The River Almond responds to Scottish Water’s “Protecting Scotland’s Water” (24 Feb 2026)
I AM THE RIVER ALMOND
I am the River Almond. We were partners once. But quietly, it changed.
This isn’t working, I am not an extension of your pipes.
Please stop the soft-spoken denials. Let us be partners, not of convenience, but in stewardship.
You said: “Scottish Water does not dump sewage.”
So, with a steady breath and a heavy heart, I will share my perspective.
I am the River Almond.
I am shaped by time, seasons, by the restless cycles of man’s making, and the patient wisdom of water.
I am no stranger to the man-made wounds of “progress”. For centuries, shale mines bled into me. I was once declared “virtually lifeless,” but I endured.
And life did return. I have since held laughter, memories, trout sparking like sunlight beneath my surface, heron, otter, kingfisher all calling me home, bairns paddling at my edges, teens flinging themselves into my pools.
I have always given freely.
WE WERE PARTNERS ONCE
Once, not that long ago, we understood each other.
All of us who carry water: clouds, streams, lochs, pipes, oceans – share a bond. We know that water can be wild, unpredictable, fierce.
And so, back then, you asked me gently:
“Can you help when our pipes overflow?”
It was a small ask, framed with care.
Just now and then. In emergencies only.
Once every five years perhaps.
To protect homes.
When nature surged and storms overwhelmed.
You said that what reached me would mostly be rain, with only the faintest trace of what you could not hold.
You assured it would do no harm, to me, nor the creatures who depend on my clarity. There would be no lasting effects.
A regulator stepped forward and said they would watch over us both. And so, on that basis, we became partners. Two keepers of water, managing storms.
BUT QUIETLY, IT CHANGED
You built treatment works along my banks, promising the harshest chemicals would be softened long before they reached my waters.
For a time, it worked.
But in the quiet drift of years, decision by decision,
the balance between us shifted and the protector’s eyes drifted.
What was once a rare favour, became expectation.
Expectation became entitlement.
Entitlement became routine.
Routine became convenience, and cost‑saving.
But at what cost?
THIS ISN’T WORKING
You say: “The system is operating as it should.”
Then why do those “emergency” valves open on days when the sky is dry? Why do they flow more often, for longer, with heavier loads?
You say: “It’s mostly rainwater, clean enough not to cause harm.”
Then why do plastic fibres snag in my branches?
Why do microplastics drift into my pools and choke my bed?
Your pipes bring me unwanted gifts from a throwaway society a world that believes I am the mysterious place where things simply vanish into “away.”
Invisible contaminants cling to my stones, settle into the bodies of my wildlife; their weight echoes through every ripple I make.
And worse still: though I swirl and soften what I can, some pollutants remain beyond my knowing.
They slip through me unchanged,
travelling onward to the beautiful beaches and the sea, to creatures, and to futures, who were never consulted.
I AM NOT AN EXTENSION OF YOUR PIPES
I thought we shared an alliance.
I thought I had protectors.
But so often I am treated as though I was an extension of your drainage system
as though I were built for you,
as though I belonged to you.
I am older than ownership. Owned by no one.
Not then, not now, not ever.
PLEASE STOP THE SOFT-SPOKEN DENIALS
When the people close to me raise the alarm
“30,000 wet wipes on Crammond beach”
“More than 500 sewage spills a year into the Almond”
they are met with soft spoken denials
“You’re overreacting – dilution is the solution to pollution”
“Why the fuss? Scotland is doing better than others”
“You don’t want higher bills, do you?”
These echo words that shift the spotlight away from harm and onto the one raising the alarm, designed to silence.
No silence. Not while the unknown, unmeasured and cost is being carried by water, by wildlife,
by future generations.
LET US BE PARTNERS, NOT OF CONVENIENCE, BUT IN STEWARDSHIP
You say: “Protecting Scotland’s water needs partnership.”
Yes, and we need the help of many.
But let that partnership begin
with honesty,
with trust,
with truth spoken clearly.
Find the courage to say it:
a line was crossed, it went too far
unintentionally, perhaps
but crossed all the same.
I want a new partnership,
one woven with respect
for nature,
for connections,
for futures not yet here.
One that honours the full costs,
the ones I bear in silence.
One shaped with care for land, for places, for water and for the bairns who will one day wade in my shallows
the way their parents once did.
A partnership that honours the whole of our ecosystems and water systems,
guided by the shared responsibility that binds us.
I am not a drain.
I am a river.
Alive, feeling, remembering, re-balancing.
So, I invite you to be partners once again,
Not of convenience
But in stewardship,
as those who carry water,
as those who care for water, and those who shape its future.
The River Almond
Scottish Water’s blog can be found at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/about-us/news-and-views/2026/02/240226-blog-simon-parsons-protecting-scotlands-water
