The Environment Agency (EA) has today launched a new consultation on its approach to determining areas water stress to inform decisions by water companies on whether they can introduce compulsory metering in those areas.

The consultation sets out the Agency’s latest method and initial outcomes for determining areas of water stress in England.

The determination is specifically to inform whether water companies, in areas of serious water stress, can consider charging for water by metered volume for all customers. Compulsory metering is one of the options they can consider in their water resources management plans to manage water supplies.

Introducing the consultation, the EA commented:

“A lot has changed since we last revised the classification in 2013. The National Framework for Water Resources and water companies’ water resources management plans (WRMP19) were published in 2020. Using the latest data from these plans has improved our understanding of water resources needs.

“This includes the impact of climate change, pressure on the environment and how to meet the challenges they create.

“Water stress applies both to the natural environment and to public water supplies. Both will be affected by climate change. Public water supplies are under pressure from reductions in abstraction to make them more environmentally sustainable. There is also a need to make public water supplies more resilient to droughts and meet additional demands associated with development and population growth.”

“The determination will show where we believe there are or, are likely to be, environmental impacts caused by public water supplies or the need for major water resources developments. It will indicate where these could be reduced by improving water efficiency through metering.”

Water stress is defined in regulations - the Water Industry (Prescribed Conditions) Regulations 1999, amended in 2007, as where:

‘The current household demand for water is a high proportion of the current effective rainfall which is available to meet that demand. Or, the future household demand for water is likely to be a high proportion of the effective rainfall which is likely to be available to meet that demand’.

Water stress assessment method takes a long-term view 

The Agency said that rather than taking a snapshot of shorter or peak periods, its proposed water stress assessment method takes a long-term view of the availability and the demand for public water supply and accounts for:

• future population growth
• climate change
• environmental needs
• increased resilience

According to the EA, it also reflects and supports the commitments that water companies have already made to reduce leakage and water consumption.

The consultation paper explains that as water supplies come under increasing pressure, there is a need for water companies to better manage the volume of water they distribute. To help with this, water companies in areas which are under serious water stress are able to charge all customers for the volume of water used.

Advice from the Environment Agency enables the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to determine which water companies are in different levels of water stress taking Minister Rebecca Pow asked the Agency in November 2020 to update its advice.

The EA said it is using the latest available evidence to review how we identify the areas of England that have different levels of water stress, including interim water resources position statements produced by regional groups and information in WRMP19 produced for the National Framework for Water Resources published in 2020.

Majority of water companies have seriously water stressed areas 

Using the updated analysis method, the Agency has identified company areas which would be classed either as seriously water stressed or not seriously water stressed for metering purposes. Seriously stressed areas by water company include :

• Affinity Water
• Anglian Water – East Anglia
• Cambridge Water
• Essex and Suffolk Water
• Portsmouth Water
• SES Water
• South East Water
• South Staffordshire Water
• Southern Water
• Severn Trent Water – excluding Chester zone
• Thames Water
• Veolia Water
• Wessex Water

The Agency is now inviting anyone who is interested in managing the demand for water and the impacts of public water supplies on the environment in England to comment on its proposals, including:

• water companies and regional water resources groups
• the public
• other regulators (such as Ofwat, Natural England)
• other conservation organisations and non-governmental organisations such as Waterwise, Rivers Trusts and Wildlife Trusts
• other water users (such as Canal & River Trust, Energy UK)
• water resource research and consultancy community (such as CIWEM, Water UK, UKWIR, HR Wallingford, Royal Town Planning Institute)
• the general public or those representing them (such as Consumer Council for Water)
• government agencies and public authorities including, Natural Resources Wales and local authorities

Key questions include:

• Do you think that the approach using water available for supply, environmental needs together with future demand for water effectively supports the determination of areas of water stress in England? If not how could it be improved?
• Do you agree that the proposed classification results effectively reflect the levels of water stress in England for the purpose of metering? If not, why?
• What is the right size of area for the classification of water stress?
• Do you agree that classifying water stress according to 2 levels, serious and not serious is still the right approach?
• Are there any water company areas you would like to be included or excluded? 

The Agency will use the results of the consultation to revise its approach if required and then advise the Secretary of State of its recommendations on which areas they should determine as areas of serious water stress. The Secretary of State will then decide on which areas should be determined as an area of serious water stress.

"Climate change will have a significant impact on flows and water availability by 2050"

A separate Appendix published alongside the consultation paper says that climate change will have a significant impact on flows and water availability in 2050. Under the climatic scenario used by the EA the north east, north west and the south west would see the greatest change in low surface water flows. While the south east would be less affected due to its geology and the buffering capacity of groundwater in the region, it would also see a decrease in natural flows in most catchments by 2050.

It also says that at low flows there would be no surface water available for abstraction in the north and west without reservoir storage and very limited water available across most of the south and east.

Deadline to submit responses to the consultation is 11^th March 2021.

Click here to download the consultation paper

Click here to download the Appendix Longer Term Environmental Water Needs (Enhanced Scenario)

Click here to access the consultation online