solutions.
"We are looking forward to a positive and constructive discussion."
The council's policy development committee meeting takes place in the South West Institute Development Building at Petroc on Thursday, 29 February at 6.30pm and will be attended by representatives from The National Trust, National Farmers' Union, South West Water, Environment Agency, North Devon Biosphere, North Devon Surf Reserve, Westcountry Rivers Trust, North Devon Angling News and Surfers Against Sewage.
In a series of questions ahead of the meeting, those taking part were asked questions including: "In order for planning authorities to properly determine planning applications, should water companies provide up to date appropriate information on the capacity of sewage disposal for the proposed development?"
Surfers Against Sewage replied: "Yes, we believe that there should be transparent information on sewage disposal capacity available to developers and planning authorities to ensure capacity does not become overloaded. "
They added: "At Surfers Against Sewage, we strive to provide water users with vital information regarding water quality, however the lack of standardised framework for data processing and format means that of the dozen data feeds we receive, not all are directly comparable. This information can indeed be confusing to water users and make data interpretation difficult. The soon to be published map, led by Water UK, will feature live discharge data from all storm overflows in the UK. SAS believes that this is an opportunity, and responsibility, for water companies to develop an easy to use interface with simple and clear messaging to inform water users of risks associated with accessing water, with a data framework which provides continuity between datasets."
The West Country Rivers Trust added: "As a society we will have to resolve water pollution as it is integral to other water management issues such as drought, flooding and aquatic habitat and species loss. Climate change and the ecological emergency is forcing us to look for joined up nature based solutions and in many places this can run alongside our need for food but there will be spaces where we will need to decide what we need most from any parcel and a national Food Security Statement and Strategic Land Use Framework is needed. Work is underway to provide this but it needs leadership at the highest levels within Government."
They added: "Water pollution has been an ongoing issue over the last 30 years and is the main reason why the Westcountry Rivers Trust formed. The problems are complex and multifaceted but the main pressures stem from agricultural sectors and the sewage sector (both CSO’s Treated Effluent and Septic tanks). The Trust have been monitoring some the rivers of North Devon and this reinforces the Environment Agency data that few of our rivers (bar those draining Exmoor and Dartmoor) meet the ecological status with failures driven by to phosphate pollution, sediment loss and physical modification."
South West Water has provided a detailed information update ahead of the meeting which you can find here including a £900 million by plan by 2023 to 'radically improve storm performance'