Shape your water future. Draft water resources management plan Overview

Transcription

1 Shape your water future. Draft water resources management plan 2019 Overview

2 Introduction Your current water supply Water is essential for everything we do - from having a drink, to washing our clothes, and flushing the loo. It s also essential for a healthy environment and a prosperous economy. It s our job to provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water to around 10 million household customers and 215,000 businesses in London and across the Thames Valley. Many think there is plenty of water in the UK, but the South East of England is one of its driest regions and London gets less rain than Rome, Dallas and even Sydney. Our water supplies are being stretched further and further as the number of living in our area increases. We have to plan ahead, because the choices we make today will shape the water supply we can provide in the future. This document is an overview of our draft Water Resources Management Plan 2019, referred to in this document as our water plan. It sets out how we plan to provide a secure and sustainable supply of water for our customers over the next 80 years from 2020 to We have to comply with legal requirements and have followed the government s guidelines in preparing our water plan. We want to hear what you think, and are running a public consultation on our water plan, starting in February 2018 and closing on 29 April Your feedback will help us decide how to meet our customers needs in the future. We re also developing our draft Business Plan, which focuses on the first five years (2020 to 2025) of the period covered in our water plan, and sets out what we are going to do for both our water and wastewater services. We re also seeking your views on this plan. Throughout this document you will see this symbol, which highlights the questions we would like your response on as part of this consultation. You can find out more about the consultation on page 23. River Severn We take water from rivers and under the ground, treat it and distribute it to homes and businesses across our supply area through a network of underground pipes. Every day we supply our customers with more than 2,600 million litres of water - enough to fill 1,000 Olympic sized swimming pools. In the Thames Valley, around 70 % of our water is taken from underground sources in the Cotswolds and the Chiltern Hills. River Avon In London, about 80% of our water is taken from the River Thames and the River Lee. Water is stored in reservoirs to use when the flow in rivers is low, or of poor quality. Our reservoirs hold about 100 days supply of water. To boost water supplies, we built a desalination plant in This takes water from the Thames estuary, removes the salt, and treats the water. It is an important reserve but is a last resort as it is expensive and uses lots of energy. Banbury Essex Contents 3 Your 4 Looking 8 10 Options current water supply A closer look at your current water supply area ahead The future challenges What our customers want An overview of your priorities and preferences available to help manage future water supply An outline of the options we have considered 16 Deciding on our preferred programme A description of how we have made our decisions proposed plan proposals to provide a reliable 20Our water supply 23 Shape your water future Details of how to participate in the public consultation Cotswolds Swindon Farmoor Reservoir Hampshire Oxford Chiltern Hills Gatehampton Surrey Lower Thames Reservoirs River Wey Guildford Groundwater we export to Affinity Water London Guildford River Lee North London groundwater storage Ring Main Lee Valley Reservoirs SE London Groundwater Beckton Desalination we export to Essex & Suffolk Water Kent This document is an overview of our water plan. This symbol signposts the relevant sections of the more detailed report if you want to read more. The report is available on our website thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture Key facts Our area and the wider South East are classified by the Environment Agency as seriously water stressed. The Thames river catchment is the most intensively used water resource system in England. Around 90 per cent of water that is abstracted is for public water supply. The remaining 10 per cent is for energy generation, agriculture and other uses. The Environment Agency regulates these abstractions. About 38 per cent of our household customers have a water meter. On average each of our customers uses 146 litres of water every day. Around 25 per cent of the water we put into supply is lost through leaks from our water supply pipes and our customers pipes. 2 Section 1: Introduction and background Section 2: Water resources programme

3 Looking ahead Our water supplies are already under pressure, and this will increase in the future. The number of living in our area is growing rapidly and they will all need water. Environment - Wildlife in wetlands and rivers relies on a healthy environment with plentiful water. We need to balance the water we take for our customers with what we leave in the environment. We will continue to reduce the amount of water we take from rivers in parts of our region where the environment is under pressure. Population growth - London and the Thames Valley is already one of the most densely populated parts of the country, and the number of living and working here is forecast to grow significantly. By 2045 we forecast that there will be around two million more living in our area. That s the equivalent of Birmingham and Glasgow moving in. And by 2100 we forecast that there could be more than 15 million living in our area. Forecast population growth: Thames Water supply area m m m Section 3: Current and future demand for water m m We have used data from the Mayor of London and local authorities to develop our forecasts of population growth. At the same time, the amount of water that we can take from rivers and underground sources is reducing, due to changes in the climate and the need to protect the environment. This shortfall will start in the next five years and is forecast to grow to around 360 million litres of water per day by That s equivalent to the amount needed by over two million. The shortfall is forecast to increase to 864 million litres of water per day by 2100, the end of our planning period. The challenge is most severe in London, but we also forecast a significant shortfall in the Swindon and Oxfordshire region, and other parts of the Thames Valley. Supply demand shortfall: Thames Water supply area m Section 4: Current and future water supply Taking all these factors into account, we predict there will be a shortfall between the amount of water available and the amount we need unless we take action m m m m One mega litre equals one million litres of water and is equivalent to the water used by about 7,000 each day. DEMAND = Amount of water we need By 2100 we forecast that there will be a shortfall of: 864million litres per day e.g or x11million x6million without water for a day Climate change - Our climate is changing. Hotter, drier summers in the future will mean that there will be less rain when we need it most, and extreme weather events are likely to be more common. SUPPLY = Amount of water available Section 6: Baseline supply demand position 4 5

4 There are also other factors which affect our water plan. The UK is often thought of as rainy, but we do have dry spells and droughts when the amount of water in the ground and rivers is low. In severe droughts we might need to put in place water restrictions. This would mean that water for everyday activities would be rationed and your water might be turned off for periods during the day. These restrictions could last for several weeks. As well as disrupting our customers lives, restrictions would also have a damaging effect on the natural environment, and could cost London s economy alone up to 330 million every day. We know that there have been severe droughts in the past and these are likely to happen more often in the future. We need to plan ahead to protect our customers and the environment from their effects. Our customers have told us that they would like us to plan to provide a more reliable water supply to cope with the effects of a severe drought. This is also supported by the government. The pressures on water supplies are expected to become very serious in the future and we need to act now to make sure there is a safe and reliable supply of drinking water for our customers. Our proposed plan is designed to maintain all of our customers water supply, with no need for it to be rationed, during a severe drought (the kind that might happen once in every 200 years). We have some options about how quickly we achieve this: - Ensure that we can maintain all of our customers water supply during a severe drought, by Delay the work so we can maintain all of our customers water supply by Speed up the work so we can maintain all of our customers water supply by 2027, the earliest we can deliver suitable options. Please give us any comments on this. A regional perspective - The pressures of population growth and climate change are affecting the whole of the South East of England not just our area. In our water plan we have aimed to meet the growing water needs of the wider South East of England, taking into account opportunities to transfer water from across the region and beyond. By working together with other water companies across England and Wales we re taking a coordinated approach to planning for the future and making sure all our plans offer customers the best possible value for money. Some of our neighbouring companies have asked us to provide water to them in the future, which their customers would pay for, and we have included their needs in our water plan. Section 4: Current and future water supply 6 7

5 What our customers want We have worked closely with our customers to understand their views and preferences. We have asked them what we should consider in developing our water plan; whether and how often they are prepared to accept restrictions like hosepipe bans during a drought and where they think we should get the water from. We have listened to their feedback and used this information to develop our water plan. Here s a summary of what our customers have told us. Most customers are unaware of the challenges for future water supply. We ve engaged with over 18,000 customers in developing our future plans through research, day-to-day interactions and local community events. Once they understand the challenges, they want to know that we are planning for the future. Customers think that the current levels of leakage are too high and would like us to do more to fix leaks. Over 70% of customers said they want help to reduce their water use. Alongside leakage reduction and helping our customers use water efficiently, customers also support the development of new water resources. Communities that would be affected by future development would like to be engaged on plans. In 2016 we visited over 60,000 homes and installed more than 200,000 water saving devices helping our customers save water and money. Most customers do not want more frequent restrictions on their water use. Over 60% told us that this would affect their daily lives. The bill is important in deciding future plans, but it is not the only factor. Customers support best value planning. Please give us your comments on our summary of our customers views. Best Value As well as listening to our customers, we have also listened to our regulators, who are responsible for making sure customers get good value for money, and protecting the environment. We have also spoken to lots of other interest groups. These include environment groups like RSPB and WWF, organisations representing businesses, such as the Chambers of Commerce, and many more. We have done this to make sure we understand their different interests, and have used their feedback to help prepare our water plan. Appendix T: Customers priorities and preferences Appendix S: Stakeholder engagement 8 9

6 Options available to help man age future water supply We looked at more than 200 options to help to fill the shortfall between the amount of water available and the amount we need. These include ways to make the most of the water supplies that we already have available, called demand management options, and new sources of water, called water supply options. Demand management options Our first priority is to make sure that we make the best use of the water we already have. We ll do this by: Continuing our work to reduce the amount of water lost through leaks from our pipes. This year we did not meet our target to reduce leaks for the first time in 11 years but we have a detailed plan to reduce leakage to 646* million litres a day by We are investing in new technology to help find more leaks and employing additional to repair them. In our water plan we have considered a number of options to continue to reduce leakage, and have set out how much more we can reduce leakage by, and how quickly we can do it. Installing meters in our customers homes. Smart meters help us to understand where water goes, helping us to tackle leakage, they also help our customers understand how much water they use and how they can reduce it, saving both money and water. Since 2015 we have installed more than 145,000 smart meters in our customers homes and around 38 per cent of our household customers are metered. In our water plan we have considered how we will continue to roll out this programme. Helping our customers use water efficiently. We are currently delivering the UK s largest ever water efficiency programme. This includes a wide number of activities and promotes the benefits of saving water at home and in the workplace. This year we visited more than 60,000 of our customers homes, provided specific advice, and installed more than 200,000 free water saving products. In our water plan we have considered how we can continue to develop our programme, looking at new and innovative approaches to help our customers to reduce their water use. Please give us your comments on the options we have considered. Section 7: Appraisal of Resource Options Section 8: Appraisal of Demand Management Options Water supply options We have looked at a large number of options to boost our water supplies, from traditional techniques to more innovative and unusual approaches. They include turning seawater into drinking water (desalination), reusing treated wastewater from sewage treatment works, and building a large storage reservoir. We have also talked to other water companies to see if they have spare water that we could buy, including moving water from North West England, and Wales, to the South East of England. Some of the water supply options we have considered are shown on the map on the next page. We have assessed the options in terms of: cost time to make the water available ability to cope with a changing future effects on the environment and society confidence that it will work as expected This assessment produced a preferred set of options. * We are working to reduce our leakage to 606 million litres per day by However, the way water companies calculate leakage is changing. This resets our starting position to 646 million litres per day from

7 Some of the water supply options we have considered Water transfer from River Severn Groundwater abstraction at Ashton Keynes, Moulsford & Datchet. River abstraction above Teddington Weir Water reuse at Beckton & Deephams Aquifer storage & recovery Jargon buster Water transfer water is moved from one area to another via a pipeline, canals or rivers. River Severn Birmingham River Avon Warwick ENGLAND Reservoir water is stored in reservoirs and used when there isn t enough water in the environment. Groundwater abstraction water is taken from natural underground reservoirs. River abstraction water is taken from rivers. Water reuse treated effluent from sewage treatment works undergoes further treatment, is returned to the river, re-abstracted and treated to produce drinking water. WALES Aquifer recharge/storage & recovery treated water is added to a natural underground reservoir and is available for abstraction when it is needed. London Desalination - salt is removed from estuarine or sea water to produce drinking water. River Thames New reservoir storage at Abingdon Water transfer via Oxford canal Aquifer recharge at Merton & Streatham Groundwater at Addington & Southfleet New desalination plant at Crossness & Beckton 12 13

8 We can t be certain of how the future will be, but it is clear that there is a growing water shortfall. We need to plan ahead to provide a secure water supply

9 Deciding on our preferred programme We have used computer models and decision support tools to help develop programmes of options, assess them, and decide on our preferred programme. A programme is made up of a number of options and sets out when each option is needed, and how much water it can provide. To start with we developed the lowest cost programme. However, our customers told us they wanted us to consider a range of factors in planning future water supply. This was also widely supported by the government and stakeholders. We therefore considered a number of additional factors to ensure our water plan provides the best value for money for our customers over the long term. Factors considered in deciding on our preferred programme Cost both building and operating costs Customers preferences which options our customers prefer, and how they feel about the risk of drought Impact on the environment both positive, such as recreational opportunities, and negative, such as loss of land Deliverability confidence that the programme will provide the water it is expected to Resilience - ability to cope with a range of challenges, such as droughts Four best programmes In the first 15 years of the water plan, from 2020 to 2035, all the programmes concentrate on making the best use of the water that is already available by reducing leakage, installing more water meters, and providing more help for to use water efficiently. All programmes include: Lowest cost Water reuse Deephams Reservoir Leakage reduction Water efficiency Least environmental effect Metering Desalination Beckton River Severn transfer Reservoir This is combined with small schemes to take more water from underground sources and buy water from other organisations who have spare licensed capacity. We also plan to develop a new large supply scheme to take more water from the River Thames above Teddington Weir in west London. New groundwater Buy water From 2035 onwards, all the alternative programmes include the development of new large water supply schemes. They all include a new reservoir, in combination with other supply schemes. Most able to cope with future challenges Oxford canal transfer Desalination Beckton Water reuse Deephams Reservoir River abstraction above Teddington Weir Most sustainable Reservoir Inter generational fairness how the costs are shared between customers now and in the future 2060 Oxford canal transfer River Severn transfer Oxford canal transfer We also looked at how flexible the programme is to possible future changes. We call this adaptability Water reuse Beckton Water reuse Beckton Water reuse Beckton We developed a number of alternative programmes which: met the water shortfall we forecast improved our ability to cope with a severe drought looked beyond our supply area, considering the needs of the wider south east region. We assessed the pros and cons of each of the alternative programmes, and tested them to see how they would cope with different possible futures. This helped us understand, for example, which programmes would be able to cope with more severe droughts, and which programmes would be best for the environment. We worked with industry experts to review the alternative programmes. The experts challenged us to make sure our approach was fair and balanced. From this work we have focused on the four best programmes. The diagram opposite shows the four best programmes: lowest cost least environmental effect most able to cope with future challenges most sustainable - this programme shares costs with future generations in the fairest way The size of the circle indicates how much water each of the options can provide. We analysed the four programmes and concluded that the most sustainable programme is the best one for our area. This is because it: reflects the preferences of our customers; is flexible enough to deal with a range of risks; is among the lowest cost programmes; and fairly shares the costs between customers now and future generations. Section 9: Environmental appraisal Appendix B: Strategic Environmental Assessment Appendix C: Habitats Directive Assessment Appendix BB: Water Framework Directive Assessment To support this work we completed detailed assessments of how the different programmes would affect the environment, including a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). These considered the environmental and social effects of options, preferred programmes for each water resource zone, and the preferred plan as a whole. 17

10 But what if the future is different? One thing we can be certain of is that we can t predict exactly how the future will be. There are lots of uncertainties, including how quickly the number of living in our area will grow, changes to the amount of water we can take from the environment, the weather patterns we will see, and the the timing and amount of water that neighbouring water companies may need from us. But we can t delay making decisions. It is clear there is going to be a growing water shortfall, so we need to plan and act now. We have tested our preferred programme and are confident it can cope with a wide range of possible futures. We will review our plan every five years and will make adjustments to take into account changes to our projections. There are lots of uncertanties in developing long term plans WRMP19 Every 5 years we review our plan to see if it is still the right approach WRMP24 And if not, make changes WRMP19 - Water Resources Management Plan 2019 Section 10: Programme appraisal and scenario testing Please give us your comments regarding the approach we have taken to develop our proposed water plan. Do you have any specific comments on: 1. How we have reflected the priorities of our customers 2. The way we have shortlisted options 3. How we have considered environmental and social impacts 4. The alternative programmes of options we have considered 18 19

11 Our proposed plan Unless we act now, there will be a significant shortfall between supply and demand, and it will not be possible to provide a safe and reliable water supply to our customers. Our top priority is to make the best use of the water we have available. We understand how important it is to our customers and other stakeholders that we use the water resources that we have as efficiently as possible, and reduce waste. We have set ambitious targets to reduce leakage from our water pipes and our customers own private pipes, install more smart water meters and give our customers practical help and advice to reduce the water they use. Our proposals are summarised below. Water efficiency Our customers have told us that they would like help to reduce their water use. We are already running an industry-leading programme to promote the efficient use of water to our customers and we plan to do more. We will provide information, support and tailored advice through our Smarter Home Visit programme, which includes a free water audit and installation of free water saving technology, helping our customers use less water. We are also developing new approaches, such as an incentive-based reward scheme to encourage changes in water use and opportunities to use water treated to a lower standard to flush the loo. We will also continue to work with local authorities, housing associations, schools and businesses to promote the efficient use of water. In the next five years, by 2025, we will visit nearly 300,000 customers homes and businesses to promote water efficiency. The programme is estimated to save 24 million litres of water every day. Leakage We manage more than 31,000 km of water pipes. The pipes in many areas of London, and some parts of the Thames Valley, are amongst the oldest in the UK. Leaks are inevitable on a network of this size and age. In 2020, of the 2,600 million litres of water that we put into the network every day, we will lose around 646 million litres through leaks that s about 25 per cent. Reducing leaks is our highest priority. This reflects the views of our customers, who expect an ambitious step-change in the amount of water that we lose through leakage. Customers told us that they would like us to reduce leakage to around 15 per cent of the water that we put into supply, though they recognise that traffic disruption and cost may limit what is possible in the short term. Our ambition is to reduce leakage by a minimum of 15 per cent by 2025*. This means we ll reduce the amount of water lost from 646 to 549 million litres every day, or from 25 to 22 per cent of the amount of water that we put into supply. We will do this through a major programme to replace and repair our water pipes. In the future we want to reduce leakage further, and are working hard to understand how much more we can achieve, by when and at what cost. We will include this in our revised plan. But actions to manage demand for water won t be enough on their own, and we will also need to develop new sources of water. There is no single new water supply option which can solve the shortfall so our proposed approach includes a combination of options. New water supplies In the next five years, by 2025, we plan to: develop new groundwater sources in London which will provide around 12 million litres of water per day. buy water from other organisations who have spare licensed water which will provide around 17 million litres of water per day. make preparations for a new scheme to take more water from the River Thames above Teddington Weir in west London, which will provide around 270 million litres of water per day from An outline of the scheme is shown in the diagram below. Metering Smart meters provide customers with information that helps them take control of their bills and reduce their water use. On average, households who have a smart meter reduce their water use by between 15-20%. Meters also provide us with vital information to help manage our water supply network, including pinpointing leaks. In the next five years, by 2025, we will install a further 400,000 smart meters in customers homes saving 49 million litres of water. Direct river abstraction at Teddington 1 Mogden Sewage Treatment Works (STW) The wastewater, collected from houses and businesses, is treated at the STW so that it can be put back safely into the River Thames 2 Some of the treated wastewater effluent is pumped, via underground tunnel, upstream to Teddington Richmond London Twickenham Teddington Weir River Thames Existing underground pipe to transfer water to the reservoirs in the Lee Valley Teddington 3 The treated effluent is put into the River Thames above Teddington Weir to make sure there is enough water in the river for environmental and navigational purposes. This is required to allow us to abstract water for drinking water supply 4 New abstraction from the River Thames. This water is transferred via an existing underground tunnel to supply customers with drinking water Direction of flow of the River Thames Treated effluent to support flow in the River Thames Underground pipe *In the detailed report of our draft plan we set out our intention to reduce leakage by 9 per cent by Over the last few months we have listened to customers and stakeholders and as a result are now aiming for a minimum of 15 per cent reduction in leakage by

12 Shape your water future In the longer term we will need more new water supply. As set out on page 17 our preferred programme includes the development of several new water supply options: a reservoir in Oxfordshire which would provide up to 300 million litres of water per day in the 2040s a water transfer from the Midlands using the Oxford canal which would provide 15 million litres of water per day around 2060 a water reuse scheme at Beckton in east London which would provide up to 285 million litres of water per day over a 10 year period from the 2060s an aquifer storage and recovery scheme in south east London which would provide 3 million litres of water per day by 2070 Section 11: Preferred programme We will also continue to reduce leakage from our pipes, help our customers to reduce their water use as well as explore innovative approaches to new working practices. We have used the most accurate and up to date information to develop our plan but it is impossible to be certain when you are looking a long way ahead. We will update and improve our forecasts as we learn more over time, from government and our own analysis, and will continue to examine other new water supply options such as water transfers. The water transfers we have looked at involve buying water from other water companies in the Midlands, Wales and the North West and transferring it to the River Thames. At this stage these transfers are not included in our plan as they were shown to be more expensive than the reservoir and further work is needed on how and when they would operate to ensure the water is available when it is needed. We will continue to work closely with the other companies to examine these options. A safe and reliable water supply is essential for all our customers, a healthy environment and a prosperous economy. Tell us what you think about our water plan. The public consultation starts in February 2018 and closes on 29 April We will publish the information on our website at thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture. How you can take part You can tell us your views in one of the following ways. Note - All responses to the public consultation will be shared with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Complete our online feedback form thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture. Send your feedback by to both Thames Water at consultations@thameswater.co.uk and to Defra at water. resources@defra.gsi.gov.uk Write via the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Our draft Water Resources Management Plan 2019 covers an 80 year period, from 2020 to It has three parts: Overview (this document) Main report - Executive summary and Sections 1-11 Technical Appendices A to BB Go to thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture to view and download the documents What happens next? We ll carefully consider all the responses we receive. In August 2018 we ll publish a report setting out the comments we received, and explaining how we have taken these into account in revising our plan. The report will be sent to everyone who has participated in the consultation and will also be published on our website. We are also consulting on our draft Business Plan, which looks at what services we will deliver for our customers and how we will deliver them over a five year period from Any comments received on water resources matters from this consultation will be taken into account in our water plan. Please give us your overall comments on our proposed plan. Please give us any specific comments on our plans to: 1. Reduce leakage 2. Continue our household metering programme 3. Promote the efficient use of water 4. Take more water from the River Thames at Teddington Weir 5. Provide new water supply in the longer term WRMP c/o Water Resources Policy, Area 3D Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR A paper copy of the water plan will be available to view in our main office in Reading. To book an appointment please consultations@thameswater.co.uk. We will be holding several local drop-ins and discussion forums throughout the consultation period to give you the chance to talk to us about our water plan and give us your feedback. Go to thameswater.co.uk/yourwaterfuture to find out where we will be and when. We will then submit our revised water plan to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, based on advice from the Environment Agency, and with consideration of the responses to the consultation, will decide if it is necessary to have further discussion on our water plan or approve it. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and helping us to shape your water future. Please give us any comments on the option to transfer water from other water companies in the Midlands, Wales or the North West

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