Lecture 3 - Price Review and Shifts towards Intergrated Water Management

Generic Water Management Strategy

  • Use-Based River Water Quality Objectives: Framework from 1950s/60s in England and Wales.
    • Define the use of a water body (e.g., bathing).
    • Identify water quality standards to protect that use (chemical, microbiological).
  • Standards as Long-Term Targets:
    • Standards represent ultimate chemical or microbiological goals.
  • Assess Current Quality/Status:
    • Evaluate current water quality against long-term standards.
    • Quality Objectives (Short- to Medium-Term): Shorter-term targets that contribute to achieving long-term standards. Objectives are steps toward meeting standards.
  • Plan and Invest: Allocate resources to achieve short- to medium-term objectives
  • Iterative/Cyclical Approach: Continuous monitoring, review, and assessment to refine objectives and standards

Setting Quality Objectives

  • Water Quality Objective (WQO): Short to medium term target.
  • Key Parameters:
    • WQO = WQS - k(WQS - WQA)
      • Where:
        • WQS = Long-term standard
        • k = Decision weight
        • WQA = Current assessment of quality

Importance of Decision Weight (k)

  • Hypothetical Example: Standard = 10 mg/L nitrate; Assessment = 20 mg/L nitrate.
    • If k = 1, then WQO = 20 mg/L (no deterioration; maintain current conditions).
    • If k = 0.01, then WQO = 10.1 mg/L (objective close to long-term standard).
  • Message: Lower values of k lead to short-term objectives closer to long-term standards.

Impact of Difference Between Assessment and Standard (WQS - WQA)

  • Hypothetical Example: Decision weight = 0.5, standard = 10 mg/L nitrate
    • If Assessment = 20 mg/L, then WQO = 15 mg/L.
    • If Assessment = 15 mg/L, then WQO = 12.5 mg/L.
  • Message: Larger differences between assessment and standard result in less stringent short- to medium-term objectives.

Factors Influencing Decision Weight (k)

  • Nature of Pollutant:
    • Toxicity and bioaccumulation increase risk. Lower k values are needed for improvement.
  • Value to Human Society:
    • Valuable water resources (e.g., drinking water) require lower k values.
  • Treatment Infrastructure Availability:
    • Availability and investment in treatment infrastructure influence k values.
  • Strength of Legislation:
    • Legislative targets enable stringent objectives and investment.
  • Monitoring and Enforcement:
    • Ability to monitor and enforce compliance impacts stringency of objectives.

Institutional Structure in England and Wales

  • Key Actors:
    • UK Government (DEFRA): Sets policy and legal framework.
    • Environment Agency (EA): Sets and monitors quality objectives; administers permits.
    • Privatized Water Industry: Treats and disposes of wastewater; supplies drinking water.
    • Ofwat: Economic regulator; sets pricing structure

The Price Review Process

  • Overview: A process in place since 1989 privatization that determines how water and sewage bills can change every five years
  • Economic Framework: Calculations made by Ofwat, impacts prices charged.
  • Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP): Produced by the EA; tells water companies what improvements are needed.
  • Key Stages:
    • EA produces Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP).
    • Water companies submit draft business plans to Ofwat, opportunity for members of the public to comment.
    • Final WINEP submission.
    • Ofwat sets water bills for the next five-year period.

Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) Components

  • Produced by the EA.
  • Includes:
    • Areas for improvement
    • Future investigations.
  • Key role: ensures that water industry investment meets targets relating to long term standards. Addresses legislation such as Bathing Water Directive etc.

Asset Management Plans

  • Come from the water company.
  • Addresses investment to meet targets within business plan.
  • Covers infrastructure (leakage, new reservoirs etc)
  • Six AMP cycles since water industry privatized in the UK.

AMP3 and AMP4

  • Demonstrates a change in priorities for water companies over time.

Investment and Environmental Improvement

  • Since 1990s, chemical and biological status of rivers has improved.

Challenges

  • Improvements more difficult at individual sites.
  • Harder to biologically improve rivers than it is to chemically improive rivers.

Final Determinations from PR24

  • Ofwat released final determinations from PR24, which outlines that water bills are expected to increase over the coming years

Water Framework Directive (WFD)

  • Key Features:
    • Covers surface waters, estuaries, coastal waters, and groundwaters, regardless of human use.
    • Aims to restore degraded waters to good status.

Environmental Objectives of WFD:

  • Prevent deterioration of all water bodies.
  • Restore degraded waters to good status.
  • Meet objectives for protected areas.
  • Meet chemical objectives for both surface water and groundwater.

No New Directives to be Added

  • Urban wastewater treatment directive, the nitrates directive and the bathing waters directive still exist.
    *Foundation, so the twenty that those are sites that are designated under the Habitats and Wild Birds Directive. They are what are called protected areas under the Water Framework Directive.