The Environment Agency has today launched a new consultation on proposed changes to the guideline that water companies in England must follow when they prepare and publish their drought plans by 2027.
The water company drought plan guideline sets out what companies must and should include in their statutory drought management plans.
The Agency has updated the guideline to ensure that all technical information is up to date and lessons learnt from recent research and experience of drought has been incorporated.
The EA is now seeking views on the clarity of the changes made to the guideline and whether anything is missing or needs improving.
The main changes to the water company drought plan guideline are:
- improved presentation and clarify of information included to answer queries raised by water companies and others
- demand – new section on further actions companies to significantly reduce residential customer demand
- extreme drought management actions – new information on priorities and checking viability and implementability of extreme actions companies include in their plans along with a new section on ‘alternative pathways’
- recovery from drought – new section added
- new text on water retailers included in the introduction and where relevant throughout guideline
- new text on emergency plans and how they relate to drought plans
- annual drought plan health check – information added covering this new requirement
Chalk streams
Several responses to the EA’s 2019 consultation on the drought plan guideline asked for better protection for chalk streams.
For this update, the Agency has included some further information on the use of environmental triggers for environmentally sensitive sites and provided the examples of chalk and greensand rivers. Stakeholders will also have an opportunity to comment on water companies’ use of environmental triggers when they consult on their draft drought plans in 2025.
The Environment Agency is particularly interested to receive views from:
- water companies and new appointments and variations (NAVs) companies
- water retailers
- regulators
- local authorities and local resilience forums
- non-government organisations such as wildlife trusts, canal and river trusts
- the fire service
- the general public
Deadline to submit responses to the consultation is 11:59pm on Sunday 26 January 2025.
Click here to download the consultation document
Click here to access the consultation online
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