Stormy weather: water firms’ roles on flooding

The winter weather is worsening and Britain’s storms are now deemed strong enough to be given their own names. But for water companies battling floods to protect both their customers and assets it could become more serious still if they are called upon to do even more.

As storm ‘Barney’ batters the South of England this week, Southern Water says it has “heightened its level of awareness and preparation” and will “monitor its progress” to assess the potential impact in our operational area. This is the second storm in a week considered strong enough to be named by the Met Office, after storm ‘Abigail’ raged in the North West of the country at the weekend.

Water and sewerage companies invest millions every year to strengthen their networks and protect against flooding. They also contribute to schemes as partners to councils and work to raise awareness in communities about the work being carried out to protect against flooding. But, if Ofwat gets its way, firms could soon take over from the Environment Agency (EA) to deliver flood defence schemes.

During extreme weather drains and sewers often have significantly more water flowing through them and, when there is a large amount of rainfall in a short time, it can overload the system. Sewerage companies are responsible for protecting their vital assets – such as water pumping stations and treatment works – from being flooded, as well as clearing properties affected by sewer flooding.

“Sewer flooding is unacceptable and we treat all cases with the highest priority,” a spokesman for Thames Water tells Utility Week. “We’re constantly monitoring the weather, groundwater levels and our network of sewer pipes and pumping stations to reduce the impact of any extreme rainfall.”

However, Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross said last month that water companies are “in the frame” for taking over from the EA on delivering flood defence schemes. “I’m really conscious that having created a regulatory regime focused on outcomes that does put water companies in the frame for thinking about things that deliver outcomes that lie beyond the boundaries of the traditional water company,” she said at the time. “I think flood defence and flooding issues are one element of that. I can envisage a situation in which water companies could perform useful functions around flood protection and flood defences.”

Severn Trent Water supports the idea of a debate on water companies’ role in flood defences, saying: “Investment in flood defence management is becoming increasingly important, but the budgets of local and national government are increasingly under pressure. The question is: could the water sector do more in this area, as we did before 1989? We don’t know all the answers, but we think the question is very much worthy of debate.”

Anglian Water, however, argues that partnerships with councils can work just as well, without the need for a “sweeping reform of ownership and responsibilities”.

The debate has been reignited by Lord Moynihan, who questioned the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on companies’ roles in the co-ordination and implementation of flood defences. In a written Parliamentary question, Lord Moynihan also asked whether a “full and transparent tender process” would be launched, and if the water companies’ work on flood defences would fall outside of their regulated duties.

Lord Gardiner confirmed that the government has not asked water companies to do more, and is not planning to launch a tender process.

Water firms are already working “around the clock” and investing millions to deal with the effects of flooding. United Utilities (UU) said its engineers worked with the Environment Agency to help protect people’s homes from flooding during the latest bout of weather. “We drafted in extra staff over the weekend to deal with a 98 per cent increase in flood related calls,” says UU wastewater network manager Tony Griffiths.

Anglian Water says it plans to use tens of millions of its £5 billion AMP6 investment to alleviate and mitigate flooding to “ensure resilient services” for its customers. A spokeswoman tells Utility Week: “Barney is not set to hit our region, thankfully, but of course we have been subjected to severe storms in the past – like Bertha and the tidal surge – and will again in the future.”

She adds that Anglian is the first water company to set aside £8 million for Flood Partnership Projects – a pot of cash that can be used over the AMP to jointly fund flood projects. “This will enable councils and other organisations across the region to bid for funds to deliver improvements that will prevent flooding inside people’s homes,” she says “The money has been set aside specifically to overcome the challenges presented by the complex, interconnected drainage network that exists in every town and city, which various organisations and agencies are responsible for.”

Southern Water, as well, has spent millions on flood protection schemes over the last few years to increase the capacity of the sewerage systems in the most vulnerable areas. “Last year we delivered the latest phase of our £12 million programme to survey and seal sewers across our region, preventing rising groundwater, river and surface water from forcing its way into our pipework,” a spokeswoman for the company says.

Currently no single organisation has sole responsibility for flooding in Britain. In England and Wales, the EA remains the lead agency on flooding, and will be spending £2.3 billion over the next six years to reduce flood risk to 300,000 more properties. There has, thus far, been no regulatory change to the role water firms play.