The Government has said this morning that Thames Water needs to do a significant amount of further work on its Water Resources Management Plan for 2010-2035.

The Government has accepted all of the recommendations included in the Planning Inspector’s Final Report on the inquiry into Thames Water’s draft Water Resources Management Plan.

Today Defra said the report included a number of complex recommendations which would require a significant amount of further work on the part of Thames Water prior to publication of its plan. Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for the Environment at Defra, will now seek the technical advice of the Environment Agency in order to direct the company on the precise nature and timing of the further work to be undertaken.

Abingdon reservoir proposal must go

The work will include removal of the current proposal for a reservoir at Abingdon from the preferred programme and further work to develop a new preferred programme, which may include a smaller reservoir as a feasible option, to ensure security of supply in the London and South West Oxfordshire water resources zones. 

In a statement, Defra said the evidence in the first round of statutory water resources management plans had indicated there is no immediate need for the development of nationally significant infrastructure to provide a secure supply and demand balance. Defra said it now plans to look further at the rationale and evidence for a water supply National Policy Statement  that promotes a more strategic approach to delivering nationally significant water supply infrastructure.

In their submissions to the Inquiry, Thames Water responded to the main issues raised during the course of the Inquiry. The main issues included:

• Whether the demand for water has been adequately assessed and provided for.
• Whether it is appropriate for Thames Water to plan for long-term risk, including future unknown sustainability reductions.
• Whether it is appropriate for the Upper Thames Reservoir (UTR) to be planned for and included in the preferred programme for the London and Swindon and Oxfordshire water resource zones or whether there are any
• alternative options that should be planned for or contained in those preferred programmes.
• Whether Thames Water’s approach to programme appraisal is adequate.
• Whether, in the light of the issues raised by the other parties to this Inquiry, any further changes, beyond those agreed by Thames Water, should be made to the revised plan.

 In response to the decision that more work is required on its 25 year Water Resources Management Plan, Martin Baggs, Thames Water's chief executive, said:

"We supply water to 8.7million people and we take this responsibility extremely seriously. For the next fifteen years our plan aims to provide almost all of the additional water our customers will need through demand management. That means further substantial reductions in leakage, more metering and doing everything we can to promote and encourage the wise use of water. So we are pleased that the Inspector recommended no changes to our demand management activities.  

"The Inspector has recommended an extensive programme of additional work, looking in detail at options to meet demand in the longer term and we will work on this with the Environment Agency, as directed by the Secretary of State."