Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Environment Agency report that said Thames Water had so far failed to show that the proposed Teddington direct river abstraction was "feasible or environmentally acceptable", what further assessments of impacts on habitats, biodiversity net gain and health, as well as social impacts on local communities, Thames Water will be expected to produce.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The feasibility of Teddington is considered as part of Thames Water’s statutory Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) development with specific guidelines for environmental assessment. WRMPs are also subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment. The feasibility and the environmental acceptability of Teddington is being investigated as part of the RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) gated process and with more detailed project level environmental and social impact assessment undertaken to support planning or Development Consent Order applications, notably Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations requirements. EIA is also needed to support any applications for other regulatory consents. In all cases impacts on habitats, biodiversity net gain and health, as well as social impacts on local communities need to be considered and public consultation is required.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the selection of the Teddington direct river abstraction proposal, what investigations they expect Thames Water to undertake regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the water courses in England and Wales, with particular reference to treated effluent at Mogden Sewage Treatment Works, further to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA concerning connections between women diagnosed with some hormonally driven cancers and exposure to certain PFASs in household and industrial products.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Teddington direct river abstraction proposal to be taken forward Thames Water will be required to obtain an abstraction licence and permit to discharge from the Environment Agency. These set out the conditions under which abstraction is authorised to take place and the standards to which the discharged effluent must be treated, ensuring it is treated to a high standard to meet environmental and human health quality standards. The Environment Agency regulates discharge permits by assessing the quality of the effluent discharged against set compliance limits. Thames Water will need to undertake any investigations necessary to meet those regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps the Environment Agency and Ofwat will take following the Teddington direct river abstraction proposal to ensure that Thames Water meets its obligations, given its Strategic Environmental Assessment directive and failure to present an environmental report or to allow the public an opportunity effectively to express their opinion about it.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Proposals for Teddington direct river abstraction need to follow the statutory Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP) process, which includes the requirement for a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Thames Water published its draft WRMP in December 2022 with a 12-week public consultation period. Thames Water received 80 representations specific to Teddington from stakeholders and the public. The company has recently published a statement of response outlining how it plans to address the points raised.
The feasibility of Teddington is also being investigated in more detail as part of a London Reuse strategic resource option (SRO). The investigation into the feasibility of this SRO along with another 17 across the country is managed by RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) which is a partnership that is made up of the three water regulators Ofwat, Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate. The investigation process is split into ‘gates’ and at each gate the SRO is required to publish evidence based Environmental Assessment Reports. London Reuse published its Gate 2 reports in winter 22/23 allowing a 6-week window for public consultation.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of ground water levels to meet current needs in England; and whether such water levels have (1) decreased, or (2) increased, since 2000.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Environment Agency monitors groundwater levels across the country at thousands of locations and uses groundwater models designed to manage water resources, balancing the needs of both abstractors and the environment. Groundwater models provide current and future trends of water availability and are used to inform Abstraction Licencing Strategies used for local water resource management.
Over the past 20 years, groundwater levels in some areas have declined and in other areas increased. Over relatively short periods of time groundwater levels can vary significantly in response to environmental factors (particularly rainfall both in terms of overall quantity and timing) and due to changing abstraction pressures. It should be noted that groundwater levels in most locations were relatively high in the 2000s due to a period of high rainfall recharge which caused significant groundwater flooding in some areas and more recently have been relatively low due to prolonged dry weather.
The Environment Agency’s assessment shows that since 2017 the number of groundwater bodies with sustainable abstraction has increased from 72% to 73%.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to end the over-abstraction of water supplies by water companies; what deadlines have been set for the end of such over-abstraction; and what plans they have made to restore levels of over-abstracted reservoirs.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Plan for Water sets out the actions we are taking to make abstraction sustainable. Since we published our abstraction plan (see attachment) in 2017, the Environment Agency has reduced damaging abstraction by returning 48 billion litres of water a year to the environment and removed the risk to the environment of the potential abstraction of 1.9 trillion litres of water.
Water companies are told by the Environment Agency about what abstractions are deemed unsustainable through the Water Industry Environment Programme (see attachment) and the statutory water resources management plans (see attachment) and take action to remove or reduce these abstractions. In some cases, removal or reduction of abstraction licences will reduce the security of water supply for people and businesses, so water companies will have to take appropriate steps to reduce demand or develop new supplies of water to ensure they can still provide water supplies.
The deadlines water companies are given vary, as some may require investigations into the level of reductions required. The Plan for Water shows water companies have to take action to reduce a gap between how much water they could supply when compared to future demand. The gap is 4 billion litres of water per day, which includes reductions in abstractions to protect the environment and accounts for the impacts of climate change on water sources. Water companies have recently produced new water resources plans showing how they will address this gap and the Environment Agency has produced a summary of how water companies (see attachment) will increase supply and reduce demand over the next 25 years.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that abstraction licence holders are given adequate time to adapt when their licences are (a) modified and (b) revoked.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency makes changes to abstraction licences to achieve environmentally sustainable levels of abstraction to meet its legal duties and the Government’s environmental ambitions. If a change to an abstraction licence is required to make it environmentally sustainable, the Environment Agency recognises that abstractors need time to adapt to this change. Accordingly, the Environment Agency writes to abstractors to warn them that their licences may need to change in the future with further detail to follow once it has completed its review of the licences. Additionally, the Environment Agency has said it will give abstractors time to adapt to any licence changes on a case-by-case basis depending on the environmental risks.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Environment Agency to carry out an assessment of the potential impact on food production whenever there are changes to abstraction licences in the (a) agriculture and (b) horticulture sector.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency already has a duty to consider the costs and benefits of its actions. The Environment Agency applies this duty in abstraction licence and regulatory decisions. There is recognition of the impact a change in abstraction licence conditions can have on the agriculture and horticulture sectors. Where restrictions and licence changes are absolutely necessary the Environment Agency looks to work directly with licence holders to implement changes on a voluntary basis first. When managing droughts, the Environment Agency also looks to introduce partial restrictions (e.g. abstraction every other day, or night time only) and then total bans on water abstraction as a last resort. During the drought of 2022, the Environment Agency avoided the need for total irrigation bans by using this approach. However, the cost-benefit duty does not override the need for the Environment Agency to undertake its wider duties and functions to meet statutory environmental objectives.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timeline is for transferring all abstraction licenses into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working to move the water abstraction licensing regime into the Environmental Permitting Regulations. We consulted on the move in Autumn 2021 and are considering the responses alongside wider actions in our Plan for Water.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the length of water abstraction licences to incentivise investment in winter reservoir storage.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is legally required to include a time limit on all new abstraction licences and permanent licence variations.
When the Environment Agency grants a licence for the first time, the licence duration is usually between 6 and 18 years. On renewal, the normal duration will be 12 years. In exceptional cases licences may be issued with a longer time limit if the applicant meets four government tests. Further information can be found in the guidance note WR253 Long duration water abstraction licences on gov.uk.
The Environment Agency would consider a long duration licence for a winter storage reservoir providing the applicant can meet the four tests.
We are working to move the water resources licensing regime into the Environmental Permitting Regulations. We consulted on the move in Autumn 2021 and are considering the responses. The consultation included proposals to remove the requirement on the Environment Agency to issue abstraction permits with a time limit.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department routinely undertakes assessments of the potential impacts of restrictions to water for the (a) agriculture and (b) horticulture sectors by water companies on the availability of food.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restriction of water by water companies are primely targeted at households and reducing demand to help conserve supplies. Water companies will impose restrictions on a tiered approach, starting with a temporary use ban and if the drought continues then apply for a drought order to ban non-essential use of water (such as window cleaning). Neither will impact the availability of food production. Only in the most severe droughts, where water supplies are threatened, would this become an issue. To impose this level of restrictions would require an emergency drought order from the Secretary of State.
Farmers involved in food production will usually take water direct from the environment. This is regulated by the Environment Agency using its abstraction licensing regime. The NFU are part of the National Drought Group, who monitor droughts and work collaboratively to manage water.’
During periods of exceptional drought, the Environment Agency has the power to apply restrictions on spray irrigation users through S57 of the Water Resources Act 1991. This is done to protect the environment. The Agency needs to have “regard to costs and benefits in exercising powers” before implementing them as outlined in Section 39 of the Environment Act 1995.
Food is produced and grown across the country. The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Our high degree of food security is built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 61% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years.
UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.
We continue to keep weather situations and any impact on our agri-food sectors under close review, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG). This was set up by Defra and the Devolved Administrations to monitor the UK market situation across all key agricultural commodities whilst also considering that the situation will vary by region, area, crop and soil type. We have also increased engagement with our valued industry colleagues to supplement Government analysis with real-time intelligence.