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Developing a market-based approach to deliver SuDS through street works - Green Lanes
Ofwat Innovation fund highlights nature’s role in
solving water sector challenges experiences, insights and lessons from eight nature-based solutions
The £600m Ofwat Innovation Fund has published its latest learning report, From source to sea: harnessing nature and communities for whole catchment innovation.
The new report uncovers insights from eight pioneering nature- based projects backed by the Ofwat Innovation Fund since 2020. By sharing lessons learned, it aims to inspire the wider water sector to build on each project’s success and fast-track solutions to some of the sector’s most pressing challenges
Nature-based solutions take advantage of natural systems to solve challenges such as climate change and pollution, aiming to protect, conserve, restore or sustainably manage natural environments.
Between them, the projects have been supported with more than £18 million of funding. Led by six different water companies, the consortia behind the winning projects involved 77 partners ranging from the Rivers Trust and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to technology companies, engineering consultancies, universities and local governments.
They include citizen science initiatives, projects to integrate sustainable drainage systems (SuDs) into urban neighbourhoods and programmes identifying how to scale nature-based solutions at landscape level.
These solutions are informing the sector’s “source-to-sea” approach, demonstrating the interconnectivity of the UK’s water systems, from upstream catchment management to water reuse and flood mitigation.
Dr Jo Jolly, Director, Environment and Innovation, Ofwat, said:
“Our water sector needs innovative solutions, and the culture to enable it, to navigate the crises we face – from climate change and biodiversity loss to rapid population growth. Right across the sector, we need to collaborate at pace and drive a major shift towards nature-based solutions The Ofwat Innovation
30 | July 2025 |
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Fund has been a vital part of initiating this transition, and our ambition for ever more urgent progress is a central part of our new action plan for 2025-30.”
Marking the launch of the report, Jo Jolly will chair a panel session about nature-based solutions at the European Wastewater Management Conference & Exhibition on 18 June, speaking with Jack Spees (Ribble Rivers Trust, a partner in Mainstreaming Nature Based Solutions and CaSTCo), Bridget Woods Ballard (HR Wallingford, a partner in SuDS-iQ: A National SuDS Collaboration & Evaluation Platform) and Matthew Whaley (Greater London Authority, a partner in Developing a market- based approach to deliver SuDS through street works).
The report highlights projects like Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions, led by United Utilities with partners including The Rivers Trust and WWT. Awarded £8 million through the Water Breakthrough Challenge 3, the project tackles flooding, drought, and water quality at a landscape scale by removing barriers to adopting nature-based solutions.
Another standout project, CaSTCo (Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative), received £6.3 million to transform environmental monitoring. Led by United Utilities and partners like the Rivers Trust, Earthwatch and ZSL, it’s creating a national framework for standardised data collection to improve river health.
Thanks to this work, over 6,600 people joined the first Big River Watch, and 2,630 took part in the Great UK WaterBlitz across 1,300 locations. CaSTCo has also supported habitat restoration, including hedge planting, pond building, and river work across the UK.
Jack Spees, CEO, Ribble Rivers Trust, a partner in Mainstreaming nature-based solutions to deliver greater value and CaSTCo, said:
“Nature-based solutions have the potential to provide multiple
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