This episode explores practical approaches to creating cleaner, healthier environments and examines how innovation, collaboration, and effective regulation can improve water quality. 

In  'Creating a thriving environment,’ host Natasha Wiseman dives deep into one of the most critical and highly debated topics in the water sector: pollution. 

While public attention understandably centres on water company performance, clean waterways require a much broader, systems-thinking approach. This episode brings together two leading experts to examine the regulatory future of water, the often overlooked threat of highway and urban runoff, and the practical, nature-based, and digital solutions that can transform our environment. 

Guests: 

• Alastair Chisholm, Water Policy, Regulation, and Governance Lead at Arup 

Alastair has decades of experience in environmental policy, previously serving as the Director of Policy at CIWEM (Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management). He specialises in managing water as an interconnected system. 

• Jo Bradley, Rainwater Management Technical Principal at United Utilities & Director of Operations at Stormwater Shepherds 

Jo is a renowned expert in stormwater management and highway runoff. She has spent years highlighting the hidden chemical and physical pollutants washing off our road networks and advocating for robust drainage solutions. 

Key discussion points 

• Investment gap: While water companies are investing record amounts (nearly doubling budgets in the current Asset Management Period), local authorities and national highway agencies are lagging behind. 

• Legislative need: The urgent need to enact Schedule 3, which would mandate Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) on all new developments. 

• Catchment partnerships: Collaborative forums act as “safe spaces” where water companies, local authorities, environmental NGOs, and landowners can align their priorities. 

• Stewardship: In places like Philadelphia and Grangetown, communities have successfully adopted local rain gardens, taking on basic maintenance like weeding and inlet clearing, which fosters a deep sense of local pride. 

• Stormwater Utility Levy: Jo Bradley proposes introducing a dedicated stormwater levy (similar to models in Germany and the US) via council tax to generate a ring-fenced fund for community rainwater capture, street trees, and urban cooling.