The Head of the Environment Agency in England has, reportedly, devised a cunning wheeze to reclassify English rivers as 'good' (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/19/environment-agency-chief-backs-plan-to-water-down-river-cleanliness-rules-james-bevan). Currently, only 14% of the waterways, for which he has responsibility, reach this criterion on the EU's Water Framework Directive. The Directive assesses rivers on the bases of biology, physical characteristics, depth, width, flow rate and pollution. It operates on a 'one-out-all-out' principle (if the river fails on one measure, it cannot be classified as 'good'). Sir James Bevan apparently told a gathering of 'industrialists' that he favoured moving, post-Brexit, to using a single positive measure to generate a 'good' rating. This sounds like a polluter's and water-taker's' charter?
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