[Richard]

We have also been talking about how we prioritise interventions to help achieve our environmental destination. There are different ways we could do this.

1. Prioritise reducing abstraction and focus on increasing low river flows and groundwater levels.

2. Seek to maximise multiple benefits and focus on activities that could give the greatest overall improvement to rivers and water bodies.

3. Focus improvements on the greatest needs and where we can make the most difference, recognising that each catchment will have different needs.

Which approach do you think we should be using?

[Richard]

In our consultation events we have been talking about three different levels of environmental destination.

Level 1 is based on current known legislative requirements, ensuring the water environment doesn’t deteriorate and including cost beneficial improvements

Level 2 goes beyond this to reflect climate change and other needs

Level 3 would go even further and give greater protection to some higher risk water environments

The higher levels would involve greater reductions in abstraction and mean we would need to develop more new sources of water. Those new sources could have their own environmental impacts and come at a cost in customers water bills.

It’s generated some good discussion. Which level would you prefer? How much extra would you be prepared to pay?

[Richard]

How often should peoples water use get restricted, e.g. by banning the use of hosepipes?

We have currently have different levels of service within our region…
South Staffs = once in 40 years
Severn Trent = once in 33 years
Welsh Water = once in 20 years
United Utilities = once in 20 years

[Richard]

In a 2018 publication, Preparing for a Drier Future, the National Infrastructure Commission set out the case for a new drought resilience standard. Under the new standard, there would be a 5% chance that standpipes, rota cuts or other emergency measures might be needed over a 25 year period. This is about five times better than traditional water resources planning in England and Wales.

The new resilience standard is now translated into planning guidelines for water companies. The expectation is that water companies should meet this standard by 2039.

What do you think? Should the water companies be aiming for this standard earlier than 2039? Or are there other priorities?

[Richard]

What do you think about a plan that involves reducing water use in homes by about 20%, alongside a halving of water company leakage? This is by 2050.

[Richard]

Thanks for this interesting contribution Tim.

As water resource planners, there are some things that are outside our influence like whether the population and overall economy is growing. However we shouldn’t necessarily accept that a growing population and economy automatically leads to an increase in water demand. Instead we are looking for water efficiency measures and reductions in consumption per person to offset any growth pressures and reduce overall water demand.

I’ve posted more about regenerative agriculture here. Such measures can help with reducing water demand but also bring other environmental benefits. We are actively looking for opportunities to meet water resources needs and bring environmental benefits. So if anyone has ideas for particular catchments please let us know.

Seeking opportunities to reduce demand is the first place we are looking to meet our future water needs, but there may be times or places when this can’t meet all our needs. So we also need to think about other options.

Further comments welcome – please share.

[Richard]

Thanks for sharing this Tim. Lots of interesting thoughts in here. It would be great to hear what others think about this too.

For those who aren’t familiar with regenerative agriculture, there isn’t a single strict definition of what it is but this short video gives a flavour of it. Many of the techniques promoted as regenerative already have widespread uptake, especially among traditional farmers who wouldn’t necessarily describe themselves as regenerative.

We are actively looking for opportunities to gather and use water locally for a range of uses, whether for agriculture, public water supplies or other sectors. So if anyone has ideas for particular catchments please let us know.

We’re also working with the NFU. In its recent water management strategy the NFU has pledged to better understand water demand act to reduce waste.

Seeking opportunities to reduce demand is the first place we are looking to meet our future water needs, but there may be times or places when this can’t meet all our needs. So we also need to think about other options.
Further comments welcome – please share.

[Richard]

Thanks for sharing this Rob. It is very interesting. I got my own water bill the other day and we are using more water in my house as a result of us working from home.

[Author]

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