United Utilities and The Rivers Trust have announced a strategic partnership to tackle the big challenges facing rivers in North West England.

The partnership formalises the existing strong relationship between the water company and the NGO.

It builds on years of joint working between the two organisations, and the approach could be replicated throughout the British Isles to bring a brighter future for society’s green and blue spaces.

It is the first time a partnership has set about designing a framework to bring together everyone with an interest in the health of our rivers from source to sea.

It will build better competence for more urgent action to tackle challenges that are increasingly important to society, such as pollution, flooding and water abstraction and help deliver adaptations and resilience to combat the extremes of climate change.

The Rivers Trust CEO, Mark Lloyd, said: “The challenges facing the water environment affect everyone in society and cannot be solved by any organisation on its own.

"We all contribute to the problems, but we can all be part of the solutions if we work together to develop a shared understanding, consensus about an action plan and agreement about how to meet the costs.

"We are delighted to have signed this strategic partnership with United Utilities that will be a major step to achieving systemic change in the North West. Hopefully this is the first of many such partnerships in the UK and Ireland.”

United Utilities CEO, Steve Mogford, said: “This is one of the most ambitious partnerships United Utilities has ever embarked upon and it provides a blueprint for a new framework of environmental collaboration and investment.

"For too long our rivers have suffered from a fragmented management approach. Our water environment is at a turning point and by working with the Rivers Trust we can help set the agenda to deliver real change for the better.

"We bring to the partnership more than 15 years of experience in treating water catchments as a single complex system and leveraging skills, resources and funding to make a difference.”