Reduction tracker

Is each overflow actually spilling less? The reduction plan won't tell you per overflow — so we measure it from the spill record.

What the plan is, and what it leaves out

The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan is the government's plan — published in 2022 and expanded in September 2023 — to cut how often England's storm overflows discharge. It sets deadlines by category, not by overflow:

By 2035 — overflows near every designated bathing water, and 75% of those near high-priority nature sites, must be improved.
By 2045 — the remaining high-priority overflows.
By 2050 — every storm overflow, with discharges capped at around 10 spills a year regardless of location.

The targets are due to be reviewed in 2027 — a commitment in the plan, not a statutory duty. But the plan sets no target for any individual overflow and publishes no per-overflow progress — only these whole-category deadlines, and it doesn't even publish which specific overflows are high-priority. So there is no official way to ask “is this overflow on track?” This page builds that view from the Environment Agency's EDM record: each overflow's spills per year against its 2020 baseline and the 2050 cap of ~10, with the deadline its location implies.

Above the 2050 cap

of 41 tracked

Rising since baseline

trend is the wrong way

On a 2035 deadline

near a bathing water

Within the cap

≤10 spills in 2025

Every overflow against its cap

Ranked by the latest full year's spills. The deadline is derived from proximity to a designated site — indicative, not an official per-overflow target. The dotted line on each trajectory is the 10-spills cap.

Overflow	Deadline	Baseline	Latest	Since baseline	vs cap	Trajectory	Verdict
TOTNES STW_SSO_TOTNES SBB01264	2045	344	1165	+239%	116.5×		Rising
PEAR TREE CROSS_CSO_ASHBURTON SBB00917	2045	16 ·22	220	+1275%	22×		Rising
FERRY BOAT SPST_PSCSOEO_DITTISHAM SBB00446	2035	150	169	+13%	16.9×		Rising
SCORRITON STW_SO_SCORRITON SBB01058	2050	96 ·21	168	+75%	16.8×		Rising
DITTISHAM MAIN STW_SO_DITTISHAM SBB00365	2035	276	159	-42%	15.9×		Off track for 2035
SMITH ST_CSO_DARTMOUTH SBB01095	2035	184	158	-14%	15.8×		Off track for 2035
KILBURY STW_SO_BUCKFASTLEIGH SBB00179	2045	483	141	-71%	14.1×		Falling — behind
HARBERTON STW_SSO_HARBERTON SBB00536	2050	39	121	+210%	12.1×		Rising
HOLNE STW_SO_HOLNE SBB00581	2050	216	115	-47%	11.5×		Falling — behind
KILBURY STW_SSO_BUCKFASTLEIGH SBB00178	2045	275	97	-65%	9.7×		Falling — behind
HARBERTON STW_SO_HARBERTON SBB00535	2050	128	82	-36%	8.2×		Falling — behind
RATTERY STW_SO_RATTERY SBB01016	2050	3528 ·22	74	-98%	7.4×		Falling — behind
TEXTILE MILL_CSO_DARTINGTON SBB01219	2050	14	67	+379%	6.7×		Rising
TOTNES TOWN SPST_PSCSOEO_TOTNES SBB01265	2035	196	66	-66%	6.6×		Off track for 2035
BRIDGETOWN STEAMER QUAY_CSO_TOTNES SBB01167	2035	68	65	-4%	6.5×		Off track for 2035
LOWER FERRY SPS_PSCSOEO_KINGSWEAR SBB00712	2035	94	63	-33%	6.3×		Off track for 2035
STONEPARK CRESCENT_CSO_ASHBURTON SBB01186	2045	75	59	-21%	5.9×		Falling — behind
31 FORE STREET_CSO_TOTNES SBB00025	2035	32	50	+56%	5×		Rising
DARTINGTON C_CSO_DARTINGTON SBB00350	2050	18	39	+117%	3.9×		Rising
DARTINGTON SCH TWO_CSO_DARTINGTON SBB00349	2050	74	38	-49%	3.8×		Falling — behind
SWALLOWFIELDS_CSO_TOTNES SBB01196	2045	27	33	+22%	3.3×		Rising
OPP 26 MARKET STREET_CSO_BUCKFASTLEIGH SBB01408	2045	15 ·24	30	+100%	3×		Rising
HARBERTONFORD STW_SSO_HARBERTONFORD SBB00537	2050	22	29	+32%	2.9×		Rising
MAYORS AVENUE SPST_PSCSO_DARTMOUTH SBB00755	2050	10	26	+160%	2.6×		Rising
ASHPRINGTON STW_SSO_ASHPRINGTON SBB00053	2045	634	26	-96%	2.6×		Falling — behind
BROADHEMPSTON STW_SSO_BROADHEMPSTON SBB00165	2050	266 ·21	25	-91%	2.5×		Falling — behind
FURZEGOOD SPS_PSCSOEO_MARLDON SBB00481	2045	39	24	-38%	2.4×		Falling — behind
STAVERTON STW_SSO_STAVERTON SBB01166	2050	19	20	+5%	2×		Rising
STOKE GABRIEL SPS_PSCSOEO_TOTNES SBB01178	2035	28	15	-46%	1.5×		Off track for 2035
SHINNERS BRIDGE_CSO_DARTINGTON SBB01082	2050	64	14	-78%	1.4×		Nearly there
MILL CREEK SPS_PSCSOEO_DITTISHAM SBB00776	2035	22	14	-36%	1.4×		Off track for 2035
WIDECOMBE STW_SO_WIDECOMBE IN THE MOOR SBB01359	2050	1 ·22	13	+1200%	1.3×		Rising
ST KATHERINES WAY_ CSO_TOTNES SBB01140	2035	15	13	-13%	1.3×		Off track for 2035
OLD WOOLLEN MILL_CSO_BUCKFASTLEIGH SBB00885	2045	1	12	+1100%	1.2×		Rising
DARTHAVEN MARINA SPS_PSCSOEO_KINGSWEAR SBB00348	2050	1	7	+600%	0.7×		Within the cap
ST LUKES CHURCH_CSO_BUCKFASTLEIGH SBB01145	2045	8	7	-13%	0.7×		Within the cap
WARFLEET CREEK SPS_PSCSOEO_DARTMOUTH SBB01316	2035	6	7	+17%	0.7×		Within the cap
PRIORY SLIP SPS_PSCSOEO_KINGSWEAR SBB00987	2035	3 ·21	3	0%	0.3×		Within the cap
NEW PARK GARDEN_CSO_WIDECOMBE SBB00830	2050	3 ·22	1	-67%	0.1×		Within the cap
YARROW BANK SPS_PSCSOEO_KINGSWEAR SBB01385	2035	27 ·24	0	-100%	0×	—	Within the cap
ASHPRINGTON STW_SO_ASHPRINGTON SBB00052	2045	180	0	-100%	0×		Within the cap

What this is — and what it is not

This is River Hub's measurement, not the plan's. The reduction plan publishes no target for an individual overflow and no per-overflow progress — so we compare each outlet's EDM spill count to its 2020 baseline and the 10/year cap. The deadline shown is derived by proximity to a designated site, not an official determination, and the plan is a policy commitment rather than a statutory duty. Counts exclude spills under 15 minutes. A falling trend is progress, but only ≤10 by the deadline is compliance. Where 2020 data is thin the baseline falls back to the earliest year on record, shown beside it.