Regional Water Authority

The Regional Water Authorities came into existence in England and Wales in 1975 to bring together in ten regional units a diverse range of bodies involved in water treatment and supply, sewage disposal, land drainage, river pollution and fisheries.

Up until that time River boards, organised on river catchment basis, had been responsible for land drainage, river pollution control and fisheries; Sewerage boards had been largely responsible for sewage collection and disposal in areas defined by Local authority boundaries and water supply had been managed by quasi regional water boards.

The ten new authorities were :

• Anglian Water Authority - The areas of the East Suffolk and Norfolk, Essex, Great Ouse, Lincolnshire and Welland and Nene River Authorities, except the part of the area of the Essex River Authority which is included in the area of the Thames Water Authority
• Northumbrian Water Authority - The area of the Northumbrian River Authority
• North West Water Authority - The areas of the Cumberland, Lancashire and Mersey and Weaver River Authorities
• Severn Trent Water Authority - The areas of the Severn and Trent River Authorities, except the part of the area of the Severn River Authority which was included in the area of the Wessex Water Authority.
• Southern Water Authority - The Isle of Wight and the areas of the Hampshire, Kent and Sussex River Authorities, except the part of the area of the Kent River Authority which was included in the area of the Thames Water Authority.
• Thames Water Authority - The Thames Catchment Area, the Lee Catchment Area and parts of the area of the Essex River Authority and of the Kent River Authority that drained to the Thames estuary
• Wessex Water Authority - Most of the area of the Avon and Dorset, Bristol Avon and Somerset River Authorities and part of the area of the Severn River Authority draining to the lower Severn estuary
• South West Water Authority - The areas of the Cornwall and Devon River Authorities and part of the area of the Avon and Dorset River Authority .
• Welsh National Water Development Authority (WNWDA) including all the catchments of the Wye River Authority, the Usk River Authority, the Glamorgan River Authority, the South West Wales River Authority, the Gwynedd River Authority and the Dee and Clwyd River Authority . Parts of the WNWDA area including parts of the River Dee and the River Wye extended into England
• Yorkshire Water Authority - The area of the Yorkshire River Authority