Future Flood and Water Management Legislation - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Contents


Written evidence submitted by Natural England

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  The challenge for water management is to maintain services to communities and ensure that environmental needs are met. This challenge will grow as the impacts of climate change intensify and as development pressures increase.

1.0  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  Natural England's purpose is to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing to sustainable development.

  1.2  Delivering flood and water management in sustainable ways is in the best interests of both the public and the natural environment and can help to ensure the most effective use of public money.

  1.3  Natural England provides help to land and water managers, including water companies, farmers and public bodies, through advice, agric-environment schemes and guidance on the needs of protected sites for biodiversity.

2.0  ISSUES ARISING FROM THE DRAFT FLOOD AND WATER MANAGEMENT BILL CONSULTATION AND THE WALKER AND CAVE REVIEWS

  2.1  The challenge for water management is to ensure that good-value services to communities are maintained while avoiding environmental degradation. As the Lawton Review notes: "We need to embrace a new, restorative approach which rebuilds nature and creates a more resilient natural environment for the benefit of wildlife and ourselves." This challenge will increase as the impacts of climate change intensify and as development pressures grow.

  2.2  In England 28,693 hectares of open water are protected within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), including 15,923 hectares also designated under the EC Birds and Habitats Directives. A further 263,000 hectares of SSSIs support water-dependent terrestrial habitats: fens, wet grassland and upland and lowland bogs.

  2.3  The target to secure 95% of England's SSSIs by area in favourable or favourable recovering condition by December 2010 is on course for achievement. This masks the fact that only 71% of SSSI Rivers and standing open waters meet this standard. Over 17,500 hectares of these habitats are degraded by abstraction, pollution from point or diffuse sources (including agriculture) and the impacts of invasive species.

  2.4  The impact of abstraction could be exacerbated by predicted changes in rainfall patterns as a result of climate change and population growth creating increased demand for water. By 2050 river flows in late summer and early autumn could reduce by over 50% and by 80% in some places. These patterns would result in a drop in total annual average river flow of up to 15%.

  2.5  Greater water efficiency will help reduce demand and hence help to alleviate environmental stresses. Domestic per capita consumption of water in England is currently about 148 litres per person per day (l/p/d), much higher than in comparable European states (Germany 125 l/p/d, the Netherlands 124 l/p/d [2007/08 figures]). Future Water identified an objective for per capita water consumption to be an average of 130 l/p/d by 2030.

  2.6  More sophisticated management of supply will benefit water-stressed environments. Abstraction licensing systems should allow for water resources to be re-allocated or for an area to be protected from abstraction where there may be an impact on the natural environment. Universal time limiting of abstraction licences is one way of providing greater flexibility to amend licences to accommodate climate change, manage changes in demand and enable a more pro-active approach to the management of water resources within and across catchments.

3.0  FLOOD AND WATER MANAGEMENT THAT DELIVERS OPTIMUM SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES

  3.1  Water and freshwater ecosystems provide goods and services that support or protect human activities: food production, flood risk management, clean water and carbon storage.

  3.2  The current pricing of water is based only on costs of supply and administration rather than the full economic cost of water supply, which includes the full externalities and user costs of supply. An environmental evaluation or monetisation of costs and benefits as part of decision-making processes could focus attention on the breadth of desired environmental outcomes.

  3.4  Asset Management Programmes under the five-yearly Water Industry Price Reviews have contributed to environmental protection. Given the future stresses of climate change and development, longer-term planning with delivery programmes spanning several Price Review cycles would be helpful. Water companies have already made a start with the adoption of Water Resource Management Plans. Freshwater and floodplain ecosystems benefit from strategic water plans, such as River Basin Management Plans and industry Asset Management Programmes, where these take biodiversity requirements into account. Further integration embracing flood risk and land management could deliver multiple-benefits, such as schemes that combine wetland creation, carbon improved water quality and reduction of flood run-off. This integration could be:

    — Sharing data more effectively for catchment planning;

    — Seeking greater alignment of planning and priority-setting for catchment actions;

    — Establishing more multi-benefit schemes; and

    — Joining up arrangements at the catchment level to facilitate joint land and water solutions.

  3.5  SSSIs are affected by run-off from septic tanks and private sewage works. While discharges are usually controlled by treatment works with phosphorous-stripping capabilities, in rural areas, treatment is often via small, on-site systems. These are less efficient at retaining phosphorous and are often sited close to freshwater ecosystems. Natural England research suggests that 60 to 80% of septic systems are improperly sited or discharge direct to water. De-sludging systems more frequently, preventing overflows of untreated sewage and ensuring existing tanks are maintained or replaced would help reduce discharges to the environment.

  3.6  These solutions are hampered by the fact that less than 10% of septic tank systems have discharge consents, making it difficult to locate potential problem discharges. In addition, only local authorities can propose to water companies that they install first-time sewerage schemes and only for addressing health or amenity issues.

  3.7  Freshwater habitats are susceptible to invasive non-native species with over 3,000 hectares of SSSIs in unfavourable condition due to their impact. Species such as Australian swamp stonecrop Casual helms and North American signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus are having widespread impacts. Recently a freshwater amphipod of Eastern European origin Dikerogammarus villosus was discovered in England. This voracious predator can displace native species and disrupt ecosystems so its occurrence is under investigation.

  3.8  Eradication is difficult and there are risks of re-infestation from neighbouring areas. Co-ordinated control and containment, supported by a wide range of partners, has the best chance of success in the long term. Partnership working is also the key to resolving aquatic non-native species problems under the Water Framework Directive. Natural England has a lead under the Directive in piloting River Basin Forums on Invasive Species, but funding and appropriate regulatory powers are limited.

4.0  FLOOD AND WATER MANAGEMENT ACT 2010 ISSUES

  4.1  Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) contribute to biodiversity, Green Infrastructure networks, and improved access to green spaces for urban communities. While the Act requires SUDS for new developments, some existing underground drainage systems fail to deal with flood events (as witnessed in the 2007 floods) and might therefore benefit from the retro-fitting of SUDS technologies.

October 2010





 
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Prepared 22 December 2010