Designating river environments as bathing waters: challenges and opportunities at the science-policy interface

Regulatory standards for primary contact recreation are used around the world to limit risks to human health from exposure to poor water quality. Prior to 2020, no stretches of river in the UK were designated as bathing water environments. However, growing recreational use of rivers combined with grassroots action by campaign groups to promote a river clean-up agenda has helped to establish, and increase the number of, designated riverine bathing waters in the UK. Nevertheless, since 2020 most newly designated riverine bathing waters have struggled to meet the microbiological standards associated with the Bathing Water Directive due to anthropogenic inputs originating from farming, sewage, and wastewater discharges. This is, in part, due to UK rivers being managed historically for different ecosystem services, with no statutory monitoring for public health. Calls are growing for river water quality improvements, fuelled by frequent media coverage concerning sewage overflows into freshwater environments and widespread recognition of poor delivery on targets for UK waterbody quality. In response, a five-point plan to improve understanding and future management of faecal indicators at riverine bathing water sites is proposed, offering transferability to other regions of the world where microbiological monitoring of river environments is needed to support recreation.