Memorandum submitted by Water UK (FL 95)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Water supply companies have a statutory duty
to provide wholesome drinking water at all times. Water and sewerage
companies have an additional duty to treat and dispose of sewage/wastewaters.
It is important that our infrastructure is adequately
protected against flooding and is sufficiently resilient to coping
with extreme events.
The industry is working with regulators and
stakeholders to:
— Factor climate change scenarios into
strategic business planning (the water industry is one of the
first sectors to be doing this already).
— Consult water bill payers and wider
consumers on their investment priorities and their willingness
to pay.
— Review function and design of our
infrastructure ie storm overflow storage and operations and sewer
design standards.
Recent events have brought the ability of the
system to cope with flooding into focus. To this end there are
a number of important areas that we consider need to be addressed
by this and other inquiries.
These include:
— Sustainable land use planning.
— The more widespread use of sustainable
drainage systems.
— Reducing inappropriate flushing and
dumping into sewers and drains, which contribute to blockages
and sewer flooding.
— Reviewing the resilience of infrastructure
at risk of flooding and coastal realignment.
— The promotion of catchment flood
management plans and surface water management plans for all significant
urban communities.
— Processes for early consultation
and considerations of impact of developments on water industry
services to reduce the risk of flooding.
— A clear designation of responsibilities
and duties for wider drainage and flood risk management issues.
— Legislative improvements for administration
of flood defence and storm water drainage.
Water UK will be undertaking its own review
on behalf of the UK water industry. Further details of this review
and its terms of reference are provided below.
INTRODUCTION
Water UK is the representative body for the
regulated water businesses in the UK. We are a policy-based organisation
with members both in the public and private sector. Our role is
to represent the interests of the industry and of its customers
with Government, regulators and stakeholders in the UK and in
Europe.
Water UK and its members are committed to providing
efficient and effective water and wastewater services to all those
we serve. We are proud of the improvements we have seen in a number
of areas of recent years, including customer service levels, drinking
water quality, sewer flooding incidence, asset maintenance and
environmental quality. This has been achieved by efficiently managing
a financial investment approaching £70 billion since 1989.
The protection of water consumers through the
maintenance and improvement of water and wastewater services is
our continuing priority. Challenges facing the industry include
increases in severe weather events (perhaps linked with climate
change), continuing investment requirements to meet European Legislation,
increases of population in water stressed areas, land use planning
and the need to ensure that our services are affordable to those
that pay the bills.
The water industry worked well together during
the recent exceptional and severe floods to maintain services
and to provide support to those water companies and their customers
most severely affected. Largely, this worked to great effect,
although we are reviewing the vulnerability of our services to
such events and how the industry's "mutual aid" arrangements
might need to be improved or extended.
EVIDENCE
1. Water supply companies have a statutory
duty to provide wholesome drinking water at all times. Water and
sewerage companies have an additional duty to treat and dispose
of sewage/wastewaters. This duty is the top priority of all our
members and our regulators, but is susceptible to extreme and
unforeseen climatic events.
2. Flooding is partly a natural and partly
a man-made phenomenon. It impacts on many aspects of water company
activities and can have serious implications for water and wastewater
services. The key role for the water industry is in planning for
and minimising the risks presented by predicted flooding.
3. Public health is always our priority.
Recent exceptional flooding impacted on the industry's ability
to deliver its services and presented a potential threat to public
health. This was the particularly the case in the Midlands and
South West England. However, a number of other water companies
across the United Kingdom have also been impacted by exceptional
weather events.
4. Water companies across the UK closely
coordinated their efforts during the recent severe flooding to
provide assistance to those companies, their customers and consumers
most severely impacted. The industry operates a mutual aid system
to facilitate rapid mobilisation of resources in such situations.
As an example Annex 1 provides a summary of the industry wide
support provided to Severn Trent Water (the most severely affected
water company) at the height of the recent flooding.
5. For historical and economic reasons,
the UK has mostly combined sewer systems in urban areas, collecting
both foul sewage and surface water. When combined sewers can't
cope with heavy rainfall, the result can be surface flooding or
backing up of foul sewers.
6. The frequency of such events is predicted
to increase with climate change. This may mean that the design
of sewers and of flood risk management projects in general needs
to be reviewed.
7. The water industry is already building
the predicted impacts of climate change, including on precipitation,
on susceptibility and resilience of infrastructure, on river and
surface flows, on demand for water, into long term business plans.
We would urge the inquiry to draw on this experience and consider
what best practise planning might include.
8. Our priority is the prevention of internal
property flooding and reducing surface flooding when the system
is overwhelmed. In the current investment period, the industry
is directing over £1 billion of investment towards reducing
the risk of sewer flooding.
9. The recent floods brought into sharp
focus the susceptibility of water companies' sewerage infrastructure
to extraordinary and unpredicted climatic events. This has been
particularly the case in areas with combined sewers. During the
floods, water companies responded to thousands of flooding incidents,
and prioritised those cases where consumers' homes suffered internal
sewer flooding.
10. Water companies have very limited control
over both the amount of water and the nature of items that are
put into the system. Greater control over items and substances
that contribute to blockages is needed. Increased urban development
has also tended to increase the pressure on sewerage systems.
Early consultation and consideration of the impact of development
on water industry services within the planning system is therefore
vital.
11. The industry supports the Defra Making
Space for Water project on Urban Flood Risk and Integrated Drainage.
This project will work to identify the causes of flooding in urban
areas; manage urban drainage to reduce flooding; examine and improve
the effectiveness of partnership working; and test new approaches
to reduce the impact of flooding.
12. The water industry cannot and should
not be responsible for wider drainage and flood risk management
issues. What is needed is a clear designation of responsibilities
and duties in this complex area and a greater emphasis on more
sustainable or "softer" approaches, including catchment
solutions and integrated or sustainable urban drainage systems.
13. We have argued for some years, that
legislative improvements need to be made to the administration
of flood defence and storm water drainage. At the moment, responsibility
for these functions is split between Defra, the Environment Agency,
internal drainage boards, sewerage undertakers, county and district
councils, but without anyone having an overall duty of coordination.
In contrast, in Holland, such responsibility is vested in the
Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. As a
result, Holland has not faced a major flooding problem since 1953.
We therefore believe that steps now need to be taken to invest
in Defra overall responsibility for flood defence and storm water
drainage.
14. Water UK is, on behalf of the industry,
conducting its own review of recent events and the implications
for short-term emergency planning and longer-term policy. This
will be chaired by Sir John Baker. We would be pleased to share
our findings with the EFRA Committee when this is complete.
15. The draft terms of reference for Water
UK's review group on flooding are:
— To consider the industry's emergency
response to the flooding.
— To identify the impact and effectiveness
of mutual aid and how this might be improved in future.
— To identify medium and long-term
policy issues (eg infrastructure resilience, dual/alternative
supplies, drainage, disaster management, regulatory and financial
impacts).
— To understand the impacts of the
flooding on the reputation of the UK water industry.
— To consider how we might have communicated
better as an industry, with the public, the media, regulators,
Government and MPs, and each other.
— To make recommendations based on
the above.
Water UK
September 2007
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