United Utilities has announced a £30M programme to retrofit sustainable drainage across Liverpool, aiming to make the city “spongier” by intercepting and attenuating rainfall before it reaches combined sewers. Measures are expected to include permeable paving, rain gardens and other SuDS features on highways and public realm to cut surface runoff volumes and peak flows during intense storms. For civil and drainage engineers, the scheme signals more retrofit SuDS design in dense urban streetscapes, with a premium on hydraulic modelling, utility coordination and constructability in constrained corridors.

Ofwat has accepted a £44.7M enforcement package from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to remediate wastewater network failures and cut sewage spills across Wales. The measures will target storm overflows and underperforming treatment works, with investment directed to upgrading sewer infrastructure, increasing storage capacity and improving process control at key wastewater treatment plants. For civil and environmental engineers, the programme signals near-term demand for hydraulic modelling, network rehabilitation, and construction of additional attenuation and treatment assets under tighter regulatory scrutiny.

The Environment Agency has appointed a consortium led by AtkinsRéalis, with Stantec and Waterman as subconsultants, to deliver professional services for a new flood and coastal risk management framework across England. The framework will support planning, design and appraisal of defences and nature-based solutions for rivers, estuaries and coasts, shaping future capital works and asset management programmes. Consultants can expect significant workloads in hydraulic modelling, coastal processes, climate change allowances and whole-life risk assessments for Environment Agency schemes.