Environment Law Update: Water 4

United Kingdom

Water Framework Directive

A consultation paper is inviting views on the implementation in England and Wales of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) which aims to ensure the protection and improvement of inland and coastal waters. The Directive entered into force on 22 December 2000 and member states have three years to transpose its requirements into national legislation. It has a wide scope for the enhanced management of the environmental quality of water, with challenging water quality targets to be met by 2015. The Directive requires the setting of quality objectives for all water bodies and a new system of classifying surface water depending on its quality. It is proposed to create eleven 'river basin districts' and suggestions are made for meeting the Directive's requirement for reviews of the human impacts in each river basin. Although the EA will be responsible for much of the implementation, English Nature and the Countryside Council for Wales will also be involved, as it will impact on compliance with EU obligations relating to conservation. The Directive will have particular implications for the water industry, businesses that have discharge consents, trade effluent licences or abstraction licences, navigation authorities and local authorities in their planning role. This paper is the first step in the consultation process. A second phase of consultation is planned for later in 2001 or early 2002 which will focus on the approach to implementation of other elements of the Directive, and should also include some initial draft regulations. A third consultation phase is envisaged for 2002 or early 2003 to obtain views on the implementing regulations. The paper is being issued jointly by DETR and the National Assembly for Wales. The Scottish Executive and the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland will be consulting separately. Responses are requested by 29 June 2001.
(DETR, March 2001)

Water supply

The EA has launched its new national water resource strategy 'Water resources for the future'. The report sets out its aims for the management of water resources, and in particular the balance between supply and demand, over the next 25 years. Population growth, housing projections and possible climate change impacts are taken into account in considering the needs of industry, agriculture, public water supply and safeguarding the environment. The report concludes that water is a scarce resource in England and Wales, with large areas unable to sustain any more abstraction during summer. It recommends a net increase of about 6 per cent of the current total abstraction from non-tidal waters in England and Wales. The EA is also recommending some new large schemes, including improvements to reservoir storage capacity. It also stresses the need for more efficient water use by industry, agriculture and domestic consumers, and of increased household metering and continuing leakage control. The EA has also published eight regional strategies.
(EA, March 2001)

Water industry - Scotland

Launching 'Water Quality and Standards 2002-2006: A Consultation Paper', the Scottish Executive has announced that increased investment in the water industry infrastructure is required to meet the EU environmental and drinking water quality standards. It says that the major investment-related challenges facing Scotland's three public water authorities were likely to impact on customer charges. The water authorities are currently in the middle of a GBP 1.8 billion three year investment programme, funded mainly through customer bills, which ends in March 2002. The consultation paper was seeking the views of customers on investment for the following four years. It is advocating increased spending in the short term in order to reduce overall long term costs. The consultation period closed on 30 March 2001.
(Scottish Executive, January 2001)

Managing and reporting on water

The DETR has made available guidelines that describe the steps a business can take to manage and report on water usage. It estimates that water use can cost a company as much as 1-2 per cent of its turnover. In addition, at sites where there have been no previous attempts to save water, financial savings of up to 20 per cent of water expenditure could be achieved at little or no initial cost. The guidelines cover both water for domestic and office use, as well as water used in manufacturing and other industrial processes.
(DETR, 23 January 2001)

Ofwat Forward Programme

Following consultation with stakeholders, Ofwat, the economic regulator of the water and sewerage services in England and Wales, have set out its plans for the next year in its Forward Programme 2001-02. Areas covered include customer protection, the draft Water Bill, structure of the water industry, development of competition, monitoring company performance and preparation for the next Periodic Review of prices.
(Ofwat, March 2001)

Radiation in private water supplies

A British Geological Survey (BGS) study, commissioned by DETR, has reported on the occurrence of natural radioactivity in private water supplies in West Devon. Private water supplies include drinking and washing water supplied by bodies or individuals other than a recognised water company. They range in size from supplying a single household to supplying large industrial sites and hospitals and are subject to the same water quality standards as public supplies. The study found that approximately 8 per cent of tap water samples contained radon at concentrations exceeding the draft European Union Commission Recommended levels. A small number of supplies also exceeded WHO provisional guideline values for uranium in drinking water. Radon, thought to pose the higher risk of the two elements, has been linked with stomach cancer when found in water. It is believed that private water supplies in other parts of the UK with high levels of naturally occurring radon would also be at risk, although there is no problem with public water supplies.
(DETR, 9 January 2001)

European Union

Water Framework Directive

The European Commission has issued an amended proposal establishing a list of 32 priority substances under the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), for consideration by the Council and Parliament. The list is almost identical to that proposed in February 2000, and contains eleven "priority hazardous substance", including lead and cadmium, which it is targeting for phasing out within 20 years. It also contains a list of eleven "priority substance under review" to be assessed for their potential hazards within four years after the entry into force of the Framework Directive. There is no evidence at present to suggest that the ten remaining substances on the list give rise to environmental or health concerns.
(COM(2001) 17, 16 January 2001)

Bathing water

The European Commission has published for consultation, proposals for the revision of the Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC). The current Bathing Water Directive is more than 25 years old and the new proposal takes into account new approaches and developments in science and technology in this time. The Commission's proposal is only a skeleton outline, highlighting the strengths and difficulties of bathing water quality management and presents possible approaches for the new Directive. It does not attempt to provide all of the details of any future Directive. However, it does advocate reducing the number of parameters monitored, the introduction of new approaches and more robust parameters and the provision of better information to the public. Responses to the Communication were requested before 1 March 2001.
(COM(2000) 860, 21 December 2000)