Water UK, the organisation which represents all UK water and wastewater service suppliers at national and European level, has said that required changes to abstraction licences could have a serious effect on planning for the public water supply.
Water UK has said that the effect on planning for the public water supply which may require water companies to reduce the amount of water they take from rivers and groundwater has created a lot of interest in recent days, with the potential impact on water bills as the main focus of attention. Under proposed changes, water companies will have to cut the volume of water they take from certain sources to protect wildlife species and habitats. According to Water UK, replacing this 'lost' water with new sources means a significant rise in the costs of ensuring a secure supply.
The organisation agrees that damaging abstractions - abstractions that damage the environment - should be reviewed and steps taken to mitigate or avoid them where appropriate and says that the industry already has robust plans in place which are currently subject to public consultation. However, Water UK also says that some important questions need to be asked, including:
• What is the environmental damage and are there alternative ways of dealing with it?
• What are the costs and benefits of reducing or avoiding the damage?
• Is the water industry alone responsible for the damage, or are other parties involved?
• Is the water industry best placed to avoid the damage by its own actions?
• Should the costs of replacing the damaging abstraction licence be borne by water customers or is this a problem for the whole of society that should properly be shared by many others?
Water UK says that in many cases water companies have invested large sums on the basis of abstraction licences formally issued by the Environment Agency and that they should be able to rely on using such licences for the benefit of their customers. It says if the programme of volume reductions removes or curtails the rights of companies to abstract, they should be compensated for the new investment required to replace 'lost' licences with new ones. Moreover, they should be supported in this by the Environment Agency which has a duty to protect and increase water resources available for the public supply.
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