Post-Brexit UK Could Weaken EU-Imposed Water Quality Targets

The U.K. may not retain long-term targets for the cleanliness of its water bodies after it leaves the European Union, said George Eustice, minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

Under the EU’s Water Framework Directive, member states are required to achieve a so-called good status by 2027 for all natural water bodies including rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters, and groundwater.

The U.K. is scheduled to leave the EU March 29, 2019, and under its new 25-year Environmental Plan it’s weakened this commitment to “at least three quarters of our ...