UK water infrastructure graded B or “adequate for now” – but are we equipped for future challenges?

Back in 2012, in our State of the Nation: Water report, ICE called for prompt action to tackle the UK’s water security, writes ICE water expert Adrian Johnson.

We made several recommendations for change including the development of new water storage facilities across the country, improved regulatory incentives for water sharing between neighbouring companies and more collaborative investment in new infrastructure. We also recommended the phased introduction of metering, with social tariffs to protect the poorest in society, to help incentivise water conversation.

We recommended that a ‘UK Water Security Taskforce’ could be created – to bring all of these components together into an integrated strategy or “roadmap to water security”.

We are now two years on. There have been some welcome proposed changes to the abstraction licence regime and changes in the Water Act have rightly given Ofwat responsibility for prioritising resilience of the network. The recently created National Water Resources Group (NRWG) – a group consisting of stakeholders from the water sector, including ICE – is also a step forward. The NRWG provides a forum for stakeholders to consider the benefits of using alternative water resource and water management approaches in the long term.

But despite these steps, progress is slow. Our June State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report – which grades the UK infrastructure networks on capacity, performance and condition – rated our water infrastructure “B” or “adequate for now”. On the surface, this may appear satisfactory, but can we afford to have water infrastructure that is only adequate for now –what about the future challenges ahead?

The UK’s weather patterns are changing and bouts of extreme wet and dry weather are set to increase. Meanwhile, the population is growing – with more and more users seeking access to limited supplies of water. These factors have contrived to put stress on our water supply and unless we adapt now, parts of the UK will face severe water stress in the future.

As the Government, regulators and water companies establish the levels of resilience required for future scenarios, they should consider the interdependencies between water, food, energy and the environment and the varying needs from these users. We also need to increase our security of supply through better access to water resources, additional local storage and more flexible inter-company transfers to close the long term supply and demand imbalance in some regions. And importantly, we need to proactively reduce all water uses and improve water conservation to ensure we maintain a healthy water environment.

Even in areas where water is perceived as abundant, it is still important for the public, industry and other users to understand the need for good water management. Metering – which has been applied successfully in some areas of the UK – is one way to help the public place higher value on water. It will also enable water and sewerage companies to monitor leakage more effectively.

Two things are clear to me; firstly, water is a hugely complex sector requiring a range of co-ordinated demand and supply side measures – a “holistic” approach – to ensure resilience to extreme weather and to future social and environmental change. Secondly, the need for a proper integrated strategy or “roadmap” to drive change is becoming more pressing. At ICE, we are confident the NWRG could establish and implement such a roadmap.

ICE’s State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report can be downloaded here