Every five years we write our Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) which sets out how we will manage the water supplies in our region to meet current and future needs over a minimum of 25 years. Our current Plan, published in 2019, covers the period from 2020-2045.
As a region and as a water company we face a time of great uncertainty and change. We face four pressing and interlinked challenges – climate change, environmental protection, population growth and the risk of drought. We have to act now or we will move from a strong position of a surplus of 150 million litres of water daily to a deficit of 30 million litres daily by 2025.
Our Preferred Plan tackles these four challenges head on via a twin-track approach. We will focus on the demand side first and reduce the amount of water used by installing smart meters, reducing leakage and investing in water efficiency.
But we will also invest in the supply-side to increase the amount of water available. This includes investing in a series of interconnecting pipes to better join up our network and ensure we make best use of available resources before developing new ones. In the medium- to long-term, we are likely to need additional resources. This could include winter storage, recirculation of recycled water, or desalination. We will be working with regional stakeholders and neighbouring water companies over the next two to three years to identify the best options to take forward to WRMP 2024.
Our plan is built upon our longstanding guiding principles to develop a system of water supply that is reliable, sustainable and affordable.
We have checked to ensure that our plan does not include any information that would be contrary to the interests of national security or is commercially confidential.
Water Resources Management Plan 2019
Water resources management plan 2019
- pdf, 4.14 MB | 03 Dec 2019 DownloadWater resources management plan 2019
To ensure any future investment to create new resources or transfer water doesn’t harm the environment, we have undertaken a series of environmental assessments.
The Strategic Environmental Assessment Environmental Report and the Habitats Regulation Assessment reports can be viewed below. Appendices are available upon request.
Strategic environmental assessment reports
SEA- environmental report non technical
- pdf, 0.30 MB | 03 Dec 2019 DownloadSEA- environmental report non technical
Habitats regulations assessment - task I
- pdf, 1.66 MB | 03 Dec 2019 DownloadHabitats regulations assessment - task I
Habitats regulations assessment - task II
- pdf, 1.29 MB | 03 Dec 2019 DownloadHabitats regulations assessment - task II
For more information
If you’d like to see the tables and technical reports that support our Water Resources Management Plan, or would like further information on future trading opportunities/needs, email us.