GMB, the union for water workers, has said that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee must call private water companies, the Environment Agency and Ofwat to account for allowing parts of the UK to run short of water.
The union is specifically asking for private water companies and the regulatory bodies to be brought to account for the closure of 25 bulk water storage facilities in the South East before implementing plans to divert water from the Severn.
The union claims that this has left rainfall running off to the sea while the region is subject to drought orders.
Gary Smith, GMB National Secretary for Water, said:
“The mission of a water undertaking is to deliver the water needed for human purposes and for industry. That requires proper direction and management. Both have been sadly missing in Britain for the past twenty years.
Storage and transfer are two of the main elements of water resource management: one to move water from times of plenty to times of shortage; the other to convey water from places where it is plentiful to areas where it is in short supply. The third basic element is treatment to regulate water quality.”
Mr Smith also added that there is no shortage of water in Britain and the drought has come about due to a ‘serious mismanagement’ of water resources by water companies. As a result, the South East region has been left short of water twice in the space of six years.
Furthemore, he said that the vast sums of money paid out in dividends to shareholders could have been better spent on diverting water to the south east of England.
He also took aim at the Government as he described the Water White Paper’s proposal to increase competition in the water industry as a “nonsense policy.”
GMB has previously complained that Thames Water has not developed the disused Severn Thames canal course to divert water into the region from water in the Severn running off to the sea. Senior engineers at Thames Water are currently assessing the possibility of such a scheme in coordination with the Cotswold Canals Trust.
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