Defra tries to get everyone on the same page on storm overflows

Defra is consulting until 24 January on new draft information and guidance on storm overflows, which it has prepared in collaboration with Ofwat and the Environment Agency.

The guidance is non-statutory and will not introduce any new legal requirements on water companies or regulators, but rather support a common understanding of what is expected on storm spills in England. Defra said: “We want to ensure a clear planning framework, to support the significant forward investment needed from water companies, as well as a robust oversight and enforcement regime.”

In particular, the documents cover how storm overflow improvements are expected to meet the standards set out in the Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP), and in existing legal requirements, including obligations under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations 1994. Technical, supplementary information is provided in a version 2 of the Environment Agency’s Storm Overflows Assessment Framework and Spill Frequency Threshold Permitting proposals, which the Agency is consulting on alongside the main guidance.

Defra noted that the scale of activity in storm overflow management proposed is huge: water companies are targeting a 27% spill reduction by 2025, with £8.5bn allowed under the PR24 draft determination to reduce spills by 44% by 2029. It said: “We are well aware of the challenges with delivering this scale of investment, given supply chain constraints and the ability of water companies to scale up delivery to the required rate. This is why we have included a section in the draft guidance to support the prioritisation of investigations and improvement work.”

There has been much debate about how compliance with UWWTD regulations should be defined, plus many relevant developments since 1994, including: 

• The interpretation of legal requirements, such as through the European Court of Justice in European Commission v UK (Re Storm Water Overflows) [2013] C- 301/1

• Policy and regulatory tools that contribute to bringing these requirements into effect, such as via the EA’s SOAF (2018).

• The SODRP, first published in 2022 and expanded in 2023, which sets out an investment and improvement programme to 2050 based around three headline targets.

• Event Duration Monitors being installed on all English storm overflows.

Final documents are expected in early 2025, ahead of PR24 implementation in April.