[1] This brought together in ten regional units a diverse range of bodies involved in water treatment and supply, sewage disposal, land drainage, river pollution and fisheries.
The council of the Society of Arts had offered to award medals for plans to divide England and Wales into watershed districts, to assist in the conservancy of natural resources.
The silver medal was awarded to Frederick Toplis in 1879, whose twelve watershed districts cover remarkably similar areas to those established under the 1973 Act.
While they were primarily concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, they paved the way for river boards, which were established in 1948, and covered the whole of England and Wales.
The Working Party on Sewage Disposal, which reported in 1970, had suggested that there were over 3,000 treatment plants which were producing sub-standard effluent discharges.
Their major concern was the provision of potable water and the treatment of sewage, with environmental services occupying a much smaller part of their activities.
[10] Although all aspects of water management were under one body for each region, the new authorities still had to deal with two government departments when major capital expenditure was involved.
The Environment Agency is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of the environment, and aspects of this that affect the water and sewerage companies include monitoring their compliance with discharge consents, recording any pollution incidents that occur, and taking action and monitoring its effect when there is a pollution incident.
A tenth Island Area included Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, although they continued to act independently.
[15] The West of Scotland Water Authority was the largest of the three, serving some 2.25 million people occupying an area of over 7,700 square miles (20,000 km2), previously managed by Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway Regional Councils.
Water is obtained largely from surface sources, including 13 lochs, 134 impounding reservoirs and 95 abstraction points, on streams, springs and boreholes.
Its area of responsibility covered Edinburgh, the Borders, the Lothians, Fife and Kinross, the Forth Valley, and parts of North Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire.