Changes to bathing water status test will deny rivers protection, say critics

Cunsey Beck, one of several rivers and streams that replenish Lake Windermere, was the scene of a major pollution incident in 2022. Photograph: Richard Saker/The Observer

Rivers are unlikely to be granted the protections of bathing water status under the government’s changes to the system, campaigners have said.

River activists have reacted with fury as details of the reforms were revealed on Wednesday.