Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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24 | OCTOBER 2016 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Close-Up Drought resilience techniques used in the report. He said: "We were heavily involved in this important project and welcome its findings which clearly set out the case for increased resilience in water resources to meet future growth and protect the environment. "We are the only water company to have based our current water resources management plan on the potential droughts of the future and we strongly believe that the water industry needs to act now - and work together - in order to protect our customers. "An extra £4 per year, the cost of a lunchtime sandwich, will be enough to meet water resource needs for the future," he added. Responding to the publication of the report, Nicci Russell, Ofwat Director, said: "The approach set out in the report could deliver real benefits to customers, the economy and the environment. Progress in water efficiency, tackling leakage and sharing water between companies are central to securing a resilient water supply, at the same time as helping to keep bills down. And companies will want to develop new and sustainable services and ways of delivering them as they consider the affordability of their plans for customers." "We look forward to companies using this research as they develop their water resource management plans for the next 25 years, and their argument for a national approach is that it is unfair or disproportionate to expect customers in the regions that are likely to be worst affected to foot the bill for resilience measures. Furthermore, there is the matter of intergenerational fairness: the long- term nature of the issue means that if today's customers do not pay for the investment required to build resilience, the next generation may have to pay substantially more in future to cope with the reality of a drought. While individual water companies already have Water Resource Management Plans in place, a national level plan could support these by offering an overall framework against which risks and opportunities are evaluated in the various projects undertaken. Southern Water's water strategy manager Meyrick Gough helped developed the sophisticated modelling An overview of drought sub-regions, showing deficit and donor regions and potential transfers (Source: Water UK Long-term Planning Framework/Atkins) • Perspectives Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of Water UK: "Since privatisation, the industry has invested billions of pounds in securing the nation's precious water resources, but we all need to do more in the face of current and future pressures on those resources. We are publishing this ground-breaking research so that water companies, government, regulators and other agencies can together raise their game in how we plan to keep homes and businesses supplied over the next fi y years." Ben Piper, Atkins' technical director for water resources: "The UK water industry is faced with a difficult future to plan for and to maintain a resilient water supply system. Climate change and population growth combined with tighter than ever environmental standards, all add up to a major challenge. This report lays the challenge out in detail but also points to some tangible solutions." business plans for the 2019 price review. And it's vital that companies engage with their customers to understand their views on options and proposals to manage risks to the resilience of systems and services as they develop these plans." "The water sector is facing some critical challenges, which we need to address together. Our new regulatory approach is helping to secure a resilient future for water, for the benefit of customers, the environment and wider society. And we are encouraging the development of new markets to ensure more sustainable use of resources, and better value for customers." The industry research was funded by Water UK and was led by a steering group, comprising water companies, regulators and UK and Welsh Government representatives. The research was conducted by a team including Atkins, Mott Macdonald, Nera Economic Consulting, HR Wallingford and the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute. £1.3 BN per day The estimated cost to the UK economy of a severe drought