Armitt: Water sector has a lot of catching up to do

The water sector has “a lot of catching up to do” over its next price control period and during future investment cycles, according to the head of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), John Armitt.

Marking the official submission of companies’ water resource management plans (WRMPs), Armitt said the lack of reservoirs built over the past 30 years mean firms have significant ground to make up in terms of securing new water supply resources.

He said: “In the face of a growing population and increasing drought risk, we need to see a robust twin track approach: cutting demand through reducing leakage and consumer use and building new water infrastructure. Our own modelling shows that cutting leaks and reducing demand alone isn’t sufficient: there has to be significant investment in a broad mix of new infrastructure – including reservoirs, transfer networks, recycling and desalination plants – to keep the taps from running dry and limit the damage to our environment from over extraction.”

The NIC previously highlighted the need for funding for new infrastructure, to drive down leakage and for demand reduction programmes to be allowed by Ofwat in PR24 business plans. It has also emphasised the importance of reducing the time it takes to get schemes through the planning process.

“With no new reservoirs built in the last three decades, there is a lot of catching up to do: that’s why reform of the planning system to reduce the time it takes for major projects to get planning consent cannot wait any longer. Without it, the infrastructure set out in these plans may not be in place by the 2030s, increasing the likelihood of more droughts like we saw last year and greater environmental damage.”

The organisation has previously called for demand management and leakage to be a focus for the water sector to meet the future supply deficit, which the NIC said will exceed 4,000 megalitres daily by the middle of this century.

Despite growing awareness, tangible actions have been slower to materialise and fears expressed that insufficient progress will be made to avoid water shortages.

Thursday (31 August) is the submission deadline for WRMPs, which are published by water companies every five years and feed into business planning for PR24.

Armitt noted the sector has set the ambition to build 12 reservoirs in the coming 25 years as well as desalination and water recycling plants.

This is a step change compared to previous planned construction projects, with only one desalination plant, one recycling plant and a reservoir extension built in the past 30 years.

All companies produced draft WRMPs and ran consultations as well as sessions with customers to understand priorities prior to the publication of the final plans.