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The longer-term impacts of coronavirus on water usage patterns will be considered in the next water resources management plan (WRMP) guidelines for the five-year period from 2024.
The change in demand distribution because of the pandemic and shifting working patterns will be acknowledged, as will the question of future usage habits.
Proposed changes for water resource management planning from 2024 include guidelines around environmental impacts and protecting chalk streams set out by the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat.
The last version of WRMP was published in 2017 and has been significantly revised for 2024. In July, the draft guidelines set out expectations for water companies to be resilient to one in 500 years droughts as well as planning to reduce abstraction where it is causing environmental damage.
For the non-household sector, there is a call for retailers to be included in a working group for developing the WRMPs with an emphasis on the importance of early engagement.
In light of the climate emergency, water companies will be asked to report their carbon in tonnes alongside the monetised cost and information about mitigation and offsetting.
The guidelines will also ensure that companies meet the government expectations for carbon within their plans.
In response to concerns raised in the consultation, the EA will change the guidelines to clarify that any solutions companies implement should have less impact on the environment than the problems being addressed.
Companies will be asked for information on location, timing and the reasons for each sustainability reduction. They will also be expected to assess whether there are downstream benefits to water company abstractors as a result of any sustainability actions taken.
Respondents to the consultation raised concerns that chalk streams were not adequately covered in the WRMP guidance. In response the EA said this was already sufficiently covered in other projects. In January the EA set out plans to update drought plans after a consultation found they were not considered robust enough to protect the streams.
The EA said respondents expressed views that the expectation on water companies within the 25 Year Environment Plan were too onerous and beyond the remit of the sector.
The updated guidelines are due to be published in January 2021.
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