RAPID gives green light for chalk stream schemes, but with strings for Southern
The Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has issued draft decisions that four strategic regional water resource schemes to protect Hampshire chalk streams from over abstraction will pass through the first checkpoint in a new, joined up assessment process. However, RAPID cautioned on the timing and efficiency of three of the four schemes.
It said some elements of Southern Water’s expenditure on desalination and water recycling plans had not been efficient and not all of it should be allowed. It added that given “shortcomings in the completeness and quality of these two submissions” it had proposed a delivery incentive penalty of 10% unless a number of remedial actions are completed as a priority.
Moreover, RAPID warned that Southern’s three solutions under current plans would not deliver until 2028 or after; that would be too late for the end of 2027 deadline agreed with the Environment Agency for the delivery of alternative resources.
The four schemes, recommended to clear gate one in a special accelerated process, are:
• desalination (proposed by Southern) – a desalination plant in Hampshire could provide up to 75 million litres of water per day and would be the largest seawater desalination system in the UK; • water recycling (proposed by Southern) – an alternative to desalination that could also provide up to 75 million litres of water per day; • West Country North Sources (jointly proposed by Bristol Water, Wessex Water and Southern Water) – a reservoir in Bristol Water’s area and transfer through Wessex Water’s area to Southern Water. – will now move to Gate Two of the standard gated process; • raw water transfer from Portsmouth Water’s proposed Havant Thicket reservoir to Southern’s Otterbourne Water Treatment Works (proposed by Southern Water) – this new proposal includes abstraction from the proposed reservoir, a new high-lift pumping station and around a 40km pipeline to Otterbourne Water Treatment Works;
• representations on the draft decisions are invited until 31 December 2020, with final decisions due on 28 January 2021.
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