Skanska has completed Anglian Water’s first integrated constructed treatment wetland at Everton Water Recycling Centre in Bedfordshire, designed to strip phosphorus and iron from final effluent using a nature‑based flow path rather than chemical dosing. The wetland forms part of the WRC outfall stream, using engineered reed beds and controlled hydraulic residence times to polish treated wastewater before discharge. For civil and water engineers, the scheme signals growing scope for low‑energy, passive treatment trains to meet tightening nutrient consents on small to medium works.

Southern Water has launched a £1.3bn framework tender for sustainable drainage and habitat restoration across its catchment, targeting large-scale SuDS retrofits, nature-based flood management and river corridor enhancement. The multi-year programme will call for design-and-build teams to deliver measures such as swales, wetlands, infiltration basins and floodplain reconnection to cut surface water inflows to sewers and reduce CSO spills. Contractors will need strong geotechnical, hydrological and ecological capability, with emphasis on whole-catchment modelling and long-term asset performance.

UK tree‑planting rates are falling far short of the UK’s statutory 2050 net‑zero pathway, with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit warning that missed planting during this Parliament could create a long‑term “carbon removal gap” and weaker natural flood defences. The analysis points to delayed woodland creation in upland catchments and along floodplains, where riparian planting and shelterbelts could slow overland flow, stabilise soils and reduce peak river levels. For infrastructure planners, this signals greater reliance on hard‑engineered flood schemes and more expensive carbon removal options later in the century.