DEVON’S first water quality summit will be held after councillors backed plans to bring together industry experts and concerned community groups.

Councillors endorsed proposals for Devon County Council to take a strategic ‘convening’ role, bringing together regulators, water companies, district councils, landowners, community groups and other organisations involved in protecting and improving Devon’s rivers, streams, estuaries and coastal waters.

Only around a fifth of Devon’s surface water bodies currently meet the ‘good ecological status’ required under national regulations, with pressures including agricultural runoff, urban pollution, wastewater discharges and the increasing impacts of climate change on rainfall and flooding.

While responsibility for water quality is shared across many organisations, councillors heard that activity can be fragmented, with overlaps, gaps and uncertainty about who is accountable for what.

A new coordinated approach would help improve transparency, reduce duplication and support better decision‑making for communities and partners.

Devon County Council would work with partners to develop a comprehensive, Devon‑wide picture of water quality responsibilities, existing activity and available evidence.

This would include mapping pollution sources and hotspots, clarifying statutory roles, and setting out what data is collected, by whom and how often.

A key part of the approach would be the hosting of a Devon Water Quality Summit, designed to bring together strategic partners and wider stakeholders for shared learning, constructive debate and agreement on next steps.

The summit would help shape a collaborative and transparent Devon Water Quality Action Plan, jointly owned by all partners.

The summit would also help raise awareness of the significant amount of work already under way across the county, while identifying where further collective action could deliver the greatest benefits for people, communities and the environment.

Councillor Paul Arnott, cabinet member for water quality said: ‘Water quality is one of the issues people across Devon care most deeply about; regardless if it’s in the context as a resource to drink, to grow crops and maintain live stock or because we are the only county with two coastlines and it’s the lynchpin of out tourist economy, people quite rightly expect public bodies to work together more effectively to protect our rivers, beaches and wildlife.

‘This approach is about bringing everyone around the table, being clear about who does what, and making sure we are joining up the good work already happening across the county.

‘By hosting a Devon Water Quality Summit, we want to create the space for honest discussion, shared understanding and practical collaboration that leads to real improvements on the ground’.

He added that while Devon County Council had limited direct statutory responsibility for regulating water quality, it does have an important leadership role in convening partners, improving transparency and supporting a more coherent, county‑wide response.

‘This approach is about collaboration, clarity and transparency – bringing partners together to better understand where collective action can make the biggest difference’, Councillor Arnott added.