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Natural England - Too good to waste

Too good to waste

24 October 2008

Natural England challenges water companies’ failure to address water consumption and extraction levels.

Following the Water 2008 conference (Thursday 23 October), Natural England has called on government to tighten the regulation of water companies, whose resource management plans are flying in the face of government policies to reduce water consumption and extraction.

Water use is already placing serious pressure on the natural environment with water levels and quality seriously compromised in many areas. The latest Water Resource Management plans published by England’s water companies suggest there is very little commitment to reverse this increasingly damaging trend.

Helen Phillips, Natural England’s Chief Executive said, “Water resources are under immense pressure which will only intensify as population increases and climate change take effect. It is dismaying that many water companies’ water resource plans, far from focusing on reducing per capita consumption and carbon usage, are actually planning in going in the opposite direction, in direct contradiction of the Government’s own strategy.

“There is now a real need to have statutory water efficiency targets to ensure the water industry deals properly and urgently with this issue”.

Natural England expresses real concerns that very few of the water companies’ plans have fully assessed the impacts of their proposals on the natural environment, nor have they indicated how they will deliver their SSSI duty or wider biodiversity and landscape duties.

Many plans fail to appreciate broader biodiversity objectives and there is a need for wider planning to reduce overall abstraction pressures, especially in  water stressed areas in the East of England and the South East.

Helen Phillips continued,  “We must wake up and recognise that ‘more of the same policies’ just will not be sufficient to protect the natural environment and water customers’ interests over the next 20 years. Water resources cannot be squandered in the way they have been in the past, and water companies need to do a great deal more to ensure that their strategies going forward properly address this”.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

1. Water companies in England and Wales are now required to produce statutory Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs) which define how each water company will meet customer demand over the next 25 years, including tackling growth and dealing with climate change. See the draft plans that have been published by the English water companies for consultation and public comment. Final plans will be submitted in the Spring of 2009. Welsh plans have yet to be released by the Welsh Assembly Government.

2. Water companies use the water resource planning guidance produced by the Environment Agency to develop their plans.

3. View Defra's water strategy, Future Water published on 7 February 2008.

4. Defra’s vision for water policy and management is, by 2030 to have:

  • Improved the quality of our water environment and the ecology which it supports, and continued to provide high levels of drinking water quality from our taps;
  • Sustainably managed risks from flooding and coastal erosion, with greater understanding and more effective management of surface water;
  • Ensured a sustainable use of water resources, and implemented fair, affordable and cost-reflective water charges;
  • Cut greenhouse gas emissions; and
  • Embedded continuous adaptation to climate change and other pressures across the water industry and water users.

5. Defra’s vision for water resource planning by 2030 is to have:

  • Consumers using water wisely, appreciating its value and the consequences of wasting it;
  • A sustainable supply-demand balance across England, with no seriously water stressed areas;
  • Reduced per capita consumption of water through cost effective measures, to an average of 130 litres per person per day by 2030, or possibly even 120 litres per person per day;
  • Water companies actively encouraging demand management to protect customer and environmental needs.

6. Natural England’s role in the consultation process is to ensure that water companies can deliver their statutory obligations for Natura 2000 sites, SSSIs and Biodiversity Action Plans. Natural England also has an objective to promote more sustainable methods for tackling water quality and water resource problems at source through catchment based approaches that deliver multiple objectives, and to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation.

7. Natural England has reviewed each of the water resource management plans and has highlighted a number of key points:

  • Very few of the plans have fully assessed the environmental impacts of their proposals on the natural environment.
  • Many plans fail to appreciate broader biodiversity objectives and there is a need for wider planning to reduce overall abstraction pressures in the face of climate change and deliver objectives such as the wetland vision.
  • There is a lack of collaboration between neighbouring water company resource planning where resources are shared or where better outcomes could be delivered for both the consumer and the environment if resources were shared.
  • Two company plans (Anglian and Folkestone & Dover) appear to predict a Per Capita Consumption (PCC) below 130 litres per person per day, in line with Defra’s Water Strategy, Future Water. But the remaining companies currently predict PCC to remain higher over the 25 year period than the target in Future Water.
  • Two company plans (Thames and Folkestone and Dover) appear to propose a reduction in carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Many plans propose an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the longer term.

8. The IEA & Marketforce Water 2008 conference takes place at the Radisson SAS Portman Hotel in London on 22nd and 23rd October 2008. Further details are available from: www.marketforce.eu.com/water

For further information, contact:
Julian Lloyd, Media Relations Manager, 07500 992116 or julian.lloyd@naturalengland.org.uk
The Natural England Press Office, 07970 098005

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