Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 29TH MARCH - 4TH APRIL 2019 | 11 Policy & Regulation The group is campaigning against Thames Water's proposed "mega-reservoir" near Abingdon. Stork added: "Reservoirs like the one proposed in Abingdon are hugely expensive, harm the environment and are completely unnecessary. They are also not drought resistant, and so are an especially poor solu- tion when looking at ways to ensure water security in the event of climate change." But the National Infrastructure Commis- sion (NIC) supports the approach suggested by the Environment Agency. At Water UK's city conference last year, Sir John Armitt, chair of the NIC, said the cost of building a new reservoir would be "peanuts" compared with that of a drought. The theme of the Waterwise conference this year was the pathway to ambitious water eˆ ciency – reducing individual water consumption to 100 litres a day or less. Nicci Russell, the managing director of Waterwise (see interview p6), said it was "fantastic" to have Sir James Bevan put "all this oxygen" around the subject of water eˆ ciency. Commenting on his speech, a spokes- person from the NIC added: "England faces the very real prospect of drought over the next 30 years, so we welcome the Environ- ment Agency's call for decisive action now to change our whole approach to water management. "We're also pleased Sir James highlighted the need for new reservoirs and water trans- fers, which are key elements in building a more resilient approach that we have rec- ommended, alongside tackling leakage. "We look forward to seeing these themes re' ected in the government's National Infrastructure Strategy later this year." The NIC's 2018 report on national infrastructure needs highlighted the risk of extreme drought, supported the twin track approach of investing to enhance sup- ply and reduce demand, and noted that the investment cost of resilience (£21 bil- lion) is roughly half the cost of an extreme drought (£40 billion). A 2016 report produced by the water companies, the Environment Agency and oth- ers came to the same conclusion: that investing in water resilience was both a— ordable and had cost bene˜ ts. That report revealed that although a severe drought would cost each household more than £100, the annual cost per house- hold of the investment that would greatly reduce the risk was only £4. The Environment Agency said it is work- ing with the government to set the "right level of ambition" for water eˆ ciency. Sir James said: "We are particularly inter- ested in speci˜ c ideas on how we could get this country to Waterwise's ambitious target of 100 litres per person per day." It is also working with water companies to ensure business plans for 2020-25 re' ect the investment and measures needed to ensure supply can meet demand in the future. He said: "Avoiding the jaws of death is going to have to be a joint e— ort. We will only succeed if we all work together." He argued the government deserves credit for its 25-year environment plan, and added: "The water companies deserve more credit than they sometimes get. They deliver safe, clean water, day in day out. They do it reli- ably and at a price almost everyone can a— ord. They invest billions of pounds in improving the environment. "They are causing fewer serious pollution incidents than ever before. They work well with the Environment Agency as their envi- ronmental regulator. They all have water eˆ - ciency retro˜ t and engagement programmes far more ambitious than ever before." But he said the water companies will be the "˜ rst to agree" that they need to do more to boost public trust. "They need to continue to bear down on pollution incidents, redouble their e— orts to ˜ x leakage, and focus on building long-term water resilience through active planning, collaboration with others and signi˜ cant infrastructural investments. Some of the com- panies are doing this. But not all are, or not to a suˆ cient degree or with suˆ cient pace." Sir James confessed at the end of his speech that he stuck "jaws of death" in the title and his opening lines simply to get peo- ple's attention. "I hope it worked," he said. "On one level it's just a dumb name for a graph where two lines cross. But on another, it's real." Provocative language But in a session of the Environment, Food and Rural A— airs select committee the fol- lowing day (20 March) to scrutinise the new water national policy statement (NPS), chair Neil Parish MP criticised the way the former diplomat presented his case. The Devon MP accused Sir James of hyping up the threat that England could run out of water. He said: "Using such provocative lan- guage is not the role of the Environment Agency… He can't go out and make these statements unless he can back them up." Water minister Therese Co— ey, who was giving evidence to the committee, defended the agency chief executive. She said she was not responsible for Sir James' choice of words, and said the agency and Defra are "separate bodies". Sir James had been seeking to raise pub- lic awareness of the threat to water resources unless action is taken, she said: "If we don't there will be pressure on our water." However, she expressed con˜ dence that the actions the government is taking, includ- ing the production of the NPS to facilitate water infrastructure projects, will ward o— the dire scenario presented by the EA chief. She said: "We are not going to run out of water by 2050 because we are going to take action." To steal another phrase from Sir James: "We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea. We need everyone to take responsi- bility for their own water usage." Strong words are one thing but the time for just talking is over. Action must be taken now to protect future resources. Investment, infrastructure and personal responsibility for water use will all have a part to play. "We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea. We need everyone to take responsibility for their own water usage." Sir James Bevan, chief executive, EnvironmentAgency

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