Industry bemused by new definition of water stress

by Megan Darby

Moves to redefine water stress and place four more water companies in the “serious” category could strain credibility with customers, industry sources have warned.

The Environment Agency said its revised methodology, which is open for consultation, takes a more comprehensive view of the issues, including climate change effects.

Martin Berry, water resource planning manager at Bristol Water, questioned the evidence behind the changes. He expressed surprise at being upgraded to seriously stressed “at the stroke of a pen”.

The classification makes the difference between being obliged to consider compulsory metering and being prohibited from doing so. Berry said it would be easier to justify metering programmes to Ofwat but queried whether customers would be convinced.

Wessex Water was also moved into the “serious” category but said its water resource management plan was unlikely to change as a result. It does not support compulsory metering but is taking steps to cut unsustainable abstraction. David Elliott, director of environment and assets, said applying a broad classification to the entire region was “potentially misleading” because only a small part was affected.

Lucia Susani, environment and business manager at the EA, defended the methodology: “Just because it is raining today doesn’t mean it will be in the future. The methodology was designed to allow water companies to consider metering programmes and those can take many years to design and implement.”

This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 16th November 2012.

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