environment magazine

All I wanted for Christmas was……

By Nick Reeves OBE, Executive Director, CIWEM – Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

Picture the scene…a group of youngsters waiting round the twinkling Christmas tree for something special to arrive, excitement growing as the days then hours are counted down to the great moment. Well, that was the scene in the CIWEM Policy Department while waiting for the Water White Paper. CIWEM has spent years campaigning for the true cost of water to be reflected in prices, has developed great reports on Regulation for a Sustainable Water Industry and Integrated Water Management, organised countless seminars and conferences and worked hard with Defra, Regulators, MPs and others in the run up to the production of the White Paper in order to get our points across.

On the day of ‘arrival’ the CIWEM Policy Team all gathered to speedily read and then discuss what we all thought. Recent Government papers have often resulted in cries of upset, hurling of objects in disgust and gnashing of teeth within the first hour or so. By lunchtime that day, the team were all looking rather subdued. And that’s the point about the Water White Paper. It’s a bit like waiting for a rich Uncle at Christmastime in the early ‘80s to get you the latest red glowing digital watch or electronic calculator then you find out he’s broke and got you a C&A snowflake jumper instead. You’ll still be thankful for it and say thanks and know that it’s a sensible present but actually what you wanted was far sexier.

CIWEM thinks that the White Paper is generally good stuff; we are very pleased that there is a strong pro-catchment bias and a realisation that water isn’t a separate ‘sector’ or substance from everything else out there. At the CIWEM Catchments Conference in November 2011, the Minister, Richard Benyon MP strongly endorsed a catchment approach and Government support for pilot catchment projects and this is a key step forward. We are happy to play our part in the many work streams that will emanate from the paper and the following Bill. So the whole ‘direction of travel’ is fine and will be beneficial in the long run to the environment.

CIWEM laid out its stall well in advance of the development of the White Paper in two briefing reports.

Regulation for a Sustainable Water Industry outlines CIWEM's vision for the future of the water industry. It includes the 10 features that CIWEM believes would create a more sustainable water industry and the benefits that these would provide, and suggests future legislation, policy and guidance in how we might achieve it. The report is available from:
http://www.ciwem.org/policy-and-international/current-topics/water-management/regulation-for-a-sustainable-water-industry.aspx

Integrated Water Management moves our thinking beyond water to other agendas such as energy and carbon, planning, biodiversity, agriculture and ecosystem services and demonstrates examples of it in practice. The report aimed to identify why when achieving more integration has been on the agenda in the water industry for a number of years meaningful progress has been limited. The report is available from:
http://www.ciwem.org/policy-and-international/current-topics/water-management/integrated-water-management.aspx

CIWEM also joined with Waterwise, WWF and others in the Fairness on Tap coalition to call for fairer pricing of water for consumers and the environment.

So whilst we consider the White Paper to be positive, I believe that it contains a clear contradiction: How can we value water and not take it for granted, but not pay a price for water that properly recognises its true value? The fairest way to ensure this is to establish widespread metering allied to flexible and social tariffs, so that those less able to pay are supported but that profligacy is discouraged.

There are some fundamental issues to consider:

• Current water consumption is not within sustainable limits,
• Water wastage is high,
• Our natural environment is under significant stress, and
• Millions of customers struggle to pay their water bills.

All of which are set to get worse with the onset of climate change and a rising population. Today’s system, based on 1974 rateable values, does not reflect water use, nor does it protect many low-income families from unaffordable bills. But the White Paper is very weak on tackling these issues.

The issues surrounding water affordability and metering should be considered at the same time as the two are inextricably linked. I believe it is essential that the two are also dealt with together, as it would be counterproductive to create a robust framework to solve affordability issues if this is not compatible with future policies on metering.

Paying for what we use is not only the fairest way to pay for water, it is also the only way to build the clear picture of patterns of water consumption which will be needed to move forward sustainably and to ensure that water is affordable for all in the long term.

You can argue till you are blue in the face about people not liking meters and it being costly, but of course people are going to dislike losing what they see as an unlimited water supply, and saving the planet’s resources isn’t all about taking the path of least resistance at every turn.

It is too weak to assume that people will change their behaviour to the degree needed through anything but higher prices – maybe in the Government’s current attitude there is just too little carrot and a puny straw instead of a great big stick, but in these times of demographic change, unsustainable exploitation of resources and climate change, much stronger incentives to change are needed.

We welcome the programme of work set out in the White Paper for 2012 and beyond which should ensure progress on a number of key issues: including a Water Bill; the widespread focus on catchment approaches; a national strategy on urban diffuse pollution; guidance to water companies on social tariffs; a national SUDs standard and approval system and new guidance to OFWAT on social and environmental factors.

We agree there is a need for water companies to take a more innovative approach to managing water; there remains inertia and risk aversion within the water industry that has been exacerbated by the way that OFWAT has hitherto regulated the sector. We hope that this White Paper will help in driving forward a more innovative and sustainable water industry. At a January 2012 CIWEM-supported conference on the EC Blueprint for Water, Peter Gammeltoft of the EC noted that there was to be an EC framework for water innovation, and we hope that the rush for innovative products and processes will be pounced upon by the Government departments who can promote British products and therefore increase the market for UK research findings and products.

Broadly this is a positive document which should set in train work on a number of fronts that will in time deliver positive benefit for the environment and society. But central to this is that we value our water properly, and this White Paper does too little to encourage wider metering which is a crucial part of this balance.