WRW ‘confident’ region can support drier parts of the UK

Water resource planners in the west and north west of England as well as Wales have forecast there will be spare water resources available to support transfers within and outside of the region as the country faces a drier future.

Supply deficits are expected in the Midlands where groundwater and river flows need enhanced protection but surpluses elsewhere in the region can help to fill the shortfall, according to Water Resources West (WRW).

The group, which includes United Utilities, South Staffs, Welsh Water and Severn Trent as well as other stakeholders, has created an emerging plan out to 2085 to address the long term needs of public and non-public water sources. It has been designed to adapt to the changing challenges presented by the climate and population growth, as well as contributing to goals set out in the government’s 25-year Environment Plan.

Managing demand is at the forefront of the plan, which relies on water companies achieving their self-set target of reducing leakage by 50% by 2050 and driving down personal consumption to 110l daily.

However, these significant demand reduction targets would still leave a deficit of 215 megalitres each day across the region as a whole to satisfy public requirements by 2031. Non-household users are also expected to need an additional 63 megalitres per day. The region’s current supply requirement is 5,550 megalitres of water each day.

The Midlands is expected to see the most pronounced shortfalls, largely due to the need to protect groundwater levels and river flows. Localised deficits are also expected in parts of the northwest and Wales. However, surpluses in other areas will mean fewer supply side options are required there, particularly in Wales.

The plan proposes a range of new supply options for the Midlands, which are focused on enhancing existing assets and transfers from within the WRW region.

Assessing requirements to 2085, the group identified feasible options to meet demands and, following consultation, will choose the best value approach in terms of cost, carbon impact, environmental and social benefits.

WRW said the best all round supply options, where they are required, will focus on enhancing existing infrastructure and enabling transfers. The plan said these, together with demand management for domestic and commercial consumers, will increase public water resilience to extreme droughts.

WRW was established after the National Framework for Water Resources recognised that individual company plans would be insufficient to manage the complex future water needs. The five water resources groups have aligned their plans to explore how they might interact and to understand trade-offs between interregional transfers and other resource supply options.

Transfer schemes are already being developed with the Regulators Alliance to Progress Infrastructure Development (RAPID) to be shovel-ready for asset management period (AMP) 9 in 2030-35.

One such scheme is the River Severn to River Thames transfer scheme, which would move water from the north west and the Midlands to the south east by releasing water into the Severn and transferring it to the Thames.

Another would utilise the Grand Union Canal to move water to the south east.

WRW said it is confident it can contribute to the water needs in other regions, as well as meeting its own demand.

A consultation will run to the end of February for the emerging regional plan ahead of developing a more substantial plan in the autumn 2022.