Therefore water abstraction is a licensed activity regulated by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. The current process for changing most licenses that cause environmental damage is expensive and time-consuming. These weaknesses in the current system mean that it could begin to limit economic growth and reduce the resilience of water supplies; and that it does not adequately protect the environment.
Using powers in the Water Act 2003, some licenses can be varied without compensation payments to prevent serious damage to the environment.
Introduction
An impact assessment of the consultation phase has been prepared and is available in Annex A of this consultation (see Box 1 below for main results)2. The consultation's impact assessment estimates the net benefits of the regulatory reform option for abstractors in England at around £100m to around £500m over 25 years compared to maintaining the current system. Further work is needed to distinguish between the benefits of different options and to better understand the impacts on different sectors, which will be done to inform the final impact assessment.
All this information was used to help develop our models and quantify the impact of any changes (see section 1.3 above and the impact assessment at Annex A).
Background to reforming the abstraction management system
4 Case for change of refreshments 2013; Addendum to "Request for Change: Current and Future Water Availability" (December 2013). It should be seen in the context of the broad approach to planning for a resilient future set out in the Water White Paper. This will be reinforced by a package of "upwards" reforms for England set out in the Water Bill currently before Parliament.
It is intended that all activities currently release that cannot be considered a low risk to the water.
Proposals for reform – headline approaches
We would only introduce the full package of reforms in some catchments where there are clear economic and environmental benefits from doing so. The main difference between the two options is the proposed method for relating abstractions to water availability in surface waters. There should not be a significant difference in the reliability of access to water provided by the two methods, but there are differences in the extent to which they facilitate trade.
For both options, we propose to initially only introduce the full package of reforms in some catchments across England and Wales where there are clear environmental and economic benefits. Other catchments may benefit from the full range of reforms in the future as pressure on available water increases. In catchments where there are advantages to introducing pre-approved trading, we will develop rules and introduce the processes needed to apply them.
We estimate that approximately 70% of catchments could be basic, and 30% enhanced with implementation in the 2020s. However, as we show above in section 3.1, they may be implemented somewhat differently in different catchments depending on availability levels. of water and the potential for trade. Under the Pay as You Go option, the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales would regularly set a price for water extraction according to local water availability.
This price, which would increase as water availability decreases and decrease as water availability increases, would aim to limit demand and ensure environmental protection. This approach presented significant technical problems in terms of setting prices for complex systems that ensure sufficient water to protect.
Detailed proposals for reform – making the most of our water
The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales are responsible for determining the maximum amount of water that can be taken by miners without compromising the environment. It will also better balance the needs of extraction companies and the environment when less water is available. If not, how do you think we should protect the environment at very low flows.
Encourage the use of less reliable water that is likely to have the least impact on the environment. The basic rules used in this process will be developed in cooperation with the Environment Agency. They would then need to be reported to the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales so they can be recorded. ii) Water shares.
The Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales would publish and regularly report against 'review thresholds'. If reviews were initiated and changes to withdrawal permits were required, the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales would notify the withdrawals. If there is serious damage to the environment, no notification will be required for the changes.
The Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales could intervene by making changes to individual abstraction limits at any time if an abstraction causes serious damage to the environment, as it currently does. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales will have to make clear what serious harm it brings to the thresholds of the catchment review. Currently the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales can vary licenses that do not have a time limit by voluntary agreement with the abstractor or on a mandatory basis.
If voluntary agreement cannot be reached, the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales enforces the change under the legislation set out in section 52 of the Water Resources Act 1991.
Moving to a new system
We must ensure that we limit the risk of future environmental degradation. This is because if some or all of the water licensed to withdraw was actually taken, it would leave less water in rivers or groundwater than is needed to maintain current legally required environmental standards. However, in other catchments there is currently a lot of water available, so there is no risk of environmental degradation if currently unused water is taken in the future (marked green in Figure 5).
We have explained that some water is authorized but unused, and that in some situations, if unused water was actually taken, it could cause environmental degradation. We have considered a number of approaches to reduce the risk of environmental degradation from unused license volumes used in the future and how to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of extractive companies for flexibility of supply (Table 1 below). Will reduce a large part of the risk of deterioration May be over .. caution in some catchments where extraction of unused water has no or limited effect today.
Create a regulator-held water reserve that can be allocated to new or expanding abstractors in a catchment. The previous section described how we can reduce the risk of future environmental degradation and meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive by reducing licensed but unused water. This would create a reserve of water held by the regulator that could be allocated to new or expanding abstractors in a catchment.
This can be based on detailed applications with evidence of specific new investments that require access to a reliable supply of water from the environment. We are considering the creation of a reserve of water held by the regulator, which can be allocated to new or expanding abstractors in a catchment area.
Implementation
Any changes to the licensing system for pumping in Wales will be aligned with the Welsh Government's policy commitments to the integrated and sustainable management of water as a natural resource in Wales. As discussed in Chapter 3, only some catchments in England and Wales would immediately benefit from any of the proposed reforms, known as improved catchments. This means that some benefits of the reform would only be visible to a greater extent.
Basic catchments would still have a new regulatory system with the reform, but not all of the more advanced tools to regulate take would be used. In Chapter 4, we indicated which of the reform proposals would apply to basic and increased coverage. While notice of the direction of the changes will be announced as the legislative process develops, individual abstractors will also need reasonable notice of the details of how the transition to the new system will affect them.
As part of the current abstraction licensing system, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales employ a range of regulatory tools used to allocate water to abstractors under a normal (non-drought) situation. Many of the reforms proposed in this consultation aim to better link the amount of water that can be withdrawn at any one time with the amount of water available at that time. This could mean that the EPA and Natural Resources Wales are able to allocate enough water to reclaimers and protect the environment in short and less severe droughts without the need for additional drought tools.
Depending on the effectiveness of the reform proposals in allocating water under normal and drought conditions, the need for additional drought management tools could become less frequent than in the current system (Figure 7). If necessary, additional consultations will be conducted to consider changes in drought management regulations.
Summary of consultation questions
Do you agree that it is important to take measures when moving licenses into the new system which protect the environment from risks of degradation?
Glossary
A document produced at catchment level in England and Wales by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to provide a consistent and structured approach to local water resource management that recognizes the reasonable needs of water users and the needs of the environment. An abstraction where a significant proportion of the abstracted water is used and is not available for return to the water source after use. Environmental flow An indicator of the level of water flow, which enables the monitoring and prevention of environmental deterioration of rivers.
A mathematical way to explore how the Current System Plus and Water Shares options might perform in specific watersheds, taking into account the possible future properties and distribution of water in the soil and underlying rocks, and the possible future behavior of abstractors in different scenarios. The Water Framework Directive requires a river basin management plan to be published for each river basin district. The plans will be based on a detailed analysis of the pressures on the water bodies and an assessment of their impact.
Two-Part Tariff A way of charging an abstractor for water extraction which takes into account the amount of water they are licensed to use and the actual amount of water they have used. Water unit A quantity of water not associated with imperial or metric units. Unused Water Water that is authorized to be taken by license but that the abstractor does not extract from the water source.
Water body Areas of either surface water or groundwater where assessments for action under the Water Framework Directive have been completed. Aquatic ecosystems Communities of organisms that live in a water area and are dependent on each other and their environment.
