Ofwat and the Environment Agency have written to the water companies calling on them to collaborate and work in partnership with others within and beyond the sector, reflecting the needs of the areas in which they operate.

The call comes in a letter from Ofwat and the Environment Agency to the water companies’ regulatory directors setting out their joint approach for how water companies should consider flood and coastal resilience in the context of their statutory roles and duties.

Both water only companies and water and sewerage companies are risk management authorities (RMAs) for the purpose of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

The approach reflects strategic commitments in Ofwat’s strategy ‘Time to Act, Together’,  and in the Environment Agency’s ‘National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England’.

In a letter to the water companies’ regulatory directors, the regulators said that by working together with other stakeholders to manage water in a more integrated way, the companies can improve the resilience of services and communities to all sources of flood and coastal risk, enhance the natural environment and deliver value for customers.

Setting out the context, the letter explains that infrastructure owned by water companies plays a vital role in draining urban areas and reducing the likelihood and impact of sewer and surface water flooding. However, the infrastructure is vulnerable to all sources of flooding and coastal change – “if it fails this can have serious adverse consequences for customers and the environment.”

Ofwat and the Environment Agency want companies to routinely consider the wider, long-term benefits to communities and the environment when putting forward solutions, using a systems and catchment oriented approach.

“ They should use adaptive approaches to maintain a focus on the long term and identify, develop, fund, and deliver schemes to improve resilience of the water supply and wastewater and drainage services provided to customers, including to the risks posed by floods and climate change,” the letter says.

Examples of existing good practice cited by the regulators include:

• Northumbrian Water, the Environment Agency and North Tyneside Council are together investing over £5 million to manage surface water in the Killingworth and Longbenton areas of North Tyneside. Over 3500 properties in Killingworth and Longbenton have benefitted from increased flood protection from the sewer network, surface water and river improvements as a result of this scheme.
• Anglian Water has contributed £3 million to a coastal erosion project led by Tendring District Council in Essex that has a total cost of £36 million. The project will reduce risk of coastal erosion to about 1,570 homes and protect Anglian Water’s sewerage infrastructure alongside this section of coastline.
• Severn Trent Water and third-party beneficiaries are together investing £85 million to deliver the equivalent of up to 60% of the anticipated future network storage required in Mansfield by 2050 through blue-green infrastructure. The scheme will include partnership delivery of assets such as street planters, raingardens, detention basins and permeable paving, and will provide improvements to all flooding pathways (above ground and underground), beyond just sewer flooding improvements, as well as delivery of wider aesthetic and social benefits.

The regulators expect to see the use of sustainable drainage systems and nature-based solutions to be considered where appropriate. They also expect the water companies to have “a clear and systematic approach to assessing partnership opportunities to co-fund solutions.”

Going forward, both the Environment Agency and Ofwat would like to see companies exercising their functions in a way that enhances value for customers and the environment even further.

“This should include considering where and how collaboration with others may optimise solutions and maximise benefits, including potentially playing a convening role as part of multi-party solutions where appropriate.

“Where integrated solutions can deliver greater benefits, we expect companies to explore co-funding opportunities, to ensure their customers are not funding the responsibilities of others. Where a proposed solution goes beyond a company’s minimum statutory obligations, companies will need to demonstrate customer support in order to justify customer funding,” the regulators say.