Today there has been widespread coverage of water company performance in light of ongoing dry weather. The latest Defra statement can be found below.
A Defra spokesperson said:
This is the driest summer in over 50 years, and all water companies have assured us that essential water supplies remain safe.
We have taken action to build resilience in the water sector with £469 million water company investment in additional resources like new reservoirs, and we continue to crack down on leakage with tough targets. Each region has a pre-agreed drought plan which is closely scrutinised, and several companies have taken precautionary action to safeguard supplies should the dry weather continue into the autumn.
We continue to work closely with water companies and the EA to protect public supplies, the environment and critical sectors that depend on water, including farmers.
Each water company has a locally tailored drought plan, some of which have already been enacted. A company’s plan must state how it will maintain a secure water supply and protect the environment during dry weather and drought.
The National Framework for Water Resources, launched in March 2020, brings together industry, regulators and government to transform the way we use and look after our water supplies.
The framework sets out how we will reduce demand, halve leakage rates, develop new supplies, move water to where it’s needed and reduce the need for drought measures that can harm the environment. Defra, Ofwat and the EA are also working to ensure water companies bring forward strategic water resource infrastructure options such as reservoirs and water transfers to improve the resilience of water supplies.
7 comments
Comment by Ash Smith posted on
What new reservoirs, please? Where and when active?
£469 million - is that just bill payers' money you are calling 'investment' again? Or is it new shareholder equity?
What else is included in 'additional resources, like new reservoirs?
These should be answers at your fingertips.
Comment by John W. Baxter posted on
Fixing the roof in good times........from where I sit there has been a lot of talk and not too much enforcement when it comes to fixing infrastructure for the bad times which have arrived.
A suggestion may be to have water companies provide water storage facilities to agricultural users of water for irrigation , so we can all benefit in future with no water use bans.
Comment by Dave Stanley posted on
So reassuring to know that Defra have everything under control, working closely with water companies to ensure the exorbitant CEOs pay are maintained, minimum investment, maximum shareholder dividends and zero understanding of the fundamentals of nature and how to some degree future droughts might be mitigated. Meanwhile our citizens……………..
Comment by John W. Baxter posted on
It is time that government bodies made water companies improve their appalling leakage rates as well as improving water storage in reservoirs as we are in an era of more extreme weather events.
No doubt water treatment companies will be obliged to improve the level of treatment during these times of low flow in the water courses which will be receiving levels of effluent where the solution to pollution by dilution no longer applies. The time has come to dilute the dividends and put some real investment into environmental improvements we can begin to enjoy as customers.
Comment by Richard Ogden posted on
Why it is the truth.
Comment by Richard Ogden posted on
Why wasn't this done years ago? It is obvious that the Water Companies have not been performing.
Sewage being dumped in rivers at all times of the year.
The amount of water lost through leaks.
Insufficient reservoirs have been built since 76.
Too high bonuses paid to both shareholders and senior executives.
Comment by Michael Walters posted on
What a lot of words that tell us nothing!