Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Action for the River Kennet

Summary of Key Points

There is an urgent need for more effective action in dealing with over-abstraction –in light of the current situation on rivers such the Kennet. The solution to over-abstraction from the Kennet at Axford was agreed in 2008, but there is still no commitment to funding its implementation.

The current “Restoring Sustainable Abstraction” (RSA) programme is drawn out and ineffective, but there is no commitment to finding a solution. We strongly urge DEFRA and Ofwat to bring RSA into the 2014 price review. Customers should pay for rectifying over-abstraction, just as they pay for rectifying sewage pollution through their water bills.

There should be a commitment to RSA schemes like Axford, which were identified in Thames Water’s 2009 Water Resource management Plan, being funded by variations to water companies’ current business plans, ie by 2014.

1. Action for the River Kennet (ARK) is a local action group formed twenty years ago, to campaign against excessive consumptive abstraction from the Kennet aquifer which damages the flow and ecology of the River Kennet. It now has over 600 members. ARK has been highly successful in raising local awareness, through information campaigns, schools work, wide use of volunteers in river restoration work, and managing cost-effective restoration work funded by non-governmental grant giving bodies as well as the Environment Agency (EA) and the Rivers Trust. With support from the WWF-UK Freshwater Programme, with whom we have worked closely, ARK is hosting the Kennet Catchment Management Plan, in conjunction with the EA. We are working with Thames Water on a local water-saving campaign which they are using as a pilot for a potentially much wider campaign.

2. At national level we worked with BBC’s Panorama programme “Drinking our Rivers Dry?” broadcast in September 2011, and achieved good local and national press coverage with features on BBC and ITN news and articles in The Times, The Guardian, The Independent and local press. Our local MP Claire Perry is highly supportive of our cause. Last autumn we invited the DEFRA minister Richard Benyon MP to see the dry bed of the river in Marlborough. Most recently, thanks to Claire Perry, we hosted a visit by the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Angling Group, Charles Walker MP, and Martin Salter, former MP for Reading West and now Campaigns Director for the Angling Trust. All were shocked at the complete lack of water upstream of Marlborough—the first time in living memory at this time of year. For more information, please see our website—address below. We will also send by post a copy of our Annual Report, to show how much can be achieved by a small local organisation, and would be happy to send multiple copies if members wish.

3. ARK’s overall response to the White Paper is positive. It addresses the objectives which ARK has been promoting, and if and when fully implemented should make a substantial contribution to putting a truer value on the price of water, and protecting Britain’s rivers—particularly our unique chalk streams. Our concern is with the slow pace of progress envisaged, and the lack of firm commitments to the actions proposed. More specifically:

(a)The need for action is incredibly urgent—particularly in light of the current situation on rivers such the Kennet. There is effectively no flow upstream of Marlborough, as we have shown MPs.

(b)The policy dealing with the legacy of over abstraction is most relevant for the Kennet. The current “Restoring Sustainable Abstraction” (RSA) programme is drawn out and ineffective. We are therefore concerned that legacy issues will continue to be dealt with this way, acknowledged to be slow and cumbersome. There should be clearer commitments on how the RSA will be made to work better.

(c)We are pleased with DEFRA’s commitment to work with Ofwat to bring RSA into the price review. We think this will be the fastest way to implement changes to existing licences.

(d)We welcome DEFRA’s intention to use powers in the Water Act 2003 where no compensation is payable, if there is serious damage to habitat, which could be key to resolving quickly the problems on the Kennet.

(e)The policy for long term reform of the abstraction regime has good principles, but the timescale is too slow.

(f)There should be stronger incentives for water companies to do more demand management. We would hope to see more concrete proposals and timetabled actions.

4. We draw attention to the EA’s 2008 study “International Comparisons of Domestic per capita Consumption of Water”. This shows the UK in a poor light both for the UK’s high level of per capita consumption and low level of household metering, with evidence of a linkage between the two. The Committee should examine and make these findings more widely known.

5. The current price of water does not reflect its true cost. For a large majority of the population the price of water does not influence how much water they use. While there must of course be protection for vulnerable groups, we urge Ofwat and Government to introduce universal water metering, and we support the concept of a charging regime which recognises the impact of water consumption on the environment.

6. The influence of abstraction on river flows; the consequent impact on ecology, and the means to minimise resultant damage must be approached on a catchment-wide basis. We therefore welcome the EA’s new Catchment Based approach to river management and are pleased to be working with the EA on our local plan.

We would be happy to expand on any point above. We would be pleased to give Oral Evidence if there is an opportunity. We believe it would be helpful for the Committee to hear at first-hand a case study of a particular river, as an example of the wider picture. We would be happy to host a visit to the Kennet for members to see for themselves its present parlous state.

January 2012