Not until May will the outdoor swimmers of Ilkley, in Yorkshire, find out whether their application for a section of the River Wharfe to become an officially designated bathing area has been accepted. But whatever happens next, their lively campaign has put river swimming on the nature lover’s map. Over recent years, open-air swimming in the sea, lakes and pools has enjoyed a resurgence in Britain, driven by warmer temperatures as well as enthusiasm. But until now there has not been a single river formally designated a bathing area, with the water kept clean and regularly checked over the summer months – as already happens at many beaches and some lakes.
In many parts of the country, the seaside is the logical destination for pleasure-seekers or fitness enthusiasts wanting to get wet, or paddle and picnic by the water’s edge. Some of those living further from the coast, or in cities and towns, may have an accessible lake, pond or lido. But for others, the nearest waterway is a river, which is why the claim being staked by the people of Ilkley to their right to bathe safely is such a valuable test case.
The current picture is murky, with plentiful evidence of both pollution and a widespread failure by the authorities to deal with it. There are 16,000 sites in England where untreated effluent can flow into rivers. While the government’s aim is for 75% of rivers to meet an EU “good” standard by 2027, environmental charities say we are off course, with only 14% reaching the required level of cleanliness at the last check. Southern Water was fined £126m by the water regulator Ofwat last year after it was found to have failed to operate a number of sewage treatment works properly and deliberately misreporting data. A separate criminal investigation by the Environment Agency is ongoing.
Prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency for polluting rivers, meanwhile, have fallen sharply – from 30 in 2014 to just three in 2018. In some cases, companies have been allowed to suggest their own penalties, with large sums flowing to charities supported by executives as a result. Such rackety goings-on have presumably stopped since they were revealed. But the UK’s departure from the EU brings a new set of perils.
The solution is not for every bathing spot to have a weekly inspection. Designated areas are meant to be busy, while some swimmers are explorers who seek out little-visited stretches of water. But with Sport England identifying nearly 500,000 regular wild swimmers at the last count, and many more in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, everyone should get behind the idea that rivers are not dustbins. There are strong economic as well as environmental arguments for promoting domestic tourism and regular exercise. Germany has 38 designated swimming rivers, Italy 73 and France 573. Led by the pioneers of Ilkley, the UK should paddle fast to catch up.
