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Government advisor calls for creativity in tackling "too much, too little and too dirty water"

by Karma Loveday

The water sector needs to take creative new approaches to the challenges facing it, rather than just do the same things a bit better or cheaper, according to James Heath, chief executive of the National Infrastructure Commission.


Addressing the Water Industry Forum's annual dinner last week, Heath boiled the sector’s challenges down to "too much, too little and too dirty water”. He described what he saw as three main things that were needed.


A long-term plan that is clear on what our water and wastewater needs will be over the next 30 years - and maps out how to get from here to there.

”This should define what good looks like, adding plans for flood reduction and how water bodies will reach good ecological status to the water availability and quality targets already set out by the Environment Act. Heath added best value solutions must be chosen, not just pouring concrete.


Long-term strategic planning to meet the goals we set

Heath shared that progress has been made on water resource planning and through Ofwat’s requirement for long-term delivery strategies, but planning for wastewater is less advanced. “Drainage and wastewater management plans are the right tool, but the drafts published in the summer don’t reveal the pivot to a widespread use of catchment and nature based solutions that many had hoped for, nor are they properly integrated with local authority planning to manage surface water.”


Large-scale investment with enhancement spending potentially three times greater than today

Heath questioned: “How do we square this circle of increasing investment with the public’s ability to pay for it? Water bills – that have been falling in real terms over the last decade - will almost definitely have to increase in future - but shareholder returns must be limited to reflect the true level of risk. The quid pro quo for any bill increases must be discernible and speedy improvements in performance. And it is right for Ofwat to enforce a clear link between dividends and environmental performance, among other goals. If we get this wrong, the cost of living crisis may become an infrastructure crisis in water.”


Heath said squaring the circle will require new approaches. For instance, upstream solutions to manage flows need to be mainstreamed to limit the volumes of rainwater that are treated by wastewater systems. “This will require long-term pipelines of work to build the supply chains and skills capacity that are needed. Plans like Thames Water’s to spongify large parts of London will only happen through a phased, long-term programme dependent on new partnerships and funding models.”


Another example concerned water consumption. Heath challenged: “Why do we use drinking-quality water to hosepipe our gardens and wash our cars rather than storing and recycling rainwater to perform these tasks? This is an extravagant way to treat a finite natural resource.” He noted the Commission’s call for universal smart metering and volume-related charges.


Heath closed by citing other ways the Commission is working to help the sector rise to the challenges. It has, he shared, developed long-term policy frameworks for both drought resilience and surface water flooding. It has also “called for at least £20bn of investment in new infrastructure over the next 30 years to fix this situation” and recommended a framework of targets for reducing surface water flooding, and better mapping down to a local level.


Heath added: "The most important thing government can do is to publish the final National Policy Statement for water resources infrastructure. At the Commission, we’ve been asked to advise on what further reforms could be made to speed up the consenting process. We are talking to water companies about this work.”

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