Labour peers have the opportunity to stop a damaging amendment to the Levelling Up Bill this week.
A vote on Wednesday will hand peers the chance to derail moves by Michael Gove to water down protections to water supplies introduced by the European Union in 2017.
The protections exist to stop pollutants like phosphates and nitrates from leaking into local water supplies.
These chemicals, while natural, can significantly harm water quality, endanger wildlife, and lead to overgrowth of algae.
Environmentalists are concerned that without having protections in place wastewater and sewage from new homes and construction site runoff are likely to harm local water ecosystems, leading to their degradation at a time when they are already under significant pressure.
Katie-Jo Luxton from the RSPB says the moves could lead to “total ecological collapse” in some areas.
But as Peter Stefanovic points out here, we still have a chance to do something about it:
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