WET News

JULY 2016 WET NEWS 3 T he government is failing to do enough to protect communities at risk of ooding, according to a new report from a committee of MPs. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report criticised the 'reactive' approach to ood incidents and said there was not enough long-term planning aimed at future ood prevention. It urged the government to maintain steady annual spending on ood defences, rather than allowing spending to uctuate, and said it should pay for the upkeep of existing ood defences in addition to investing in new ones. The report follows the storms that hit the UK between December 2015 and January 2016, causing ooding in the north of England and Wales, as well as parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank caused estimated damage of £1.3bn and ooded 16,000 households. The government is committed to spending £2.3bn on building new defences and that it will protect 300,000 properties during this parliament, but the EAC said it was 'sceptical' that this would be achieved as it depended on optimistic forecasts of e" ciency. Committee chairwoman Mary Creagh MP said: "We know that ooding is projected to get worse and occur more frequently because of climate change, so it just isn't good enough for government to react to ooding events as they occur. "Communities at risk Bristol Water has said it is investigating renewable energy projects throughout its supply area, including the potential for oating solar panels on its water storage reservoirs. The company said it hopes that renewable energy will supply a "signi™ cant proportion" of the 80GWh the business uses every year to provide water to its 1.2 million customers. To help achieve this, one potential project the company is considering is to install a oating solar farm on a water storage reservoir, with the most Steady annual spending on flood defences must be maintained deserve certainty from government." The committee also said it was surprised to learn the extra £700M funding for ood defences announced in this year's budget was based on a "political calculation" and may not be allocated with the same strict economic criteria as the £2.3bn. The report said that could lead to ine" ciencies in ood investments, poor decision- making and outcomes that were potentially unfair to some regions. Failing to maintain existing defences would lead to an "unacceptable risk to local communities in ood prone areas", said Creagh. Commenting on the EAC report, Jon Robinson, director of water at AECOM, said: "Mitigating the impact of climate change necessitates new ways of thinking, underpinned by a sustained stream of funding. The government's six-year capital investment programme for ood defences, delivered by the Environment Agency and its partners, should help address the stop-start approach to funding. "It allows schemes to be packaged, which enables more e" cient delivery by both the client and suppliers. There is a clear delivery route with money directed with due consideration of bene™ ts. But it is important the programme is not back-end loaded with the bulk of construction occurring in years ™ ve and six. Design, maintenance and construction must be a continuous process in order to achieve the required outcomes." WET News is registered at Stationers' Hall. Origination by Faversham House and TR Clash Ltd. Printed by Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AE. Copyright 2016. Faversham House. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the publishers. Every eŒ ort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in WET News. 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Editor Maureen Gaines: maureengaines@fav-house.com Ad sales Deborah Lilley: deborahlilley@fav-house.com Classifi ed sales Danielle Mason: daniellemason@fav-house.com Production controller Sharon Miller: sharonmiller@fav-house.com Publisher Angela Himus: angelahimus@fav-house.com Published by Faversham House Ltd, Faversham House, Windsor Court, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 1UZ Call: 01342 332000 Publisher's note: This issue includes editorial photographs provided and paid for by suppliers. 1yr: UK £109 Overseas (airmail) £123/$185 2yr: UK £191 Overseas (airmail) £219/$329 Call: Kerry Buckell Tel: 01342 332 2031 Email: kerry-annbuckell@fav-house.com Search WET News' archives for more jobs, news, features, products and services, events and training courses. wwtonline.co.uk If you wish to make a complaint about the editorial content of this issue please contact the editor. Bristol Water looks at floating solar power potential Did you know that just 9% of the engineering workforce is female? Celebrate National Women in Engineering Day with @WES1919 #NWED @BoultingTech It's National Women in Engineering Day! Meet Rebecca -the only women working at our Ford waste treatment works #NWED @SouthernWater promising site at Barrow Gurney. "Floating solar panel farms are a cutting-edge technology, with only a handful installed in the world so far, but water company reservoirs represent one of the best opportunities for this innovative approach to renewables," the ™ rm said. "This is such an exciting project for Bristol Water, we are a major energy user in the area and we want to get as much of that as we can from renewable sources," Bristol Water head of environment strategy Patric Bulmer added. Reservoirs represent one of the best opportunities for this innovative approach to renewables ¢ EAC report emphasises that investment on flood defences must not be allowed to fluctuate. Average circulation Jan-Dec 2015: 6,110 'Long-term strategy needed to tackle gender imbalance in engineering': #NWED2016 @EngCouncil Feeling unusually outnumbered, but this is National Women in Engineering Day #nwed @ BESAGroup proud to support @BESA_CEO June 23, 2016 was not just about the EU referendum – it was also National Women in Engineering Day. We're very proud that our CEO, Heidi Mottram, is in the @Telegraph Top 50 Women in #Engineering list today #NWED2016 @NorthumbrianH2O Happy national women in engineering day!!! So proud to work in the industry and the more women and diversity the better! #NWED2016 #NWED @SophieLydia24

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