Four of the five regional water resources groups published their draft regional water resource plans last week. The plans for the South East, East, West and North have in common:
a ‘best value’ approach;
that they strive to cater for non-public water supply (PWS) needs as well as PWS needs; and
the supply gaps they identify and plan to plug are driven chiefly by ambitious "environmental destinations" – leaving more water in the rivers and the ground in future to bolster the health of the water environment.
All the plans are heavily reliant, particularly in the earlier years, on reducing demand through both cutting leakage and consumption, though the extent of the remaining supply/demand gap varies significantly between the regions, necessitating a varying range of supply side schemes.
Alongside Water Resources East, whose plan we summarised in last week’s The Week In Water, the following have now been issued:
Water Resources South East (WRSE)
WRSE set out a £15bn plan to close a supply/demand gap in the South East expected to reach 0.8bn litres a day by 2035 rising to 2.7bn litres a day by 2075 – 40% of the water currently put into supply. Through to 2035, 70% of the water needed is planned to be found through leakage and water use reduction, with the supply side enhancements in that window including the Havant Thicket reservoir, the Grand Union Canal transfer scheme, six water recycling schemes and one desalination plant. Between 2035 and 2075, an extensive mix of supply options come into play alongside continuing demand management, including the Abingdon reservoir by 2040 and a Severn Thames transfer by 2050.
Water Resources West (WRW)
By 2050 and after taking account of demand reduction policies, the region will need an additional 221m litres per day to meet PWS needs and 97Ml/d to meet non PWS needs. Supply side options are either barely needed or not needed in Wales or the South Staffs area. The largest need for new resources is in the Midlands, where Severn Trent has planned for options including raising the height of dams in the Derwent Valley and at other reservoirs to increase storage; investing in water treatment works to increase deployable output; significant increases in interconnectivity; and a small number of new sources.
In the North West, United Utilities’ proposed new sources are linked to supporting two strategic transfers to WRSE: the Grand Union Canal and the Severn Thames Transfer. The proposed new sources are increasing groundwater abstraction capability within existing licence volumes and new river abstractions from the Rivers Ribble, Irwell and Bolin which all have water available. Severn Trent will take 75 Ml/d from the North West transfer for a period, until it is required by WRSE. The plan is costed at £9.7bn.
Water Resources North (WReN) – The region will be in deficit of 300Ml/d by 2050. While three zones (Berwick, Hartlepool and Yorkshire East) remain in surplus, there will be a small (3Ml/d) deficit in the Kielder zone and a more substantial 299Ml/d deficit in the Yorkshire Grid zone.
The Kielder gap can be closed with demand side and drought measures, but supply side options including groundwater and surface water enhancement and new abstraction permissions will be needed for the Yorkshire Grid zone. WReN said its plan would increase the typical Northumbrian Water bill by £7 a year between 2025 and 2030, while Yorkshire Water bills will go up by £4 a year in 2025-30 rising to £14 a year by 2050.
West Country Water Resources’ plan is expected shortly.
Water companies are also publishing their statutory Water Resource Management Plans which draw down from the regional plans. Some of these were issued last week, with others to follow this week and next.
For details, see the forthcoming December issue of THE WATER REPORT.
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