THE government and regulators may have failed to comply with key laws on protecting water quality in rivers, lakes and seas, the environmental watchdog said today.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) confirmed it had identified possible failures by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency to comply with rules designed to protect and improve water quality.

Under the regulations, water quality plans have to be in place for individual water bodies.

But the OEP said it found the plans tended to be too generic, did not address specific issues at individual sites and were being put in place despite low government confidence their objectives could be met.

As a result, key targets for improvement of water bodies by 2027 are highly likely to be missed, the watchdog said.

The OEP has sent both Defra and the Environment Agency “information notices” setting out the suspected failures, and they have two months to formally respond.

River Action CEO James Wallace said: “It is imperative that ministers now act decisively to address the freshwater emergency that has driven a dramatic and ongoing decline in river health.

“Today, all rivers in the UK are polluted. That is a national disgrace, and the result of years of weak regulation, poor enforcement and a failure to hold polluters to account.

“The government is shortly due to publish its long-awaited report on reforming the water sector.

“We will be watching extremely closely to see whether it contains the concrete measures needed to restore our rivers to health and end pollution for profit.”

Defra has been contacted for comment.