-69- LAND DRAINAGE |N ENGLAND AND WALES R.W. Irwin Schoo] of Engineering University of Guelph Britain is generally thought to be a small, highly industrialized country which relies on the rest of the world for the food it uses, This is a misconception, Jt has a highly developed agriculture. A comparison with Ontario is shown below. England & Wales Ontario Total improved land (ac) 14,000,000 10,865,000 No. of farm workers 647,000 392,000 No. of full time farms 165,000 95,000 WATER ORGANIZATION PRIOR TO APRIL 1974 Arterial Drainage Law pertaining to arterial drainage dates from the 12th century. In 1918 the drainage legislation was reviewed and new concepts were introduced which proved to be unsatisfactory in certain regards, The 1918 Act gave Drainage Commissioners the option of laying drainage rates on an acreage basis or on annual value. In 1918 the Ministry decreed that lands which could be rated for direct benefit were the agricultural land below the 8ft (based on 8 ft of wheat roots) contour above the highest known local flood level; urban property was set at flood level. Agricultural land assessment at the coast was based on 5ft above spring tide level for benefit, The Act also set out the flood benefit criteria lines, Rates were usually established on the acreage basis as it was easier to administer. |t was difficult to raise sufficient money under that arrangement, Only lands which received benefit paid prior to 1930. The Land Drainage Act of 1930 (1) created one authority (Catchment Board) for each main basin; (2) departed from the principle of assessing all the cost of drainage against land in proportion to direct benefit; and (3) established the principle of government grants-in-aid for agricul tural land, There were 20,000 miles of main river. The Catchment Board, with the Minister's approval, decided what main rivers were to be maintained and improved by the Board, A map was provided showing the main channels of concern to the Act and the watercourses deemed part of the main river. Boards did not lay drainage rate but were financed by (1) grants; (2) precepts (someone else collects) on internal drainage boards who charged on both urban and agricultural lands, but the urban element paid twice, once to the Local Authority and once to the |.D,8.; and (3) Council grants on the general rate (non-agricultural property). The |.D.B. boards were financed by taxes levied against real property in the district, agricultural -70- jand paying on the basis of its full ''annual value'! and other property, including buildings, at the same rate of 1/3 its annual value (i.e. an assessed valuation of annual rental or production value made for income tax purposes). Because of derating agricultural land did not pay anything toward the main river drainage work unless jn an |nternal Drainage district. Property owners were rated separately for improvement and occupiers were rated for maintenance. Internal Drainage Boards were under the general supervision of the Catchment Board. Electors were people who own or occupy land in the area, Each elector had votes depending upon the value of his property, The individual was responsible for maintenance, Grants to |,D.B.'s were established at 50/, About * 45 million was paid to 196] on 70 million captial works, Owners of poorer Jand bore a greater burden of the loss from flooding. Urban property made a more appropriate contribution and was assessed at a uniform amount per pound throughout the area, Under the River Boards Act, 1948, Catchment Boards were superceded by River Boards, covering the whole of England and Wales, with responsibility for land drajnage, fisheries, pollution prevention and river gauging. Drainage Boards continued to exercise responsibility for the drainage of areas of special drainage need with River Board areas, The River Boards Act, established a two tier system. Jt brought the river systems or groups of river systems under the control of one authority cutting across county and other administration boundaries, With the addition of abstraction, pollution and river gauging it was the thin edge of the wedge and drainage received less attention. The Regional Water Authorities set up in 1973 took over everything of terrestrial water. River Boards exercised general supervision over drainage of the whole catchment area, 1|.D,B.'s attended to the local drainage. The 29 River Boards followed the boundaries of the old Catchment Boards, Outside the |,D.B, the farm ditch is normally separated from the main river by intermediate watercourses which up to 196] were not the responsibility of any authority. The Land Drainage Act 1961 gave River Boards authority for the improve- ment, maintenance and level discharges; to raise drainage charges on agricultural land and buildings not in an |.0.8, |.D.B.'s can now only be created or abolished on initiation of a River Board, The River Board submits to the Minister a drainage proposal to improve watercourses and provide for rating charges. These are placed on the map and designated a drain. The Board, prior to submitting scheme, is to consult organizations representing the people in the agricultural] area, The scheme sent to council and to organizations within the area, not to the ratepayers, River Boards were superseded in turn in 1963 by 27 River Authorities and 2 Catchment Boards with wider powers especially for the conservation of water resources, The structure of water services pre April 1974 was as follows: “j= |. Water Supply Statutory Undertakers 100 Waterboards 50 LA's 7 Committees 30 Water Companies 2, Sewerage and Sewerage Disposal Loca] Authorities Joint Sewerage Boards 1,364 27 3, River and Water Resource Management River Authorities Thames and Lee Conservancy 27 Thus a total of 1,600 authorities were responsible for the administration of water services In England and Wales. in 1971 a report on ''The Future Management of Water in England and Wales, H.M,S.0.!' was published by the Central Advisory Water Committee, and from this a Government policy was developed to achieve the following objectives: (i) To secure an ample supply of water of appropriate quality to meet the growing demands of people, industry and agriculture, (ii) To provide adequate sewerage and sewage disposal facilities to cope with the increase in water use, (iii) To ensure that the vital contribution of land drainage and flood protection to both urban and agricultural areas alike is maintained, and where appropriate, expanded, (iv) To achieve a massive clean up of the country's rivers and estuaries by the early 1980s, (v) To make the widest use of water space for other purposes, including recreation and amenity and, where appropriate, the protection and development of salmon and freshwater fisheries and the provision of water needed for navigation, (vi) To protect the interests of those who may be affected by the proposals for the development of water resources in any of these respects, The New Organization To achieve these objectives, the 1973 Water Act sets up a National Water Council, 9 Regional Water Authorities for England and a Welsh National Water Development Authority. Between them they will employ some 75,000 staff, the annual revenue wil] be about +} 350 millions and their budget about } 300 millions per annum, The boundaries follow watersheds of the =72- catchment areas for one or more major rivers. The original aim for the Regional Water Authorities was to have a multi purpose structure for al] the water services, but in practise it has varied with jndividual Water Authorities. A typical structure of independent division's consists of, (1) Water Supply Divisions - Regrouping of existing undertakers (2) Sewage Disposal Divisions - Fundamental regrouping to 88 divisions (3) River Divisions - Basically former River Authority areas, At government level Regional Water Authorities are responsible to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for land drainage and fisheries functions and to the Department of the Environment for other matters, Grant aid for land drainage works Is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, National Water Council The National Water Council] will, (i) advise government on all matters relating to national policy for water (ii) Promote efficient performance of the Regional Water Authorities, particularly in relation to research (iil) establish a scheme for testing and approving water Fittings (iv) prepare a scheme for training and education in connection with water services, The Council consists of a chairman appointed by the Secretary of State, DOE, the chairmen of the RWAs, eight members appointed by the Secretary of State, and two by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Water Space Amenity Commission A commission js to be set up to investigate the amenity and recreational use of water, Regional Water Authorities will be advised by the Commission, Regional Water Authorities (a) Functions (i) . All functions of the former river authorities, viz Land Drainage, River Pollution, Fisheries, Sea Defence, (ii) Conservation, redistribution, and augmentation of water resources within their area. (iti) Supply of wholesome water within their area. (Statutory Water Companies may act on behalf of the RWA). -73- (iv) To make arrangements for the sewerage functions under the Public Health Acts, (Local Authorities will be dealing with sewerage functions on an agency basis, but RWA are controlling sewage treatment direct). (v) To take steps to secure the use of water, and land assocjated with water, for the purposes of recreation. (b) Membership Chairman ~ appointed by the Secretary of State DOE Members = between 2 and 4 appointed by MAFF Members - as specified, appointed by DOE Members - as specified, appointed by LA's Local Authority membership shall have a majority. (c) Structure Of great significance in the Regional Water Authority structure is the Regional Land Drainage Committee.