Public anger over sewage pollution, river health and regulatory failure is growing across Yorkshire. As campaigners, residents and politicians gather for Yorkshire’s Dirty Business: The Mayors Respond to Public Outrage, attention is turning to whether those with influence over the region’s future are prepared to press water companies and regulators for greater accountability.
New information released by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Information Regulations adds to that debate. The disclosures cover pollution reports in the River Wharfe and River Aire catchments, attendance by agency officers, changes between initial and final incident categories, prosecutions and enforcement undertakings involving Yorkshire Water.
For many communities living alongside rivers such as the Wharfe and Aire, pollution is no longer solely an environmental concern. Increasingly, it is also a question of trust in the organisations responsible for monitoring and protecting Yorkshire’s waterways.
Pollution incidents on the rise
According to Yorkshire Water’s own annual performance summary, there were 260 confirmed pollution incidents associated with Yorkshire Water in 2025/26, almost double the 145 incidents recorded in 2022. This includes 11 serious pollution incidents in 2025 with two further under review. Separately, Environment Agency figures for 2024 recorded 13 serious incidents involving Yorkshire Water, the third-highest number among water companies in England.
Additional data, seen by the authors of this article, reveals that Yorkshire Water recorded 1,030 dry-day sewage spills in 2025. That is the second highest number among water companies in England. Dry-day spills occur when sewage is discharged despite there being no rainfall event (<0.25mm) to justify overflow operation.
As pollution incidents increase in the River Wharfe and River Aire, attendance of the incidents by the Environment Agency remains relatively low. Aire data for 2016-2026 and Wharfe data for 2017-2026 show just 56 of 421 incidents were attended – just 13.3%, with that dropping to 12% in 2026 and serious pollution incidents in the River Wharfe not attended at all in 2026.
The agency says it aims to attend category 1 and 2 water-industry incidents, but the classification scheme allows an incident to be substantiated without a site visit where an officer is sufficiently confident in the available information. However, any incident substantiated this way can only be done through water company evidence alone. The agency also has a statutory duty to attend all serious incidents, so effectively water companies will be dictating to the agency whether a pollution incident is serious or not. Campaigners therefore argue that low attendance can make independent verification of an incident and its environmental impact more difficult.
Campaigners from The Sewage Campaign Network have seen data that reveals that the average time taken by Yorkshire Water to report pollution incidents in 2025 was 19 hours. Environmental permits require incidents to be reported immediately, allowing regulators to investigate while evidence remains available. Campaigners argue that delayed reporting can hinder investigations and weaken accountability.
Serious incidents downgraded
A separate Yorkshire-wide disclosure shows how the assessment of incidents naming Yorkshire Water as the source changed between the initial report and the final classification.
In 2025, 122 reports initially assessed as serious pollution events, category 1 or 2 were downgraded as lower severity incidents, category 3 or 4. Of these, 79 were recorded as not attended by an Environment Agency officer.
Under the Environment Agency’s Common Incident Classification Scheme, the initial category reflects potential impact and helps determine the response, while the final category records actual impact following investigation.
Campaigners raise legitimate questions on how incident severity can be accurately assessed in these investigations where no site visit takes place and whether environmental harms are being accurately captured and investigated.
Enforcement under scrutiny
Questions also remain over enforcement. The last sewage prosecution of Yorkshire Water by the Environment Agency for a sewage discharge offence concluded in 2022 for offences first prosecuted in 2019.
The disclosure also lists 20 enforcement undertakings involving Yorkshire Water. These are civil sanctions under which a company agrees to remedial action and payments to environmental organisations. They include a £200,000 undertaking concerning Scarcroft combined sewer overflow in the River Wharfe catchment, alongside remediation, infrastructure improvements and changes to monitoring and response procedures.
Critics say that, although such payments can fund worthwhile projects and remediation, they may not have the same deterrent effect as a criminal prosecution.
Yorkshire mayors face growing pressure
Although Yorkshire’s elected mayors do not regulate water companies directly, they can influence regional policy, environmental priorities and public debate.
Yorkshire’s Dirty Business was attended by campaign groups including the Sewage Campaign Network, Ilkley Clean River, Plastic-Free North West Leeds, Save Our Swale and Surfers Against Sewage. They are calling for stronger political pressure on Yorkshire Water and national regulators, and for public ownership of water companies to be examined.
Professor Becky Malby of Ilkley Clean River said: “Despite increasingly frequent water shortages and pollution at our seaside holidays … the water companies find workarounds for the banned bonuses and there remains no action by government. Lobbyists come up with poorly thought-out quick fixes that protect private equity and leave the country vulnerable to water scarcity. We want our water back under full public ownership.”
The mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said: “There is injustice and unfairness, and my role as mayor is to get things done. When we see the failure of Yorkshire Water, the collective mayors are going to hold Yorkshire Water to account. I live on the River Aire and can see and smell the pollution in the river. Thirteen serious discharges, when Ofwat’s target is zero; we pay 41% more on our bills and the system gets worse. The public want control back. It is my mission to work with the Sewage Campaign Network and campaigners here today to do whatever I can to change this.”
The discussion comes amid rising water bills and Yorkshire Water’s warning that it expects its Environment Agency rating for 2025 to fall from two stars to one when the assessment is published. Campaigners are demanding answers from those managing, monitoring and regulating the region’s waterways, and want elected leaders to represent calls for water to return to public control.
Accountability at the heart of the debate
The debate over Yorkshire’s rivers is no longer solely about sewage spills or pollution statistics. Increasingly, it is about accountability, public confidence and whether regulation is working effectively.
As Yorkshire’s political leaders respond to campaigners and the public, they are likely to face growing pressure to explain how they will use their influence to improve river health, strengthen oversight and restore trust in the institutions responsible for protecting the region’s waterways.
More from Kirsty Tucker
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