Water Resources Forum No. 1

Transcription

1 Date: Friday 9 March 2012 Location: Paddington, London Attendees: Mark Lloyd Martin Salter Brian Arkell* John Lawson Lesley Inwards Topsy Rudd* Ian Snudden Karen Gibbs Helen Charlton Ken Burgin Carol Skilling* Robin Halford-Maw Susan Stranders Colin Buckle* Martin Lunn Alex Nickson Nick Thompson CBE Richard Brown Peter Vaughan Cathy Rooney Martin Easton Rachel Crabbe Jon Ashley* Phil Burston Neil Edwards David Gilmour Paul Butler Rob O Carroll Dave Harvey David Cook Mark Moon Chris Lambert* Chris Shipway Hannah Sanders Lesley Tait Richard Aylard* (CHAIR) Siobhan O Neill Steve Tuck Victor Freeney Yvette De Garis* Angling Trust Angling Trust Atkins on behalf of Thames Water Action for the River Kennet (ARK) British Waterways Cascade Consulting on behalf of Thames Water Chiltern District Council Consumer Council for Water Consumer Council for Water Cotswold Canals Trust Defra DWI Epping Forest District Council Environment Agency Essex and Suffolk Water Greater London Authority Group Against Reservoir Development (GARD) Hertfordshire County Council Independent Water Networks London Borough of Lewisham London Borough of Sutton Natural England Ofwat RSPB RWE NPower South Buckinghamshire District Council South East Water Swindon Borough Council Thames Anglers Conservancy Wilts & Berks Canal Trust Wokingham Borough Council Thames Water - Water Policy & Strategy Manager Thames Water - Public Affairs Manager Thames Water - Senior Public Affairs Advisor Thames Water - Water Resources Strategy Manager Thames Water External Affairs and Sustainability Director Thames Water - Asset Strategy & Standards Manager Thames Water - Supply Demand Consultant Thames Water - Head of Stakeholder Engagement Thames Water - Environment & Quality Strategy Manager * Speakers 1

2 Record of the Meeting Session 1 1. Richard Aylard (TW) welcomed everyone to the Water Resources Forum. Richard introduced the purpose of the Forum which is to discuss Thames Water s Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP14) for the period and to give stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions and challenge aspects of the plan. Richard also outlined draft terms of reference of the Forum, which are noted below. These were agreed by all attendees. Draft Terms of Reference Thames Water To present our programme and technical work during the development of the draft Plan To provide a facilitated, open and inclusive Forum to ensure all stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute effectively To identify and discuss any issues, working together to address them. Stakeholders To engage in the development of the draft Plan To consider and challenge the direction and content of the draft Plan and associated technical work To raise points in a timely and constructive manner 2. Yvette de Garis (TW) presented an overview of the Thames Water supply area and the water resources planning process with specific focus on: Developments in the external policy and regulatory framework such as the Water White Paper which introduces a number of new measures including future reform of the abstraction licensing regime; Key challenges such as population growth, meeting Water Framework Directive objectives and future sustainability reductions; and The need for clear alignment between the Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) and the Business Planning (BP) processes. 3. Carol Skilling (Defra) outlined the role of Government, Environment Agency (EA), Ofwat and the water companies in water resources planning. Carol also clearly set out the regulatory framework. Key points were as follows: The In-house policy review team (IHPR) was appointed to review the WRMP09 planning process which concluded with 14 main recommendations for change. A Steering Group has been established with regulators and the industry to ensure these recommendations are taken forward to WRMP14 principally through the Water Resources Planning Guideline (WRPG). Section 2 of the draft WRPG covers Government expectations and the regulatory framework. The consultation on the draft WRPG closes on 14 April. Water White Paper Water for Life sets out the Government s objectives for water supply against future challenges of population and environmental pressure. Some of the key aspects of this are the need for a long term planning horizon, increased inter-connectivity looking for trading and cross boundary solutions and examination of demand management measures to drive a reduction in water use. 4. Colin Buckle (Environment Agency) outlined the EA s role in water resource management and the Water Resource Planning Guidelines (WRPG). The WRPG have been reviewed and updated and draft guidelines are currently available for consultation. Key areas which have been updated are: Calculation of Deployable Output; Forecast of future demand with the abolishment of Regional Spatial Strategies; Inclusion of Sustainability Reductions and the need for clear and transparent decisionmaking process. 2

3 The EA will provide likely and confirmed sustainability reductions for planning based on EA and water company investigations in August 2012 Questions John Lawson (ARK): I am delighted to hear about the Abstraction Incentive Mechanism (AIM) and that there are opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of abstraction and not just during drought. How will AIM be reflected in the planning process? TW: The details of AIM are yet to be defined. TW has commissioned a piece of work to try to understand how AIM might work in practice and this will be shared with Ofwat and other organisations. EA: There are opportunities for reallocation of water with the current licences but how AIM will work needs to be explored in more detail. Martin Salter (Angling Trust): There is no availability of cheap water in South-East England. Government wants to put pressure on demand management yet has backed off metering and indicated that metering should be considered by companies on a case by case basis. Defra: The costs and benefits of metering vary and one size does not fit all, therefore Government considers that companies should adopt their own individual strategies towards metering, water needs to be affordable as well as secure. Water companies located in areas of water stress already have to consider water metering in their WRMPs. The areas designated to be in water stress are currently under review. Richard Brown (Hertfordshire County Council): Would Defra like to comment on the linkages between water resource planning and flood risk strategies. There is an urgent issue of flooding and better management of water and harvesting water lost through drainage systems needs greater consideration. TW: There is a clear link between flooding and water resources however to develop an integrated approach is complex. GLA is looking at this issue through Drain London. Nick Thompson (GARD): I understand, in the Water White Paper, that the River Severn comes under the authority of the Welsh Assembly. How can Defra persuade the Welsh Government to be co-operative? Defra: The Welsh Government has a policy on water trading and transfers are permitted which benefit the people of Wales. Water companies need to work together to identify opportunities for trading water and transfers. Alex Nickson (GLA): Sustainability reductions under the Water Framework Directive aim to drive improvements in the ecology of water bodies, who decides on the flow required? EA: The indicative sustainability reductions are based on theoretical modelling and not evidence based investigations. Further work is required to improve the data but the difficult decisions can't be left until a full evidence based has been prepared. The current focus in on developing and maintaining sustainable catchments as part of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). TW: The WFD does include a test for disproportionate costs which may in some cases lead to less stringent objectives. The WFD requirement is no deterioration of current ecological status, but this does not account for the impact of climate change on river flows. Alex Nickson (GLA): Are water company water resource management plans the right place to have the societal discussion on the value of the environment? TW: WRMPs are not the starting point. River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) set out how catchment should be managed and provide the framework for WRMPs. 3

4 Martin Salter (Angling Trust): As we go into a drought water companies are given powers to cut across the WFD objectives because of insufficient investment in infrastructure. Do you have any comment on this and when did TW build its last reservoir? TW: The last reservoir in the TW supply area was built over 40 years ago, actions have been taken on leakage but there has been no investment in new surface water infrastructure in recent years. Neil Edwards (NPower): The abstraction licence reform process is not solely focused on AIM but extends to the allocation of water resources. I understand that there will be a consultation on this in How are the potential changes to abstraction licences to be modelled by TW in its WRMP? Defra: The Water Reform team are engaged in work to understand the potential impacts of abstraction licence reform on different sectors. Changes will be implemented from so it is a long-term process. Water companies are planning over a 25-year time horizon in their WRMPs but these are living documents, which are updated every 5 years and reviewed annually. If new information becomes available and is considered to be material, it will need to be taken into account as part of the annual review process. Session 2 5. Jon Ashley (Ofwat) focused on the case for water trading and the potential benefits of greater interconnectivity and resource sharing between water companies. A study commissioned by Defra (2010) looked at the barriers to interconnectivity and one of the conclusions was that companies needed to be more pro-active in investigating interconnection. Ofwat held a recent consultation on Future Price Limits which included options to promote trading and inter-connectivity and in the main, this received a positive response. As set out in the WRPG, in their WRMPs companies will need to demonstrate that they have consulted with third parties to identify potential options and how they have considered options. Furthermore, companies in surplus should identify if it is feasible to export water. Ofwat are looking at incentives to encourage greater resource sharing. 6. Chris Lambert (Thames Water) presented an overview of the WRMP14 work programme, the key steps in developing the plan, and the timeline for this work. Formal public consultation on the draft plan will take place in spring 2013 with the intention to work with regulators and stakeholders in the lead up to the consultation. Chris also highlighted some of the key issues that we need to address in the plan for example the risk with demand management, the on-going leakage challenge in London and the scale and timing of sustainability reductions. 7. Brian Arkell (Atkins on behalf of Thames Water) provided an overview of TW s proposed approach to identify and consider demand management and resource options. The process is broadly in line with the WRPG and is a multi-stage process. The presentation slides set out the stages of the process. Brian provided a handout of the primary screening criteria to be used to assess the unconstrained list of options and welcomed comments on this. Brian also provided a handout of the draft list of unconstrained options and again welcomed comments. The identification of options and the appraisal process will be completed by August If there is sufficient stakeholder interest, TW will hold a meeting to enable a more detailed examination of options appraisal at the end of May/beginning of June in advance of the next Forum on 15 June. 8. Topsy Rudd (Cascade Consulting on behalf of Thames Water) introduced the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA), explained the objectives and key stages in the process and how these assessments are integrated with the development of the WRMP. The HRA considers the impact of the Plan on Natura 2000 sites and how to mitigate any potential impact. 4

5 The SEA is a high level environmental and social assessment. The industry has been working with the regulators to refine the guidance on how SEA and HRA should be undertaken and influence the development of the plan. An UKWir report will be published by May The next stage of the SEA is the scoping report which will set the context for the plan, the baseline and determine the objectives against which the plan will be assessed. The scoping report will be published for consultation in April Cascade will contact the statutory consultees and other stakeholder who express an interest. Questions John Lawson (ARK): Are external parties expected to submit costed evidence on potential options to TW by August 2012 or would it not be more appropriate for information to be submitted to TW to develop an approach and to cost the options. TW: We need to undertake more work to develop the process for external parties to submit proposals. This will need to be completed in conjunction with regulators to ensure all schemes are properly scrutinised and audited. Ofwat: The current consultation on the WRPG has proposed that the external party proposing a scheme would need to provide the detailed information in relation to the scheme. Comments are welcome on this and the position will be set out in the final guidance. Following the Q&A it was clarified that the responses referred to organisations who were offering to provide water resource and not stakeholders with suggestions on alternative schemes for consideration by TW. Paul Butler (South East Water): The management of potential surplus water is complex and may not lend itself to simple bilateral negotiation between companies. This therefore has implications for the development of water resource options and needs further consideration. Ofwat: This point was acknowledged and would be considered further in finalising the WRPG. Dave Harvey (Thames Anglers Conservancy): Ofwat referred to 29 barriers to interconnection. Can this be expanded upon? Ofwat: Some of the main barriers are linked to financial incentives and Ofwat is considering how financial incentives may be reframed to overcome these barriers. Other issues are more complex and are concerned with the movement of water and potential environmental impacts. The barriers can be tackled but require further work. Mark Lloyd (Angling Trust): How does Ofwat balance its sustainability duty versus affordability and the cost to the customer? Ofwat: At the last Price Review there were no transfer schemes proposed or funded. If the right incentive framework is applied, customers can benefit but these options also need to be environmentally sustainable. This is why AIM is being developed, to put a value on water in areas where there is over-licensing and over-abstraction. This is a complex area and Ofwat is trying to develop a system which works with simple incentives. Ken Burgin (Cotswold Canal Trust): Is there the opportunity for trade offs between rivers to achieve WFD objectives. EA: Under the WFD water bodies are classified into bands and some deterioration in a band may be acceptable as long as it stays within the band. It is important that a pragmatic and evidence based approach is implemented. Alex Nickson (GLA): Last time we tried to reach agreement on the sustainable economic level SELL) of leakage. Are we there yet? 5

6 TW: There is work underway to develop a better, common, understanding of what is a SELL but we are not there yet. Martin Salter (Angling Trust) The Angling Trust is thrilled with the WFD which is promising good ecological status for our water bodies. Who is responsible if the water resource planning process goes against the WFD? Defra: The River Basin Management Plan sets out the objectives to meet the WFD and the WRMP process should be used as a tool to help to meet the objectives effectively and efficiently. TW: We are currently undertaking a study to understand the ecological impact of the abstraction regime on the Lower Thames. We welcome input from anglers to ensure we gather as much information as possible to make sure we have robust evidence to inform future decisions. Mark Moon (Wokingham Borough Council): Are there defined outcomes or targets in developing this plan. TW: We do not currently have hard targets. We have a number of policy aspirations which will shape the development of our plan, for example the government s aspiration to achieve per capita consumption of 130 l/h/d and the WFD targets to achieve good ecological status. The WRMP process involves understanding and balancing the different outcomes. Karen Gibbs (CCWater): Understanding customer preferences is important in shaping your future plans, how are you going about this and how will this work be shared with the group? TW: We have a broad programme of work to understand customer s willingness to pay and this will be used to inform the WRMP. It involves studies to understand customer s willingness to pay for certain specific solutions and this information will be used to balance the outcomes in the plan. We are willing to share this work with the group. 9. Richard Aylard thanked all attendees for their attendance and contributions and asked attendees to complete feedback forms which will help TW to manage future meetings and address the topics that stakeholders would like to discuss. Minutes of the meeting, and materials tabled at the meeting, will be published on within 7 working days of the meeting. The next Forum will be held on 15 June 2012 in ETC Venues, Paddington, London. TW 15 March