Cambridgeshire Horizons, East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Councils

Water Cycle Study and Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Scoping Report

Final Report

October 2009

Creating the environment for business

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Document Revisions

No. Details Date

1 Draft report July 09

2 Final Aug 09

v3 Revised Final Sept 09

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Executive Summary

1) Purpose of this Report

This report is has been commissioned by Cambridgeshire Horizons to provide scoping for the identification of a programme of water services infrastructure up to 2031 for East Cambridgeshire and Fenland that will facilitate the delivery of sustainable growth. A programme of water services infrastructure and associated costs will allow longer term planning for new developments to take place, key stakeholders to coordinate their work and develop opportunities for improving the quality of life for all residents. It is anticipated that further Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study will follow the issue of this report.

2) Background

East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Councils are preparing their Core Strategies to plan for development to meet the objectives set by the Regional Spatial Strategy including objectives for water (WAT policies). A Water Cycle Study (WCS) is one of a number of strategic studies used by Local Planning Authorities as part of the evidence base for Local Development Frameworks. The Study proposes necessary infrastructure and policy requirements to achieve the planned growth without compromising, and where possible enhancing, the water environment. It also aims to identify the phasing of the water infrastructure requirements so that these do not constrain the timing of the proposed development. Where environmental constraints on housing growth exist that cannot be accommodated by infrastructure solutions these also need to be identified.

3) Project Aims and Objectives

The primary aim of the Scoping Phase of the Water Cycle Study is to establish the key principles to take forward the development of the Water Cycle Strategy and identify the key issues that require further investigation in subsequent Outline and Detailed Phases. It should also flag up any key issues that need to be taken into account in planning growth at an early stage. The key principles for this Water Cycle Study are:

• Sustainability;

• Risk;

• Climate Change; and

• Cost.

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The key issues that are addressed in the study in relation to planned growth are:

• The availability of water resources and management of water demand;

• The capacity of the surface water drainage network (urban and agricultural);

• The potential to increase flood risk;

• The capacity of existing wastewater infrastructure;

• The environmental capacity of receiving watercourses to receive wastewater;

• Potential impacts of water abstraction and discharge of wastewater on habitats;

• The potential impact of water infrastructure on climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainability. The development of sustainable infrastructure includes the development of Sustainable Urban Drainage systems and achieving Water Neutrality;

• Developing a strategy for a phased approach to development that allows key growth targets to be met whilst providing sufficient time for the identified infrastructure to be delivered;

• Working alongside green infrastructure planning (e.g. Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Strategy) to identify opportunities for habitat creation, recreation and more sustainable planning; and

• Coordination of the work with other evidence base studies including Strategic Flood Risk Assessments and Surface Water Management Plans.

4) Study Area

The study area (see map below) is primarily rural in nature and agriculture is a key industry. Food processing also forms a major component of industry. Most of the land is low lying with large areas of fenland where the landscape is dominated by drainage channels managed by Internal Drainage Boards and this plays a central role in maintaining the system of agriculture. The largest towns in the study area are Ely, Soham and Littleport in East Cambridgeshire District and Wisbech, Whittlesey, Chatteris and March in Fenland District. Two large rivers flow through the study area: the River Nene and Great Ouse. These rivers have large upstream catchments and are, therefore, heavily influenced by activities outside the study area. The study area contains several important wetlands which are remnants of the original fenland landscape. The Nene Washes, Ouse Washes and Cam Washes are wetland areas that flood regularly in the winter as they store flood water. Wicken and Chippenham Fens are remnants of fenland marshes which are maintained with higher water table levels than the surrounding drained fens.

The Regional Spatial Strategy minimum target for East Cambridgeshire and Fenland are 10,320 and 11,000 dwellings over the period 2001-2021, respectively. The Regional Spatial Strategy Review that is due for completion in 2010 will change the overall targets for growth.

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5) Water Resources and Demand Management

The study area is supplied with water from three water resource zones, all operated by Anglian Water. The northern area around Wisbech is supplied by water resources in the Fenland water resource zone, the southern half of Fenland local authority area, including March, Whittlesey, and Chatteris is supplied by surface water resources in the Ruthamford water resource zone and the whole of East Cambridgeshire is supplied by water resources from the chalk aquifer in the Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk zone.

The study area has been identified as under serious water stress and the availability of additional water resources is, therefore, limited.

Water supply deficits are forecast in all three zones supplying the study area. This means that additional options are required to secure water supplies in the long term. Anglian Water has developed a range of demand management and resource development options to make up this shortfall.

Water demand management with the aim of achieving water neutrality will be crucial to maintaining water supply to the study area. Demand management includes water efficiency measures within households, metering, leakage reduction, rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling.

Agriculture in the study area has a high demand for irrigation water and it is important that public water supply is balanced against the requirements for agriculture; for example the supply of water from the River Nene to the Middle Levels.

6) Water Quality and Wastewater

The receiving waters in the study area range from the major rivers with large upstream catchments such as the River Nene, River Ouse, River Cam and Hundred Foot River to smaller local rivers and internal drainage board drains. The smaller watercourses and drains provide little dilution of wastewater and therefore have limited capacity to receive additional flows. Some of the slower flowing rivers in the regions also have problems with low dissolved oxygen concentrations. Water quality in many of the watercourses in the study area currently fails to meet Water Framework Directive targets. Potential impacts on protected habitats have been identified at Littleport (Ouse Washes), Burwell, Reach, Swaffham Prior (Wicken Fen) and Ely (Ely Pits and Meadows) wastewater treatment works.

Any increases in wastewater flows, associated with the proposed growth require further assessment which should also take into account impacts of water demand management on wastewater flows. In addition to the environmental capacity of the receiving waters, there are hydraulic capacity issues at Littleport and Ely which may require upgrades to these works.

Development will erode spare capacity in the sewerage system which can eventually lead to problems such as localised sewer flooding, more frequent CSO operation, undersized pumping stations or WwTW inlet works and

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insufficient storm tank capacity. This significance of these issues requires further assessment and requirements for detailed sewer network modelling need to be scoped. Additional sludge management requirements also need to be considered further.

7) Drainage and Flood Risk

Strategic Flood Risk Assessments are available for East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts and a separate SFRA has been produced for the Wisbech area. Both districts have significant areas identified as being at risk of fluvial and/or tidal flooding. The SFRA documents have some deficiencies in relation to PPS25 requirements and recommendations for a Level 1 SFRA are provided.

Development of sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) will be key to controlling flood risk at source in the development areas. Assessment of the geology in the study area indicates that much of the area - including Wisbech, Whittlesey, March, Chatteris, Littleport, and Ely - are on impermeable bedrock so will require surface water storage attenuation based SuDS techniques.

One of the biggest challenges in achieving the wider uptake of SuDS is the issue of eventual ownership of the systems and, in particular, who will maintain and repair them. It is essential that the ownership and responsibility for maintenance of every SuDS element is clear.

Development of SuDs provides opportunities for the creation of green infrastructure and enhancement of urban space. These opportunities should be further explored in future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

The draft Floods and Water Bill will change the process of managing flood risk and drainage and will therefore need to be considered further in the Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study.

8) Green Infrastructure

Development of water infrastructure provides opportunities for the creation of green infrastructure and habitats. Although ecological benefits and new green space may result from water infrastructure as a ‘secondary’ benefit of meeting engineering requirements, they are likely to be enhanced if they are promoted at the design stage and integrated into the Green Infrastructure Strategy. Developing water infrastructure within the context of a Green Infrastructure Strategy and local open space strategies would also allow it to be consistent with the natural features of the local environment and co-ordinate the approaches of different infrastructure providers (e.g. housing developers, water companies, internal drainage boards). The primary opportunity for green infrastructure and ecological development is in relation to surface drainage and, in particular, sustainable urban drainage. Enhanced SuDs will also provide opportunities for the protection of water quality and resilience to climate change.

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9) Climate Change

Climate change is likely to have major direct impacts on the water cycle as a result of changes in patterns of rainfall and evaporation, changes in patterns of water usage and wider impacts on land use. Current climate change modelling broadly indicates that there will be wetter warmer winters and drier hotter summers. Annual average temperature also shows a marked increase. This may reduce the availability of water resources, increase water demand, increase the risk of flooding, increase the frequency of sewer overflows and reduce the capacity of rivers to receive wastewater. The low lying nature of the study area is likely to make it particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

The Water Cycle Study should aim to identify any weakness in existing water infrastructure and environmental capacity assessments with regard to climate change and address these weaknesses if these are relevant to planning decisions on development. It should also ensure that climate change is taken into account in further work related to the assessment of environmental capacity and the design of water infrastructure. Detailed recommendations on how this should be done are presented in this report.

Sustainability and carbon accounting should form a part of the options appraisal and cost benefit analysis of water infrastructure.

10) Conclusions and Recommendations

The review of existing information presented in this Scoping Study has identified that there are significant potential environmental constraints on housing growth in the study area that require more detailed assessment in the Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study although none at this stage can be identified at ‘showstoppers’. It is likely that housing developments and their associated water infrastructure will need to be designed to mitigate these impacts which is likely to require significant investment; for example in wastewater treatment and development of drainage systems. Management of water demand will be crucial to reduce these potential constraints and reduce the costs associated with the provision of water infrastructure.

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Glossary of Terms

Abstraction license a licence granted under the Water Resources Act 1991, as amended by the Water Act 2003, to abstract untreated water from a source of supply. Asset Management Period five year period in which water companies implement planned upgrades and improvements to their asset (AMP) base. Activities are subject to funding review. Biochemical Oxygen Demand a widely used measure of polluting potential - a measure of oxygen use, or demand, by bacteria breaking (BOD) down the biodegradable load in sewage treatment plants or environmental waters. Biodiversity Action Plan Priority each Local Biodiversity Action Plan works on the basis of partnership to identify local priorities and to Habitat determine the contribution they can make to the delivery of the national Species and Habitat Action Plan targets. Catchment Abstraction the assessment of how much water can be extracted to meet its many economic uses – agriculture, industry, Management Strategy (CAMS) and drinking water supply - while leaving sufficient water in the environment to meet ecological needs. Catchment Flood Management a strategic planning tool through which the Agency will seek to work with other key decision-makers within a Plan (CFMP) river catchment to identify and agree policies for sustainable flood risk management. CIRIA construction industry research and information association Code for Sustainable Homes signals a new direction for building standards. Wherever practical DCLG intend to develop and introduce a (CSH) system of sustainable building standards based on voluntary compliance. Core Strategy a Development Plan Document setting out the spatial vision and strategic objectives of the planning framework for an area, having regard to the Community Strategy (see also DPDs). CSO combined sewerage overflow County Council the local authority that is responsible for waste and minerals planning functions in non-unitary, and non- national park, local authority areas. A county council may provide advice and proposals on strategic planning issues to the Regional Planning Body. Department for Environment, department that brings together the interests of farmers and the countryside; the environment and the rural Food and Rural Affairs economy; the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. (DEFRA) Development Plan Document details the spatial representation of housing and employment land allocations in response to the regional (DPD) spatial strategy. Dry Weather Flow (DWF) is a measure of the flow influx to a WwTW derived from human activity (both domestic and trade), but excluding any storm-induced flows EA flood zone flood zones on the maps produced by Environmental Agency providing an indication of the flood risk within all areas of England and Wales, assuming there are no flood defences. EC Freshwater Fisheries protects and improves the quality of rivers and lakes to encourage healthy fish populations. Directive Environment Agency (EA) a government body that aims to prevent or minimise the effects of pollution on the environment and issues permits to monitor and control activities that handle or produce waste. It also provides up-to-date information on waste management matters and deals with other matters such as water issues including flood protection advice. Environmental capacity the ability of the physical environment to accommodate urban development and population growth without causing a deterioration in environmental quality. Flood Estimation Handbook document produced by Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford (formerly the Institute of Hydrology). (FEH) Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) an assessment of the likelihood of flooding in a particular area so that development needs and mitigation measures can be carefully considered. General Quality Assessment the Agency's method for classifying the water quality of rivers and canals is known as the General Quality (GQA) Programme Assessment scheme (GQA). It is designed to provide an accurate and consistent assessment of the state of water quality and changes in this state over time. Green Infrastructure Strategy local authority strategy to promote green space and sites of conservation value (GI)

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Habitats Directive an EU Directive which seeks to ensure the conservation or restoration of habitats.

Interim Code of Practice for document produced by CIRIA, which aims to facilitate the implementation of sustainable drainage in SuDS developments in England and Wales by providing model maintenance agreements and advice on their use. It provides a set of agreements between those public organisations with statutory or regulatory responsibilities relating to SuDS.

operating authority which has the power to make and maintain works in areas with special water level/flood Internal Drainage Board (IDB) risk management needs. l/h/d litres per head per day

Local Delivery Vehicle (LDV) partnership that brings the public and private sectors together to deliver large-scale social, economic and environmental change to deliver the Government’s Sustainable Communities Plan.

Local Development Framework a folder of local development documents that outlines how planning will be managed in the area. (LDF)

Local Planning Authority (LPA) the local authority or council that is empowered by law to exercise planning functions. Often the local borough or district council. National parks and the Broads authority are also considered to be local planning authorities. County councils are the authority for waste and minerals matters.

Mg/l milligrams per litre

Ml/Day megalitres per day

OFWAT The Water Services Regulation Authority. OFWAT regulate how much money a water company can is required to spend over each five year planning period, and regulate the amount of money the water companies can charge from their customers.

OSPAR The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. Per capita a Latin phrase meaning ‘for each head’ Receiving water watercourse, river, estuary or coastal water into which the outfall from Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO), surface water or other sewer discharges. Regional Spatial Strategy a broad development strategy for a region for a 15 to 20 year period prepared by the Regional Planning (RSS) Body. Restoring Sustainable identifies abstraction licences causing problems, and reviewed them with the purpose of rectifying the Abstraction Programme problems by reducing the volume extracted, altering licence conditions, and relocating abstraction points. (RSAP) Review of Consents as RSA but reviewing impacts of abstractions on designated sites Programme (RoC) River Basin Management Plan planning document to develop measures to meet Water Framework Directive objectives developed by the (RMBP) Environment Agency S106 a legal agreement under section 106 of the 1990 Town & Country Planning Act. Section 106 agreements are legal agreements between a planning authority and a developer, or undertakings offered unilaterally by a developer, that ensure that certain extra works related to a development are undertaken. Sewage Works (STW) plant to treat wastewater to higher chemical before release into the environment Site of Special Scientific a site identified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Interest (SSSI) Way Act 2000) as an area of special interest by reason of any of its flora, fauna, geological or physiographical features (basically, plants, animals, and natural features relating to the Earth's structure). Source Protection Zone (SPZ) designated area around public water supply groundwater abstractions to indicate the catchment to the abstraction. Special Areas of Conservation a site designated under the European Community Habitats Directive, to protect internationally important (SAC) natural habitats and species. Special Protection Area (SPA) sites classified under the European Community Directive on Wild Birds to protect internationally important bird species. Strategic Flood Risk document that informs the planning process of flood risk and provides information on future risk over a wide Assessment (SFRA) spatial area. It is also used as a planning tool to examine the sustainability of the proposed development allocations.

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Strategic Water Resources it is now a statutory duty for water companies to prepare, consult, publish and maintain a water resources Plan, or Statutory Water management plan under new sections of the Water Industry Act 1991, brought in by the Water Act of 2003. Resources Management Plan This plan is then kept under yearly review. (WRMP) Sustainable Drainage Systems Sustainable drainage systems or sustainable (urban) drainage systems: a sequence of management (SuDS) practices and control structures designed to drain surface water in a more sustainable fashion than some conventional techniques (may also be referred to as SuDS or SDS). United Kingdom Biodiversity action plan developed by Defra to protect threatened species and habitats and promote biodiversity Action Pland (UK BAP) UKCIP climate change predictions based on climate modelling United Kingdom Technical supporting the implementation of the European Community (EC) Water Framework Directive (Directive Advisory Group (UKTAG) 2000/60/EC). It is a partnership of the UK environment and conservation agencies. It also includes partners from the Republic of Ireland. Wastewater Treatment Works separates solids from liquids by physical processes and purifies the liquid by biological processes. Discharge (WwTW) from Wastewater Treatment Works may contain a range of pollutants and need to be carefully monitored. Water Framework Directive A European Union directive which commits member states to making all water bodies (surface, estuarine (WFD) and groundwater) of good qualitative and quantitative status by 2015. Water Resources Management Statutory water plan for future water resource management Plan (WRMP) Water Resource Zone (WRZ) defined by the water supply/demand balance in the region such that all customers within it receive the same level of service in terms of reliability of water supply.

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Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction to Water Cycle Strategies (WCS) 1 1.2 Aims of a Water Cycle Study 3 1.3 National Guidance on Water Cycle Studies 5 1.4 Aims of a Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment 5 1.5 Key Principles of the Study 5 1.6 Structure and Purpose of this Report 6 1.7 Stakeholders 7

2. Study Area 8

2.1 Overview of the Study Area 8 2.2 Hydrology 10 2.3 Ecology and Green Infrastructure 13 2.4 Mineral Extraction 18 2.5 Key Issues 18

3. Planning, Policy and Development 20

3.1 Planning 20 3.2 Water Company Planning 23 3.3 River Basin Management Planning 23 3.4 Planned Growth 24 3.5 Site Allocation 26 3.6 RSS Review 29 3.7 Key Issues 29

4. Water Resources and Public Water Supply 30

4.1 Introduction to Water Resources 30 4.2 Water Resources Environmental Capacity 35

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4.3 Habitats 40 4.4 Drinking Water Quality 41 4.5 Agriculture 43 4.6 Water Demand Management and Water Neutrality 43 4.7 Interactions with Neighbouring Areas 44 4.8 Key Issues 45

5. Water Quality and Wastewater 47

5.1 Environmental Capacity 50 5.2 Protected Areas 52 5.3 Planned Schemes 53 5.4 Wastewater Infrastructure Capacity 53 5.5 Flood Risk and Drainage 56 5.6 Sewer Network Capacity 56 5.7 Key Issues 56

6. Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Scoping 58

6.1 Policy and Guidance 58 6.2 Data Compilation 59 6.3 Data Review 60 6.4 Scope for Level-1 SFRA 65

7. Consideration of Flood Risk and Drainage in the Water Cycle Study 67

7.1 Introduction 67 7.2 Data Compilation and Review 67 7.3 Key Issues 68

8. Sustainable Drainage Systems 70

8.1 Introduction 70 8.2 SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) Design 70 8.3 SuDS Potential 73

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8.4 Adoption of SuDS 81 8.5 Key Issues 82

9. Ecology and Green Infrastructure 83

9.1 Introduction 83 9.2 Constraints 83 9.3 Opportunities 84 9.4 Key Issues 84

10. Climate Change and Sustainability 85

10.1 Background 85 10.2 Climate Change Modelling and UKCP09 86 10.3 Climate Change and the Study Area 87 10.4 Policy and Planning 87 10.5 Assessment of Environmental Capacity and Water Infrastructure Provision 89 10.6 Research and Development of Guidance 92 10.7 Climate Change Impacts and the WCS process 93 10.8 Carbon Accounting and Mitigation 98 10.9 Key Issues 98

11. Recommendations 99

12. References 102

Table 2.1 Main Towns in the Study Area 8 Table 2.2 Summary of the findings of Review of Consents for the SPAs and SACs within the Study Area 13 Table 2.3 Progress with Water Cycle Studies in Neighbouring Areas 18 Table 3.1 Summary of key National Policy and its relevance to Water Cycle Studies 20 Table 3.4 East Cambridgeshire Housing Numbers (to 2025) 27 Table 3.5 Fenland District housing numbers (to 2025) 28 Table 4.1 RSA investigations in WR zones supplying the study area 40 Table 5.1 Wastewater Treatment Works 47 Table 5.2 River Water Quality Upstream and Downstream of Key WwTWs (based on information available in ‘In My Backyard’ on the Environment Agency’s website). 52 Table 5.3 Dry weather flow capacity for key WwTW within the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts 55 Table 6.1 Outcomes of a Level-1 SFRA 58 Table 6.2 Data Request and Status 59 Table 6.3 Summary Review of Data to Meeting Level-1 SFRA Outcomes 61 Table 6.4 Required Plans and Current Availability 62

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Table 7.1 Objectives of a Outline WCS 67 Table 7.2 Review of existing data and application in a Outline WCS 68 Table 8.1 Common SuDS Techniques 72 Table 8.2 Historical Surface Water Flooding Incidents 74 Table 8.3 Infiltration Capacity in Identified Areas 78 Table 8.4 Comparison of Economic and Maintenance Requirements for SuDS Techniques 80 Table 10.1 Impact of Climate Change on Deployable Output 90 Table 10.2 Key developments in climate change assessment 93 Table 10.3 Climate change in further phases of the Water Cycle Study 95 Table A1 Water associated protected habitats in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland 1 Table A2 County Wildlife Sites in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland 1 Table B1 Actions identified in the draft River Basin Management Plan that may affect Water Infrastructure in the Study Area 1 Table C1 Current Population and Consent Conditions for WwTWs Serving the Study Area 1

Figure 1.1 Traditional View of the Hydrological Water Cycle - Without Artificial Influences 1 Figure 1.2 Schematic Diagram of the Urban Water Cycle (derived from Environment Agency Water Cycle Study Leaflet) 2 Figure 2.1 Study Area (wider context shown in inset map) 9 Figure 2.2 Hydrology of Study Area 11 Figure 2.3 Geology in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland 12 Figure 2.4 Key habitats and conservation sites in study area 15 Figure 3.1 Projected housing growth in East Cambridgeshire compared to current housing stock (for assumptions see above)25 Figure 3.2 Projected housing growth in Fenland compared to current housing stock (for assumptions see above) 26 Figure 4.1 Study area water resource zones and main rivers 32 Figure 4.2 Cambridgeshire & West Suffolk Zone - Environmental Pressures 37 Figure 4.3 Fenland Zone - Environmental Pressures 37 Figure 4.3 Fenland Zone - Environmental Pressures 38 Figure 4.4 Ruthamford Zone - Environmental Pressures 38 Figure 4.4 Ruthamford Zone - Environmental Pressures 39 Figure 4.5 Source Protection Zones 42 Figure 5.1 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland WwTWs 48 Figure 5.2 Population Equivalent by WwTW in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts 49 Figure 8.2 Geological influences on potential SuDs systems (Superficial Geology) 77 Figure 10.1 Climate Change Impacts on Precipitation in the 2050’s Under the High Emissions Scenario 86

Appendix A Key Habitats and Wildlife Sites Appendix B Planning and Policy Appendix C Wastewater Treatment Works Consents Appendix D UKCP09 Analysis Appendix E SFRA Report Summaries

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Creating the environment for business 1. Introduction

1.1 Introduction to Water Cycle Strategies (WCS)

1.1.1 Background

The water cycle describes the pathways and processes through which water moves through the natural and built environment, including the infrastructure that provides drinking water, collects and treats wastewater and provides protection against flooding. Figure 1.1 illustrates the traditional image of the water cycle showing the movement of water between the sea, atmosphere, catchments, groundwater and rivers.

Figure 1.1 Traditional View of the Hydrological Water Cycle - Without Artificial Influences

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Creating the environment for business In fenland, the natural water cycle is modified by the fact that, in many areas, water does not naturally drain into the rivers as a result of a historical decline in land levels due to peat shrinkage and the development flood defences. The Internal Drainage Boards pump water into the rivers during wet periods and release irrigation water from the rivers to agricultural land during dry periods. Drainage and irrigation water is conveyed through a network of drainage channels which are managed through a system of sluices and pumps.

Figure 1.2 illustrates the added elements of human infrastructure that influence the water cycle. Water is captured and stored for use, and this water only re-enters the river network once it has been used and then treated at wastewater treatment works. Consequently, the timing and quality of water entering the river network can be significantly different in the urban environment. In rural areas, wastewater may be discharged directly to the environment via septic tanks.

Figure 1.2 Schematic Diagram of the Urban Water Cycle (derived from Environment Agency Water Cycle Study Leaflet)

Rainfall is collected and treated to potable standard and pumped to homes and other non- domestic Surface run-off from roads and other hard surfaces can exacerbate localised flooding and introduce pollutants in to streams and Waste water and foul effluent is collected, treated and removed from settlements. Treated effluent is Combined sewers carry usually discharged into storm water and sewer the river system or to

water. During heavy rainfall long sea outfalls increased flows can exceed capacity and sewage is forced to overflow into streams and rivers through The floodplain outfalls. absorbs excess water spilling from rivers during flood events.

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Creating the environment for business Water infrastructure needs to be sized appropriately to ensure sufficient supply of clean water to homes and industry and provide a system that can collect and treat wastewater and, thereby, control the pollution of waters and dependant habitats. The drainage system also needs to be designed to reduce the risk of surface water flooding.

The low lying nature of fenland may result in additional requirements for water infrastructure. Drainage and transport of water is more reliant on pumping with associated energy and carbon costs. The impermeability of the substrate and high water table level also reduces the rate at which water naturally drains away.

The capacity of the water environment to provide water supply through abstractions and receive wastewater from discharges is constrained by environmental regulation enforced by UK and European legislation (the environmental legislation that provides the basis for the protection of the water environment from pressures from water infrastructure is summarised in Appendix C). The Environment Agency provides the leading role in enforcing this legislation and controls wastewater discharges and abstractions through a system of consents and licences that it issues to operators (e.g. water companies, industry, farms, etc.) in order to maintain the quality of the water environment by preventing failure of agreed targets and standards. In planning housing growth it is essential that potential impacts on the water environment are assessed and measures taken to avoid negative impacts taking into account this regulatory system.

The Government has plans for substantial growth in housing and jobs in the East of England. This growth will place additional pressures upon the water environment, and may require additional capacity for water resources, wastewater treatment, surface water drainage and flood risk management systems. Unless infrastructure is funded and implemented in a timely manner, this could affect the pace of growth and/or lead to environmental damage.

The development of a Water Cycle Strategy along with other evidence base studies including Strategic Flood Risk Assessments aims to provide solutions to these challenges.

1.2 Aims of a Water Cycle Study

A Water Cycle Study (WCS) is one of a number of strategic studies used by Local Planning Authorities as part of the evidence base for Local Development Frameworks. The Study proposes necessary infrastructure and policy requirements to achieve the planned growth without compromising, and where possible enhancing, the water environment. The overall aim of the Study is to provide a clear programme of water services infrastructure implementation to support sustainable development to 2031. It also aims to identify the phasing of the water infrastructure requirements so that these do not constrain the timing of the proposed development. Where environmental constraints on housing growth exist that cannot be accommodated by infrastructure solutions these also need to be identified. Through partner agreement and sign up the Study aims to ensure timely, phased delivery of water infrastructure ahead of planned which thereby establishes the Water Cycle Strategy.

Development of water infrastructure may create opportunities such as the enhancement of natural rivers, wetlands and lakes and creation of new habitats such as flood storage lakes and drainage areas. This is especially important in an urban context where undeveloped green spaces and fully functional water courses are needed to absorb run- off from buildings and roads, prevent flooding and maintain the water table beneath the settlement at an optimum

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Creating the environment for business level. Development of the Water Cycle Strategy should be linked to the Councils’ Green Infrastructure Strategy to promote these opportunities.

The key issues that should be addressed in a Water Cycle Study include:

• Assessing the capacity of the current water infrastructure to accommodate growth without adversely affecting the environment by considering:

- the availability of water resources;

- the capacity of the surface water drainage network (urban and agricultural);

- the potential to increase flood risk;

- the capacity of existing wastewater infrastructure; and

- the environmental capacity of receiving watercourses to receive wastewater;

• Determining the potential impact of the proposed development in the context of requirements of environmental legislation including the Water Framework Directive, Habitats Directive and any other relevant water cycle policy;

• Identifying the infrastructure necessary to achieve the proposed growth within the constraints of the environment and legislation;

• Determine the potential impact of water infrastructure on climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainability;

• Developing a strategy for a phased approach to development that allows key growth targets to be met whilst providing sufficient time for the identified infrastructure to be delivered;

• Working alongside green infrastructure planning (e.g. Cambridgeshire Green Infrastructure Strategy) to identify opportunities for habitat creation, recreation and more sustainable planning;

• Coordinate the work with other evidence base studies including Strategic Flood Risk Assessments and Surface Water Management Plans.

The Study provides a process to bring together the range of water related issues under a single framework and ensure that all stakeholders have their say. Much of the information and understanding used in a Water Cycle Study will already exist within stakeholder organisations and one of the key benefits of the partnership approach is to make this more widely available. The Water Cycle Strategy is a living process which will require ongoing monitoring, updating and review.

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1.3 National Guidance on Water Cycle Studies

The Environment Agency has issued a National Guidance (The Water Cycle Study Manual1) document to ensure that water cycle studies are carried out in a consistent way. This guidance outlines the required approach for the Scoping, Outline and Detailed phases of water cycle studies. The East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Water Cycle Study aims to follow this national guidance.

1.4 Aims of a Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment

As part of this Water Cycle Study, the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment will be updated and the scoping for this, which is included in this report (Chapter 6), will inform the overall development of the Strategy.

1.5 Key Principles of the Study

A key function of this Scoping Phase report is to establish key principles and aims that will underpin the remaining phases of the work and ultimately the development of the Water Cycle Strategy. These key principles are outlined below.

1.5.1 Sustainability

Assessment of sustainability should not only consider impacts of development on the water environment but wider environmental impacts such as carbon emissions. The concept of sustainability is particularly relevant when comparing different development and/or water infrastructure options. Whilst all of the options may be technically feasible and be able to meet environmental standards, some may have a greater environmental impact than others. Sustainability appraisal provides a means to compare options against clearly defined criteria such as economic costs, use of materials and carbon emissions in the construction and operational phases. The development of a more sustainable approach to water management not only involves appropriate infrastructure but the promotion of behavioural change by water users such as reduce use of water by households.

1.5.2 Risk

Potential impacts of development on the water cycle are in some cases uncertain because information required to assess the impact is incomplete. There is also uncertainty regarding implementation of mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of development such as the adoption of water efficiency measures by developers and existing

1 http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO0109BPFF-e-e.pdf

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Creating the environment for business householders, the availability of funding and the outcomes of the planning process. Consequently, there is a risk that harmful impacts on the environment will not be avoided or the housing development will be constrained unnecessarily. Uncertainty in some cases can be reduced by collecting additional information or carrying out further studies but in other cases this may not be possible. Identification of areas of risk associated with the study outputs is important so that this can be taken into account in the planning process.

1.5.3 Climate Change

Climate change has the potential to reduce environmental capacity by reducing the availability of water resources, and reducing the capacity of the water environment and associated habitats to receive wastewater. It may also threaten water infrastructure by increasing the risk of flooding as a result of increased frequency and severity of storms and sea level rise. In planning new infrastructure, resilience to climate change should be considered where possible to avoid requirements for further adaptation measures in the future. Climate change should therefore form a key component of this Water Cycle Study and should be taken into account in the assessment of environmental constraints and the provision of water infrastructure. Carbon emissions should also form a key element of sustainability appraisal when comparing water infrastructure options. Climate change is considered in more detail in Section 9.

1.5.4 Cost

Provision of water infrastructure and measures to reduce impacts of housing development on the water environment will have a cost (financial, resources and carbon). Information on costs is important to determine the best infrastructure option and in some cases may rule out options because they are not economically viable. Providing information on costs is, therefore, an important output of the Water Cycle Study.

1.6 Structure and Purpose of this Report

The information presented in this Scoping Study document provides a basis for scoping further phases of the work. At this stage it does not provide an evidence base for making informed planning decisions or a basis for determining planning applications.

This report contains three technical sections presenting the water resource (Section 4), receiving water quality/wastewater infrastructure (Section 5) and potential drainage and flooding issues (Section 7). It also provides scoping for the Level 1 SFRA which is presented in Section 6. The report also provides recommendations for further work in Section 11.

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1.7 Stakeholders

1.7.1 Steering Group

This Scoping Study has been overseen by a Steering Group comprising of the following organisations.

• Cambridgeshire Horizons

• Fenland District Council

• East Cambridgeshire District Council

• Anglian Water Services Ltd

• Environment Agency

• Natural England

• Middle Level Commissioners and associated Internal Drainage Board

• Ely Group Internal Drainage Board

• Cambridgeshire County Council.

1.7.2 Stakeholder Engagement

In addition to regular Steering Group meetings and technical meetings with Anglian Water and Middle Level Commissioners, a stakeholder event was held on 10 June 2009 to share with local representatives the aims and objectives of this study and key findings (over 40 people attended this event). Further information on the stakeholder event is available in a separate report provided by Entec to Cambridgeshire Horizons.

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Creating the environment for business 2. Study Area

2.1 Overview of the Study Area

The study area (Figure 2.1), consisting of the Districts of East Cambridgeshire (655 km2) and Fenland (546 km2) is primarily rural in nature and agriculture is a key industry, dominated by the production of cereal and root crops. Food processing also forms a major component of industry in the study area. Most of the land is low lying with large areas of fenland where the landscape is dominated by drainage channels managed by internal drainage boards and this plays a central role in maintaining the system of agriculture. In contrast, the south east corner of the District of East Cambridgeshire is on higher land of the chalk hills around Newmarket. Within East Cambridgeshire, Ely, Haddenham and Littleport are on elevated ‘islands’ in the fenland landscape. Likewise, within Fenland District the towns of March, Whittlesey, Chatteris and Wisbech are on raised land.

Table 2.1 presents information on the main towns in the study area.

Table 2.1 Main Towns in the Study Area

Name Current Population2 Key Features

Ely 17,960 Administrative centre of East Cambridgeshire District. Commuter town for London and Cambridge.

Littleport 7,940 Largely residential.

Soham 9,000 Largely residential.

Wisbech 21,610 Large water demand from food processing industries. Minor port.

March 21,260 (excludes prison population.) Administrative centre of Fenland District. Market town.

Chatteris 9,700 Market town, light industry and residential.

Whittlesey 16,030 Light industry, food processing.

* Population for main towns includes surrounding villages

2 http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B4FC6DE4-92F3-447F-8F84-D4689D84BEBB/0/Text07Bk.pdf

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Figure 2.1 Study Area (wider context shown in inset map)

Bevills Leam

Corby Pboro

R Nene Ely Ouse

Northampton Bedford Cambridge

Bedford Ouse

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2.2 Hydrology

2.2.1 Surface Water Hydrology

Figure 2.2 identifies the key surface water features in the study area. Water quality and flow in the River Nene are significantly influenced by wastewater discharges from Peterborough, Northampton and Corby and abstractions to Rutland Water and Pitsford Reservoir. Water is released from the River Nene to the Middle Level Internal Drainage Board area through Stanground Lock on the eastern outskirts of Peterborough to meet the statutory requirement to maintain navigation levels within the Commissioners system which is adversely affected by agricultural abstraction. Water is also released to the Nene Washes via Moretons Leam in the summer to keep the habitats in The Washes wet and to receive and store flood water in the winter. There a number of competing demands on water in the lower River Nene, including: abstraction to Rutland Water at Wansford upstream of the study area; release of irrigation water to the Northern Levels; and maintenance of flows to the tidal river. During drought conditions restrictions to the allocation of water are required.

The Bedford Ouse with a large upstream catchment including Huntingdon, Bedford and Milton Keynes flows into the study area at Earith where flow is directed into the tidal Hundred Foot River that takes the flow down to King’s Lynn and The Wash. During flood conditions, Earith Sluice directs the water into the Old Bedford River which overtops and fills to Ouse Washes and stores the flood water for release at low tide to the tidal Ouse at Denver. The River Cam, with a catchment including Cambridge, joins the Ely Ouse at Upware. The Ely Ouse which also joins with the River Snail (or Soham Lode), Lark and Little Ouse discharges into the tidal Ouse at Denver. Under flood conditions water is also released from the Ely Ouse into the Flood Relief Channel at Denver directing flood flows toward The Wash. Water is transferred from the Ely Ouse at Denver, downstream of the study area, to the River Stour via the Cut Off Channel (known as the Ely Ouse Transfer Scheme).

During wet periods water is drained from the Middle Levels before eventually being released to the tidal River Ouse at St Germans Pumping Station. The drainage system in the Middle Levels is separated into a lower area south of Peterborough from which water is pumped into higher level drains at Bevills Leam pumping station. In the Ely Group Internal Drainage Board area, to the east of the Ouse Washes, water is pumped into the Hundred Foot River and the Ely Ouse. Higher level catchwater drains surrounding the drainage area direct run-off directly into the rivers. During the summer irrigation water is released from the Hundred Foot River and Ely Ouse to the IDB drains via a series of slackers.

Bearing in mind, the large upstream catchments of the Bedford Ouse, Ely Ouse and River Nene, planned growth in the region, beyond the study area (e.g. Northampton, Peterborough, Cambridge, Milton Keynes), has the potential to have a cumulative impact on the quantity and quality of the rivers and, therefore, needs to be quantified as part of the Water Cycle Study. Anglian Water is currently undertaking a study to assess catchment scale impacts of housing growth to support the review of the Regional Spatial Strategy. Output from this work should, therefore, be used in the Outline and Detailed Phases of this Water Cycle Study.

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Figure 2.2 Hydrology of Study Area

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Figure 2.3 Geology in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Drift Geology Bedrock Geology

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2.2.2 Hydrogeology

The bedrock geology (Figure 2.3) is dominated by clays in the Fenland District Council area (Oxford and Amphill Clays). Clays also dominate the bedrock geology in the northern area of the East Cambridgeshire District Council area but in the southern more elevated part of the district the geology is dominated by Chalk with a strip of Greensand between Ely and Newmarket. In the low lying Fenland area, the drift geology is dominated by Alluvium in the north and Peat and Till in the central areas.

2.3 Ecology and Green Infrastructure

2.3.1 Habitats

Figure 2.4 shows the European Sites: Special Protection Areas (SPAs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Ramsar designated sites and SSSIs in the study area (Appendix A provides further information on these sites). The study area contains several important wetlands which are remnants of the original fenland landscape. Wicken and Chippenham Fens are remnants of fenland marshes which are maintained with higher water table levels than the surrounding drained fens. The Nene Washes and Ouse Washes are wetland areas that flood regularly in the winter as they store flood water from the River Nene and Bedford Ouse respectively. The Cam Washes SSSI is a similar flood storage wetland.

In addition there are a number of County Wildlife Sites in the study area that are listed in Appendix A.

The Review of Consents for the Habitats Directive (see Chapter 3) has identified some of the key water infrastructure related issues affecting these wetlands (any abstraction licences and discharges that may have a harmful impact on the sites and, therefore, may need to be revoked or modified). The key findings on Review of Consents for the key sites in the study area are summarised in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 Summary of the findings of Review of Consents for the SPAs and SACs within the Study Area

Ouse Washes

With respect to water quality discharge consents, it is clear that phosphorus is the main issue for the Ouse Washes SAC and SPA, leading to eutrophication in the main watercourses and internal ditches and degradation of the wet grassland habitat. From all of the available evidence, phosphorus levels in both the SAC and the SPA are above the desired target level, in some cases by a considerable amount. The modelling work that has been undertaken has shown that the main contribution to the phosphorus load comes from consented point source discharges of sewage effluent in the Bedford Ouse catchment.

Water resources consents do not adversely affect the integrity of the European site, with respect to SPA and SAC features, either alone or in combination.

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Chippenham Fen and Snailwell Poor’s Fen SSSI

Water quality consents, waste licences, etc. are not believed to have an impact on the features at the site. However, there are likely effects of the existing licensed abstractions on the international nature conservation interests for which the site was classified or designated; changes in water levels or table from fully licensed abstraction within the search area may have an adverse effect on the European interest features on the site of the Purple moor-grass meadow and calcareous fen. This is because of the in-combination effect of the seven groundwater licences. This may also have an effect on the flow or velocity regime, the surface flooding, the water chemistry, the reduced dilution capacity and habitat loss. Although river quality consents do not have an effect directly on the habitat, with reduced dilution capacity for example, they could pose a problem.

Nene Washes

Water quality targets are exceeded for the site. Agency permissions are identified as having an adverse affect on the integrity of the site in combination because of high concentrations of phosphorus to which they contribute. For the majority of the site there is sufficient water to supply the site. 11ha of the Washes are adversely affected by groundwater drawdown as the result of an in combination effect between one abstraction licence and a dewatering activity.

Wicken Fen

All but one consented discharges within the area are assessed as not 'likely to have a significant effect' on Wicken Fen SSSI, in terms of water quality and water resources. One Pumping station overflow cannot be confirmed to not have adverse effects in terms of nutrient enrichment and siltation, and these are the only likely effects of the existing permissions on the international nature conservation interests for which the site was classified or designated. Licensed abstractions do not have an adverse effect on the site.

The Wash

The Environment Agency concluded that for The Wash SPA, there is no adverse affect on the integrity of the site from its permissions (water quality and water resources).

2.3.2 Habitat Creation

Wicken Fen Vision

The Wicken Fen Vision is a long term plan developed by the National Trust, who owns the existing nature reserve, to enlarge the reserve to cover an area of 56 km2 (22 square miles) between Cambridge and Wicken Fen. The proposed reserve covers an area to the East of the River Cam between the northern outskirts of Cambridge and the villages of Waterbeach, Swaffham, Bulbeck, Burwell and Wicken3. The Vision aims to increase coverage of the reserve over the next 100 years and promote habitat creation and amenity opportunities. At present, the National Trust owns 930 ha in the area.

3 www.wicken.org.uk/vision.htm

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Figure 2.4 Key habitats and conservation sites in study area

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Creating the environment for business Ouse Washes Habitats Creation Scheme

A decision was made by Defra in 2005 that creation of new habitat was the preferred solution to meet statutory obligations for protecting the integrity of the habitats and bird populations of the Ouse Washes (Snipe, Black Tailed Godwit, Ruff and Wigeon). Strategic options for the creation of replacement habitat (i.e. to compensate for potentially degraded habitat in the Ouse Washes) are currently being considered by the Environment Agency. Current plans are for the creation of two areas of replacement habitat between Wardy Hill, Coveney and Pymoor and between Haddenham, Aldreth and Sutton with a total area of approximately 700 ha. Water levels will be managed using stock boards. The habitat will be owned by the Environment Agency but managed by conservation organisations. The aim is to create functional habitat by 2014.

Habitat creation in the Block Fen/Langwood Fen area is also planned as part of the Earith and Mepal masterplan which forms part of the emerging Mineral and Waste Plan (see Section 2.4).

Great Fen Project

The Great Fen Project is a plan to restore over 3,000 ha of fenland habitat between Huntingdon and Peterborough to the west of the study area. In will connect Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve with Holme Fen National Nature Reserve to create a very large site with conservation benefits for wildlife and socio-economic benefits for people. Whilst the Project is outside the study area, it has the potential to affect the fenland hydrology within the region including reducing peak flows in the Commissioners systems during high rainfall events.

2.3.3 The UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP)

The UK BAP is the UK government’s response to the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992). It describes the nation’s biological resources and develops detailed action plans on the development of these resources. It identifies priority species and habitats which provide the focus of the action plans. The UK BAP is promoted through a voluntary partnership scheme which includes several of the key stakeholders in the study area including the District Councils, Internal Drainage Boards and Anglian Water.

Key habitats in the District of study area that may be affected by water infrastructure include:

• Coastal floodplain and grazing marsh;

• Eutrophic standing waters;

• Lowland fens;

• Ponds;

• Reedbeds; and

• Chalk Rivers.

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• Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus);

• Bittern (Botaurus stellaris);

• Freshwater White-clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes);

• Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris);

• Otter (Lutra lutra);

• Shining ram`s-horn snail (Segmentina nitida);

• Ribbon-leaved Water-plantain (Alisma gramineum); and

• Greater Water Parsnip (Sium latifolium).

2.3.4 Green Infrastructure

A Green Infrastructure Strategy has been developed for the Cambridge sub-region (Cambridgeshire Horizons, 2005) which includes the southern part of East Cambridgeshire district and a small part of Fenland district. The Strategy aims to develop green space by improving existing sites, developing new sites and improving public access to sites. Policy related to development of green infrastructure is also outlined in the emerging Core Strategies of East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Councils. The Green Infrastructure Strategy is now under Review and will be extended to cover the whole of Cambridgeshire and the study area.

2.3.5 Neighbouring Council Areas

The study area is bordered by the King’s Lynn, St Edmundsbury, Forest Heath, South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon, South Holland and Peterborough Councils. Table 2.3 summarises the position of these councils with regard to the completion of Water Cycle Strategies. Environmental capacity and water infrastructure issues in the study area may be affected by water management in upstream catchments including the Bedford Ouse, River Nene and River Cam catchments. Interactions with neighbouring and upstream areas are considered in detail in the technical sections of this report.

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Table 2.3 Progress with Water Cycle Studies in Neighbouring Areas

Council Area Progress with water cycle studies

Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Outline phase completed by yet to be signed off. Detailed phase currently being carried out Norfolk for completion in December 2009.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council Combined Outline Water Cycle Study and level 1 SFRA completed.

South Cambridgeshire District Council and Scoping and Outline Phase completed as part of a Cambridge sub-area study for Cambridge City Council Cambridgeshire Horizons. Currently working on Detailed Phase.

Huntingdonshire District Council Currently working on Outline Phase (reports not currently available).

Forest Heath District Council Combined Level 1 SFRA and Outline Water Cycle Study completed.

Peterborough City Council Scoping and Outline Phase completed. Currently working on Detailed Phase.

South Holland District Council No water cycle studies carried out to date.

2.4 Mineral Extraction

Mineral extraction sites in the study area have been put forward in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Minerals and Waste Plan (2008). These have the potential to impact on the hydrology of parts of the study area and therefore should be taken into account in the Water Cycle Study. In particular, the plan identifies Earith/Mepal area as a strategic area for sand and gravel extraction and construction/demolition waste management until 2026 and beyond. This mineral extraction can provide strategic water storage bodies which can help to intercept water before it goes into the Counter Drain, and also take some of the water from the Counter Drain which would otherwise be pumped into the Ouse Washes, thereby managing flood risk in a more sustainable way. One of the quarries, which is currently extracting sand and gravel at Witcham Meadlands at Block Fen, is shortly to begin restoration. Further information is available in the Earith/Mepal Draft Master Plan September 2008.4

2.5 Key Issues

Key features and issues in the study area are:

• Hydrology and water quality in the surrounding region have a large influence on the water environment in the study area. In particular, impacts of major upstream settlements including Northampton, Corby, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge will affect the quantity and quality in

4 http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/environment/planning/mineralswasteplan/preferredoptions2/background/earith_mepal/Draf tEarithMepalMasterPlan.htm

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• The surface water environment is a highly managed system within most of the study area. Pumping and water level management is critical to maintain agricultural production and navigation within fenland. This is dependent on the supply of water which may be affected by development within the study area and beyond.

• There are several important wetland habitats in the study area that form remnants of the fens. These habitats are highly dependent on water levels and may also be harmed by poor water quality.

• Several new fenland habitats are being or will be created which will change the hydrology of the study area, particularly the supply of water to surface water drainage systems.

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Creating the environment for business 3. Planning, Policy and Development

3.1 Planning

National, regional, sub-regional and local planning policy documents provides guidance for delivering sustainable development. This section of the report outlines the relevant planning policy in which the issues of housing and employment growth, water management, infrastructure and flood risk are framed, and the current and emerging development plan for the study area.

3.1.1 National Policy

Government guidance is provided through a series of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs) and Planning Policy Statements (PPSs), the most relevant of which are summarised below in Table 3.1, which outlines their relevance to the development of a Water Cycle Strategy (further details are provided in Appendix B).

Table 3.1 Summary of key National Policy and its relevance to Water Cycle Studies

PPS1 - Delivering Sustainable Development and the supplement to PPS1: Planning and Climate Change

PPS1 requires planning authorities to prepare plans that ensure that development is pursued in line with the principles for sustainable development, and promote outcomes in which environmental, economic and social objectives. It provides a planning basis for Water Cycle Studies to enable development to take into account the need to provide essential water infrastructure, avoid flood risk, address climate change and potentially harmful impacts on the water environment.

PPS3 - Housing

PPS3 aims to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live in a decent home, which they can afford in a community where they want to live. It therefore, provides a basis to assess the balance between providing affordable homes and additional costs on those homes related to water infrastructure (e.g. through developer contributions).

PPS12 - Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities through Local Spatial Planning

PPS12 outlines the nature of local spatial planning and the key components of local spatial plans and how they should be prepared. It should be taken into account by local planning authorities in preparing Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which include development plan documents (DPDs) and other local development documents (LDDs). It states that development of infrastructure should be “be supported by evidence of what physical, social and green infrastructure is needed to enable the amount of development proposed for the area, taking account of its type and distribution.” The Water Cycle Study forms part of the robust and credible evidence base

PPS25 Development and Flood Risk

PPS25 sets out policy on development and flood risk. It aims to ensure that flood risk is taken into account at all stages in the planning process to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding, and to direct development away from areas of highest risk. It also aims to ensure that new development does not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. This therefore underpins the approach to flood risk that forms part of the Water Cycle Study.

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3.1.2 Regional Planning Policy

East of England Regional Spatial Strategy

The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the East of England (2008) provides the planning and development strategy for the region to 2021. The RSS establishes the broad principles for sustainable development and growth in the region. It provides Local Planning Authorities with a framework to base their policies on.

Its objectives are to:

• reduce the region’s impact on, and exposure to, the effects of climate change;

• address housing shortages in the region;

• realise the economic potential of the region and its people;

• improve the quality of life for the people of the region; and

• improve and conserve the region’s environment.

The RSS concentrates growth at key centres for development and change, which includes all of the region’s main urban areas, and has potential to accommodate substantial development in sustainable ways to 2021 and beyondIt seeks to increase energy efficiency and carbon performance, improve water efficiency and recycling as percentage of waste with protection of the environment and avoid adverse effect on sites of European or International importance for nature conservation. Policies WAT 1-4 provide the key Regional Guidance regarding water in the East of England (see Appendix B). The Regional Spatial Strategy is currently being reviewed, to provide a framework between 2021 and 2031. The revised RSS is due to be complete by end of 2010.

The East of England Water Partnership5 was developed by Government Office for the East of England, the Environment Agency and Anglian Water with the aim to join together water and spatial planning processes at regional and local levels in order to facilitate sustainable growth and adaptation to climate change.

5 http://www.gos.gov.uk/goeast/environment_and_rural/environment_issues/739383/

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3.1.3 Local Planning Policy

East Cambridgeshire Core Strategy

The East Cambridgeshire Core Strategy, underwent Examination hearing from 29 April until 13 May 2009 and the Inspector's report on the Core Strategy was published in August 2009. It is hoped that the Core Strategy will be adopted by the Council in October 2009.

The Core Strategy requires that all new development should contribute to the delivery of sustainable development, by being designed and located to minimise carbon emissions and the use of non-renewable resources, mitigate/ adapt to future climate change, provide attractive and safe places for people, and protect and enhance the quality of the natural and built environment. Opportunities to minimise air, land and water pollution and improve water quality should be taken wherever possible, and development will be encouraged to make maximum use of renewable energy sources. New development will also be expected to minimise the exposure of people and property to flooding (Policies CS6 and ENV7).

Policy CS7 (Infrastructure) requires that there should be appropriate infrastructure and community services and facilities in place to serve the needs of new development schemes and to deliver the objectives of the Core Strategy. It details a number of key types of infrastructure, including water related infrastructure required to support the District over the plan period.

Fenland Emerging Core Strategy

The Council undertook consultation on its Core Strategy Preferred Options 2 Document in late 2007. The principle of sustainable development will underpin the policies and proposals for the use and development of land in the emerging Core Strategy. The Core Strategy states that a key principle is ‘Minimising impact on the environment, e.g. through energy efficiency, waste reduction, reduced water use, renewable energy production, energy efficient construction materials.’

Policies in the emerging Core Strategy indicate that development should: not take place in areas at risk of flooding, unless suitable flood management and mitigation measures can be agreed and implemented; not increase the risk of flooding of properties elsewhere (e.g. through additional surface water run-off, or by impeding the flow or storage of flood water); not have a detrimental effect on existing flood defences or inhibit flood control and maintenance, and; be accompanied by a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) for sites located in areas where there are a 0.1% or greater annual probability of flooding, or where there are particular issues relating to other sources of flooding and/or drainage issues. The FRA should be appropriate to the scale and nature of the development and the risks involved make use of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) wherever practicable.

The Core Strategy requires that development proposals should contribute towards the cost of providing infrastructure (including water), and of meeting social and environmental requirements, where this is necessary to make a scheme acceptable in planning terms. This will be secured through a planning obligation. The nature, scale

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3.2 Water Company Planning

Water companies plan for investment in water infrastructure through the Asset Management Plan (AMP) process which runs in five year cycles. This process is regulated by the Office of Water Services (OFWAT), who reviews the plans and determines charges for water services. This process is carried out in conjunction with the Environment Agency that assesses environmental requirements for investment and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) that assesses the investment required to improve drinking water quality. The outcome is a Business Plan which is produced by each water company and outlines the requirements for investment over the following five year period which is submitted to OFWAT.

The water companies are currently in the process of submitting their Business Plan for the period 2010 to 2015 (PRO9). Immediate requirements for investment in the study area should therefore be identified in the current plans but longer term requirements related to planned development beyond this period may not be covered. Water companies are able to submit interim determinations within the five year planning cycle to seek additional funding for unforeseen requirements but most plans should be covered by the normal submission process. The Water Cycle Strategy covers a longer planning period and can therefore inform longer term water company asset planning.

Water companies are also required to produce Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP) which report longer term planning related to the development of water resources over a period of 25 years. The Water Resource Management Plan identifies investment in water resources schemes to meet additional demand related to population growth and changes in per capita consumption of water. Anglian Water is currently in the process of completing its WRMP but this has not yet been published.

3.3 River Basin Management Planning

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is European legislation that aims to consolidate existing environmental legislation. It came into force in December 2000, and was transposed into UK law in 2003. It introduces new environmental standards that will help to improve the ecological health of inland waters to achieve ‘good ecological status’. This will be achieved by:

• Driving wiser, sustainable use of water as a natural resource;

• Creating better habitats for wildlife that lives in and around water, for example by improving the chemical quality of water;

• Progressively reducing or phasing out discharges, emissions and losses of priority substances and priority hazardous substances;

• Progressively reducing the pollution of groundwater; and

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Implementation of WFD is carried out through a process of River Basin Management Planning which is coordinated by the Environment Agency in consultation with stakeholders. Plans are developed for each waterbody within a River Basin. The first draft River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) for England and Wales were published by the Environment Agency in December 2008 and are therefore available for review in this Water Cycle Study. A summary of the actions identified in the RBMP are provided in Appendix B.

3.4 Planned Growth

East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Council’s plans for commercial and residential development are identified in their Core Strategy documents. These provide plans for growth numbers to 2025 and potential sites for the development. East Cambridgeshire District Council submitted a draft Core Strategy to the Government in 2008 and following a public examination in April/May 2009 the binding Inspector’s report was issued in August 2009 which the Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study should take into account. It is estimated that 10,463 dwellings will come forward in East Cambridgeshire between 2001 and 2025 (as set out in the housing trajectory in the AMR 2008). The Regional Spatial Strategy sets a minimum target for East Cambridgeshire of 10,320 dwellings over this period.

A total new of 13,496 new homes will come forward in Fenland District between 2001 and 20256. The minimum requirement from the Regional Spatial Strategy is for 11,000 new houses by 2021.

The economic recession is expected to slow the rate of delivery of these houses but it is hoped to make up for the shortfall in later stages of the planning period.

3.4.1 Housing Trajectory

For both Districts information has been provided by Cambridgeshire County Council Strategic Planning Department. The County Council supplies data on completions and outstanding commitments each year, to enable districts to produce their own housing trajectories. This information was assimilated, with the following assumptions to produce the trajectory in comparison with existing housing stock:

6 Fenland's Core Strategy is an emerging document to run up to 2026. For purposes of this study to be in line with East Cambridgeshire the period of 2025 has been considered

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Creating the environment for business • Total number of dwellings in East Cambridgeshire in 2007 of 34,800 (East Cambs annual monitoring report 2008);

• Total number of dwellings in Fenland in 2007 of 40,900 (Fenland annual monitoring report 2008);

• A total of 934 dwellings (net) were completed in Fenland in 2007/08 (Fenland Annual monitoring report, 2008). This provides initial figures to estimated current housing stock;

• A total of 753 dwellings (net) were completed in East Cambridgeshire in 2007/08 (East Cambs, Annual monitoring report, 2008). This provides initial figures to estimated current housing stock;

• Future projections were based on information from the County Council Strategic Planning Department.

Figure 3.1 shows the resulting trajectory profile of housing growth for East Cambridgeshire, for the period 2008 to 2025. This planned development could take the total number of dwellings in East Cambridgeshire to 41,384. This includes the additional projected development of 5,831 dwellings between 2009 and 2024. Figure 3.2 shows projected housing growth for Fenland, for the period 2008 to 2024.

Figure 3.1 Projected housing growth in East Cambridgeshire compared to current housing stock (for assumptions see above)

Projected housing development in East Cambridgeshire

East Cambs Housing Projected Housing growth

42,000

40,000

38,000

36,000

Dwellings 34,000

32,000

30,000 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Year

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Figure 3.2 Projected housing growth in Fenland compared to current housing stock (for assumptions see above)

Projected housing development in Fenland

Fenland Housing Fenland Projected growth

55000

50000

45000

40000 Dwellings 35000

30000 2007/08 2008/09 2011/12 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2009/10 2010/11 2012/13 2013/14 Year

3.5 Site Allocation

Information on housing site allocation was provided as follows:

• Housing trajectory information from Cambridgeshire County Council. This shows trajectory information for broad areas within the districts and towns/villages with associated development numbers.

• Maps and numbers in East Cambridgeshire’s Core Strategy Draft Submission Paper (2008).

• Maps within Fenland District Council’s the Core Strategy and Development Policies Preferred Options 2 (2007) document for March, Chatteris, Whittlesey and Wisbech.

Table 3.4 shows the locations of housing numbers which is taken from East Cambridgeshire’s draft submission of the Core Strategy. Total housing numbers include completions, outstanding commitments on large sites, windfall, large potential sites within settlement boundaries and potential housing opportunities outside settlement boundaries. Ely, Soham and Littleport have the largest identified development whilst Burwell and Bottisham have substantial growth in relation to the existing size of the settlements. The East Cambridgeshire Core Strategy once adopted will cover the period to 2025, providing a 15 year housing land supply as required by PPS3.

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Table 3.4 East Cambridgeshire Housing Numbers (to 2025)

Settlement Completions Outstanding Windfalls Large Potential Total 2001-08 commitments (inc. potential sites housing on large sites commitments within opportunities on small settlement outside sites) boundary settlement boundary

Ely 1,939 364 204 247 550 3,304

Soham 552 304 258 280 400 1,794

Littleport 438 787 182 278 0 1,685

Bottisham 22 45 48 118 50 283

Burwell 229 45 107 28 100 509

Haddenham 70 14 63 0 0 147

Newmarket Fringe 15 0 35 33 0 83

Sutton 311 12 124 69 0 516

Limited Service 367 23 295 26 0 711 Centres

Other Villages 282 32 256 0 0 570

Affordable housing 141 0 270 0 0 411 in the countryside

Other housing in 266 0 184 0 0 450 the countryside

Total 4,632 1,626 2,026 1,079 1,100 10,463

Table 3.5 shows the locations of housing numbers in Fenland based in information provided by Cambridgeshire Council’s Strategic Planning Department. The Fenland Core Strategy once adopted will cover the period to 2026, providing a 15 year housing land supply as required by PPS3.

Wisbech and March have the largest housing numbers whilst substantial growth is also planned for Chatteris and Whittlesey. In Chatteris the preferred locations for growth are in the east and south-east, with proposals for possible expansion or employment sites to the north and west, as well as the southeast. Whittlesey has preferred locations for growth in the east and north-west. In March the main areas planned for further growth are in the South, East and West. The main area for growth in Wisbech is located to the west, although this location may need to be reconsidered as a result of the Level 2 SFRA for the town (February 20097). A further 500 houses are projected on the eastern outskirts of Wisbech in the Borough of King’s Lynn.

7 The Middle Level Commissioners have commented that the contents of the Wisbech SFRA are not considered to meet the requirements of PPS 25 and may be subject to challenge. They also state that particular care should be made with regard to development north of Whittlesey because of potential overtopping of the Nene Washes system.

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Table 3.5 Fenland District housing numbers (to 2025)

Location Number of dwellings

Market Towns

Chatteris 309

Whittlesey 211

Wisbech 1076

March 656

Key Service Centres

Doddington 61

Wimblington 15

Limited Service Centres

Leverington 30

Manea 50

Smaller Villages

Benwick 5

Gorefield 14

Tydd st Giles 17

Wisbech St Mary 43

Benwick 5

Other Sites 25

Windfall 576

Brownfield sites 642

Greenfield 239

Broad locations (from SHLAA Urban capacity study) (2015-2024) 4,494

SubTotal 8,463

Completions 2001 - 2006 3,340

2006/2007 759

2007/2008 934

Total 13,496

Note: Location numbers, where not otherwise specified, are for the period 2009-2014 only

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3.6 RSS Review

The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) is currently being revised to extend the strategy from 2021 to 2031 to comply with the planning timescale of the Local Development Frameworks in the region. Housing growth figures will be updated to cover this period. Policy and the evidence base supporting policy are also being reviewed. The timescale for completion of the revision to the RSS is to complete the draft strategy by the end of 2009. Following the release of the draft strategy a period of consultation and public examination will take place. Publication of the strategy will take place by the end of 2010. Changes to projected housing growth will therefore need to be incorporated into future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

3.7 Key Issues

1) The planning framework provides the national, regional and local authority guidance and policy that underpins the requirements of a Water Cycle Study. Through this tiered approach protection of the environment and sustainability is embedded in the Core Strategies of the Council’s in the study area.

2) The separate local authority, water company and Environment Agency planning processes have differing timescales, regulatory drivers and reporting requirements. It is essential that all these processes are taken into account and their different timescales.

3) The Regional Spatial Strategy Review, along with the local planning process may change the overall targets for growth as well as the preferred sites. The changes need to be taken into account throughout the Water Cycle Study.

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Creating the environment for business 4. Water Resources and Public Water Supply

4.1 Introduction to Water Resources

This Chapter reviews the availability of water resources within the study area and identifies the key issues for planning water supply infrastructure to support the planned growth. Anglian Water (AWS) is responsible for providing water supplies in the study area (although water supplies may also be provided by smaller water companies subject to licence)8. The following sources of information have been used in this review.

• Anglian Water’s draft Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP; 2009);

• Anglian Water’s Strategic Direction Statement (2009);

• Environment Agency’s Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies (CAMS): Cam and Ely Ouse, Nene and Old Bedford (intercepting the study area). In addition, the Welland, Upper and Bedford Ouse, North Essex, East Suffolk, Broadland Rivers; North Norfolk; and North West Norfolk CAMS are relevant in the wider context of Anglian Water’s water resource zones;

• Anglian Region Water Framework Directive (WFD) documents including; the draft River Basin Management Plan (2008)and the summary of significant water management issues;

• Regional policy outlined in the East of England Plan (2008);

• The East of England Regional Water Resources Strategy (2001);

• The Environment Agency’s revised water resources strategy (2009);

• The Environment Agency’s ‘Identifying areas of water stress’ consultation;

• East of England Capacity Delivery Study: Phase One, Halcrow Group Ltd on behalf of EA, EERA and GO-East, Dec 2006; and

• Water cycle studies in neighbouring districts.

The Chapter focuses on the activities of Anglian Water as the primary supplier of water in the study area (the activities of smaller local water suppliers, however, should be considered further in the Outline Phase of the Water Cycle Study).

8 Proposals have been submitted for the use of lakes near Sutton Gault for this purpose (P J Lee and Sons, and R & P Baker).

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4.1.1 Anglian Water Services Water Resource Management Plans

Strategic Business Plans are submitted to the financial regulator, the Water Service Regulation Authority (OFWAT; see Section 3.2). In addition to the Strategic Business Plans, the water companies must also submit a Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) to Defra. These plans set out in detail how the water companies plan to balance supply and demand for water in their supply area over a 25 year period and take into account the economic, environmental and social implications of these plans. These plans, previously known as Water Resources Plans (WRPs) are reviewed and updated on a five yearly basis and submitted to the Environment Agency and Defra for approval. The last WRP was produced in April 2004. Since that time the plans have become a statutory requirement under the Water Act 2003. The next WRMP is due to be completed later in 2009, although the water companies prepared and published their draft WRMPs for consultation in May 2009.

Levels of Service, Water Resource Zones and Water Company Planning

When planning future water resources the water companies aim to achieve ‘levels of service’ for customers. Each company has its own level of service, which states how frequently it expects to impose water use restrictions during periods of water shortage. Levels of service are important as they determine the investment required to maintain secure supplies of water and prevent more frequent restrictions than the companies’ stated levels of service.

In the WRMPs, the water companies set out their plans for water resource provision at the sub-company level, in areas called water resource zones (WRZs). For each water resource zone the water companies produce plans under a ‘dry year’ scenario, ensuring that demand for water can be met for the agreed levels of service during a dry or drought period. Where a shortfall in supply capability is identified in the baseline, the water company identifies schemes to resolve the situation. These schemes are generally a combination of demand management and resource development. To ensure secure water supply, the water companies take uncertainties into account in their Water Resource Management Plans. These uncertainties include, for example, how climate change may affect demand and resource availability in the future.

4.1.2 Water Resource Management Relevant to the Study Area

The demand for drinking water is increased by growth whilst the overall availability of water resources is affected by other uses such as agriculture and industry. Water is supplied to the study area from groundwater and surface water sources from three water resource zones. Fenland and East Cambridgeshire are supplied with water from three water resource zones, all operated by Anglian Water, covering a large area. Figure 4.1 illustrates these zones in relation to the study area.

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Figure 4.1 Study area water resource zones and main rivers

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Creating the environment for business To summarise:

• the northern area around Wisbech is supplied by water resources in the Fenland water resource zone;

• the southern half of Fenland local authority area, including March, Whittlesey, and Chatteris is supplied by water resources in the Ruthamford water resource zone; and

• the whole of East Cambridgeshire local authority area is supplied by water resources from the chalk aquifer in the Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk zone.

In the east of the region (Fenland, and Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk zones), most of the water resources come from groundwater via boreholes in the Chalk aquifer, although Anglian Water also uses the water resources of the sandstone and limestone aquifers in the north. The west of the area (Ruthamford zone) is largely underlain by clay and surface water is taken from the large storage reservoirs (Rutland, Grafham, and Pitsford) that are in turn filled by pumping water from rivers when flows are high enough.

Water Resource Zone Forecast Supply-Demand Balance

Anglian Water’s draft WRMP sets out how the Company intends to balance supply and demand over the next 25 years up to 2031. The plan is based on forecasts of demand and supply. The demand forecast takes account of expected levels of per capita consumption and forecast population at a zonal level. The baseline supply forecast takes account of the existing available sources, expected losses due to climate change and environmental pressures, and future additional sources which were approved in the previous WRP. Therefore, before exploring the potential environmental constraints within which future growth needs to be accommodated, it is necessary to identify the baseline situation (i.e. to identify any deficits in the forecast supply-demand balance) in each water resource zone. These are set out below and are taken from Anglian Water’s draft WRMP.

Fenland Water Resource Zone

Groundwater sources = 60% of public water supply

Range of sources from the periphery of the zone

Chalk and sandstone catchments

A surplus of 15 Ml/d in 2006/07

A baseline deficit of 0.14 Ml/d (Megalitres per day) by 2030/31

Population forecast to increase by 28, 654 between 2006/07 and 2030/31

Environmental pressures forecast to reduce supply: 4.83 Ml/d lost due to climate change by 2030/31. 0.5 Ml/d ‘sustainability’ reduction in abstraction is already included in source assessment. No additional reductions planned by Anglian Water.

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Ruthamford Water Resource Zone

Surface water sources = 92% of public water supply

Large clay catchments with high winter run-off. Long strategic trunk mains connecting large treated water storage reservoirs

A surplus of 3.70 Ml/d in 2006/07

A baseline deficit of 36.59 Ml/d by 2030/31.

This is a large integrated water supply and water resources system that can be managed to accommodate temporal surpluses and deficits in the supply-demand balance within and outside the zone. At a local level, only a small deficit of 0.02 Ml/d is forecast in the March planning zone.

Population forecast to increase by 349,280 between 2006/07 and 2030/31

Environmental pressures forecast to reduce supply: 8.11 Ml/d lost due to climate change by 2030/31. No abstraction ‘sustainability’ reductions are planned as the Habitats Directive review of consents has confirmed that there is no significant risk to The Wash and the Ouse and Nene Washes.

Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk Water Resource Zone

Groundwater sources (chalk aquifer) = 100% of public water supply;

A surplus of 11.63 Ml/d in 2006/07

A baseline deficit of 2.70 Ml/d by 2030/31.

At a local level, the planning zones local to the study area have the smallest deficits in the zone forecast for 2035/36 (between 0.16 and 1.17 Ml/d).

Population forecast to increase by 349,280 between 2006/07 and 2030/31

Environmental pressures forecast to reduce supply: 8.11 Ml/d lost due to climate change by 2030/31. 1.49 Ml/d ‘sustainability’ reduction in abstraction is already included in source assessment, in response to low flow concerns, notably on the edge of the Chalk outcrop in the west of the zone.

Rising trend in nitrates in groundwater sources due to agricultural pollution. Many sources have to be blended or have ion exchange treatment installed.

This information shows that deficits (between 0.14 Ml/d and 36.59 Ml/d) are forecast in all three zones supplying the study area. This means that additional options are required to secure water supplies in the long term. Following the ‘twin-track’ approach Anglian Water has developed a range of demand management and resource development options.

4.1.3 Water Infrastructure

The supply system in the Ruthamford zone is characterised by long strategic trunk mains connecting large treated water storage reservoirs. Anglian Water states in its draft WRMP that: “there is good connection between Planning Zones and so local surpluses and deficits can be shared. However, there are bottlenecks in any water supply and

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Creating the environment for business distribution system and we have reflected these in our allocation of the peak and average deployable output between the 21 Planning Zones.” A review of the Planning Zone data suggests that the March Planning Zone is relatively well connected as it has the smallest forecast dry year annual average deficit, and one of the few zones with a surplus at peak.

The Fenland water resource zone as a whole is forecast to have a surplus until well into the planning period. However more detailed analysis shows that, out of the five Planning Zones, only Wisbech is projected to have headroom deficits against dry year average and critical peak period forecasts by the end of the planning period. This suggests that the existing infrastructure in the Wisbech area presents a local constraint. In Fenland zone, the distance between the water sources and demand centres has required the development of trunk mains and relatively large treated water storage close to customers. Reliance on water from outside the supply area involves energy and carbon costs for the transfer of water and the potential to consider for local supplies should be considered in later phases of the Water Cycle Study.

The Cambridgeshire and West Suffolk water resource zone is forecast to have a surplus of available water against target headroom until the middle of the planning period. Local trunk main networks link sourceworks and treated water storage in the larger planning zones of Ely, Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford, but there are no strategic links between these areas. There are nine planning zones in the water resource zone, seven of which are projected to have headroom deficits against dry year average and critical peak period forecasts by the end of the planning period. Three of these are local to the study area (Ely, Cheveley, and Newmarket) and suggest that the existing infrastructure in the East Cambridgeshire part of the study area could present a local constraint.

More detailed discussion with Anglian Water is required to confirm and identify specific water infrastructure issues regarding supply to the study area which should be carried out in the Outline and Detailed Phases Water Cycle Study.

4.2 Water Resources Environmental Capacity

To avoid potential future deficits in water supply Anglian Water will need to develop additional water resources or reduce demand for water from its customers. This section considers the environmental capacity to provide water resources in the study area.

4.2.1 Serious Water Stress

Annual rainfall in this area is relatively low but the total demand for water from households is high and the Environment Agency has assessed that this area is under serious water stress. This is defined as:

“an area where the current household demand for water is a high proportion of the current effective rainfall or, the future household demand for water is likely to be a high proportion of the effective rainfall available to meet that demand. When the demand for water is high or growing, this can result in a serious level of stress on the available water resources” (Environment Agency, 2007).

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Creating the environment for business The EA also states that “in areas of serious water stress, water abstraction is already close to or above acceptable limits” and “that that in some areas to provide more water may not be sustainable and could increase the risk to the environment, people and business in future. The highest levels of water efficiency activities should take place in the areas of serious water stress”.

The Environment Agency has assessed the water resources in each catchment to identify the impact of actual and licensed water abstraction regimes on the water environment. The results are used to inform future water abstraction licensing strategies.

4.2.2 Regional Water Resource Availability

The Environment Agency has recognized that one of the biggest challenges facing the Anglian river basin district is water management. Parts of East Anglia are extremely dry, receiving only two thirds of the UK’s average rainfall. Many important wildlife sites depend on a good supply of water and water management is vitally important for public water supply, agriculture and industry (Environment Agency 2007c). This indicates that additional abstraction in the wider area is unlikely to be an option to meet the needs of the additional population expected within the study area.

4.2.3 Catchment Water Resource Availability

Water resources are also assessed and managed at a smaller scale by the Environment Agency based on individual river catchments the findings of which are reported in their Catchment Abstraction Management plans (CAMS).

Demand centres within the study area are supplied by a range of surface or groundwater resources, some of which are considerable distances away (see Figure 4.1). Therefore, it is necessary to examine the resource availability of all the catchments which provide water to the water resource zones supplying the study area, not just local catchments. Figures 4.2 to 4.4 illustrate the spatial extent and the nature of water resources used to supply the study area and other demand centres in the region.

The Environment Agency has stated in its ‘Summary of significant water management issues’ report, that: “By far the largest demand for water in the district comes from public water supply, although there are a large number of smaller abstractions across the district to supply agriculture and industrial uses”.

A review of the CAMS for the catchments supplying the zones providing water to the study shows that the vast majority have either no water available, are over licensed, or are even over abstracted. In these cases the Environment Agency’s licensing strategy is to close the abstractions (at low flows) or seek to reduce licence volumes in over abstracted catchments.

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Figure 4.2 Cambridgeshire & West Suffolk Zone - Environmental Pressures

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Figure 4.3 Fenland Zone - Environmental Pressures

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Figure 4.4 Ruthamford Zone - Environmental Pressures

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Creating the environment for business However, there is water available at high flows in the far western groundwater management unit in North Norfolk, which is used for spray irrigation and public water supply. To maintain this status, the Environment Agency will consider applications for new licenses in accordance with water resources legislation. New applications for groundwater will be subject to normal determination criteria where: justified use, resource availability, impacts on the environment, and derogation of rights of other water users will be investigated using local information. In addition to this, where a proposed abstraction could have an impact on a Habitat Directive SPA and/or SAC site, the impact of each licence on that site will need to be assessed under the Habitats Regulations process.

4.3 Habitats

4.3.1 Restoring Sustainable Abstraction (RSA)

The potential impact of water abstraction on the water dependent environment is being addressed by the Environment Agency through its review of abstraction licences as part of its Restoring Sustainable Abstractions9 programme and Review of Consents, under the EU Habitats Directive. Anglian Water has worked with the Environment Agency to investigate what impact, if any, the Company’s abstractions may be having at over 50 conservation sites.

Table 4.1 lists all the RSA sites that could affect supplies to the study area. These are illustrated in Figures 4.2 to 4.4.

Table 4.1 RSA investigations in WR zones supplying the study area

Water Resource Zone RSA sites in the study RSA sites in the wider WRZ supplying the study area area

Fenland Ouse Washes Broughton Fen, within the Cam and Ely Ouse CAMS; East Walton and Adcocks Common; East Winch Common; Leziate, Sugar, and Derby Fens; and the River Nar. These latter sites are all within the North West Norfolk CAMS.

Ruthamford Ouse Washes Flitwick Moor; Nares Gladley Marsh; Pulloxhill Marsh; Stevington March; and the Wavendon Heath Ponds. All of these sites are within the Upper and Bedford Ouse CAMS.

Cambridgeshire and West Ouse Washes Blo’ Norton and The lnetham Fens; Bugg’s Hole, The lnetham; Cavenham- Suffolk Icklingham Heaths; East Wretham Heath; Weston Fen; Hopton Fen; Lakenheath Poor’s Fen; Pashford Poor’s Fen; Stanford Training Area; Wangford Warren and Carr; West Stow Heath; and the Wretham Park Meres. All of these sites are within the Cam and Ely Ouse CAMS.

9 Habitats Directive assessments have fed into the RSA programme which will also assess abstraction impacts on non-SSSI & Natura 2000 sites.

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4.3.2 Current Status of the RSA and Review of Consents Process

In 2008 the Environment Agency provided Anglian Water with indicative reductions in resources related to the RSA sites to be included in the draft WRMP.

In both the Fenland zone (supplying Wisbech), and the Cambridge and West Suffolk zone (supplying Ely, Littleport, and Soham) Anglian Water has assumed a reduction in deployable output of 1.49 Ml/d. However, this is subject to change as the Environment Agency is waiting for the results of the Habitats Directive Review of Consents process before it can make a decision. Anglian Water has not included sustainability reductions in its draft plan for Ruthamford zone. There are four sites which may be affected but the Environment Agency does not plan on specifying definite sustainability reductions until January 2010.

The reduction of any Anglian Water licences will require provision of alternative water resources. In its draft WRMP Anglian Water states that the Government has told them that sustainability reductions will have to be timed so that they do not jeopardise water supplies.

Many of the rivers from which Anglian Water abstracts benefit during low flows from the discharge of treated water from inland wastewater treatment works. This type of relationship illustrates the complexities of the urban water cycle. It is recommended that the Outline Stage of the water cycle study identifies those low flow rivers which benefit from wastewater discharge to identify potential flow issues related to water efficiency and the relocation of wastewater treatment.

The Review of Consents Appendix 21 documents that summarise the impacts of abstractions on the European sites identify no impacts in the Nene Washes, Ouse Washes or Wicken Fen but potential impacts on Chippenham Fen which are being considered further in the Site Options Plan and Site Actions Plan.

4.4 Drinking Water Quality

There are no public water supply groundwater abstractions or associated groundwater source protection zones in the Fenland District Council area. In contrast, there are a number of groundwater abstractions and groundwater source protection zones (SPZs) in the area of chalk geology (Figure 4.5) in the south east corner of the East Cambridgeshire District Council area. The proposed areas for development mostly fall outside the area covered by the protection zones with only areas of minor development included such as in the Chippenham area. There should therefore not be an impact of the proposed growth areas on these sources.

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Figure 4.5 Source Protection Zones

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4.5 Agriculture

The study area is agricultural in nature with a high requirement for summer irrigation water. Abstractions for agriculture, along with other abstractions, are regulated by the Environment Agency. Food processing also has a high demand for water which may be supplied as potable water which adds to overall demand on the public water supply system and therefore needs to be taken into account in Anglian Water’s water resources planning. The demand for water for food processing may be reduced by increased use of local sources of water, rainwater harvesting or recycling of water within the processing plants (e.g. washing water). Harvesting of surface water drainage from large urban areas may also provide water resources for agriculture. This option has been identified for a proposed development south of Chatteris. In managing water resources there is therefore a need to balance the requirements of agriculture and public water supply with regard to the quantity of water abstracted from the environment and how this resource is distributed. For example, water from the River Nene provides irrigation water to the Middle Levels but also provides water to Rutland Water for public water supply as well as maintaining flow to the tidal river. During drought periods there is insufficient water in the river to meet these demands so the resources need to be carefully managed.

The supply of water to meet the demands from agriculture is a key issue in the study area. Although not directly affected by housing growth, plans by the Internal Drainage Boards to address this issue should be taken into account in later stages of the Water Cycle Study. Housing growth will also have a direct impact on agricultural demand for water by reducing the area of agricultural land although this overall impact is small in terms of the proportion of agricultural land affected.

4.6 Water Demand Management and Water Neutrality

Bearing in mind the limited availability of new water resources and potential reductions in water resources related to the protection of habitats and climate change, management of water demand will be essential to maintain water supply within the constraints of the limited availability of water resources. Water demand can be managed by a range of methods including use of metering, leakage control, efficient water fittings, rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling. The Code for Sustainable Homes10 provides national standards for the design and construction of new homes with the aim of reducing water demand.

Water neutrality; a relatively new concept, means that total water used after new development is equal to or less than total water use in the area before development. The Cambridgeshire Horizons partners share the aspiration of water neutrality in new developments. The concept of water neutrality was pioneered for the Thames Gateway, exploring the notion and what it could mean in practice (Environment Agency, 2007a). There is more than one

10 http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/legislation/codesustainable/

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Creating the environment for business way to achieve this, by designing new communities to be as near to water-neutral as possible combined with offsetting new demand by making existing properties, infrastructure and activities in the area more water efficient (Environment Agency, 2007).

Assessment of water demand management options with the aim of achieving water neutrality should form a key part of further phases of the Water Cycle Study. This should include a review of existing total demand, using data from the water companies. A key factor in calculating water neutrality is the definition of both the development area and the scale of existing properties to take into account. As neutrality can only be achieved by targeting existing properties, the study must identify an appropriate scale and this is largely dependent on the nature of settlements in the area. It is reasonable to speculate that a large development will require mitigating actions in a larger number of existing houses than a smaller development. It is recommended that the Outline Study examines the urban structure of the region to identify if there is a suitable ‘neutrality’ study area, and whether this should be a specific location or across a wider area.

Based on the approach used in the Thames Gateway, this would include a forecast demand under three scenarios; business as usual, in which demand is likely to change without any interventions to manage it beyond existing policy, behavioural or technological drivers, an upper savings scenario, assuming the most optimistic uptake of current and expected policy tools and a lower savings scenario, assuming the least optimistic uptake of such tools.

The analysis would assume that new homes are built to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes level 3/4 for water consumption and levels 5/6 beyond 2016. Based on knowledge of the existing urban structure a series of model runs would be carried out to determine how much of a reduction in demand in existing properties would be needed to deliver neutrality. The results would be analysed to identify the optimum solution, i.e. achievable reductions in demand within an appropriate number of properties. Absolute water neutrality may not be feasible, or may not be achieved immediately. The results of this analysis would indicate what could be achieved, and what measures would be required. It is most likely that incremental steps will be needed to move existing properties from the business as usual scenario to the level required for water neutrality (or the nearest level). In this situation it is important to specify the timescale within which water neutrality, or other acceptable level of demand, is to be achieved.

In taking forward the concept of water neutrality, the concerns of developers and householders need to be addressed with regard to the costs of fittings as well as uncertainty regarding the behaviour of domestic water users in the future. Achieving water neutrality is dependent on a strong partnering, twin-track approach and retro fitting, behavioural change and ensuring planned development achieves high levels of water efficiency in the near term, i.e. before 2016. Developing a strategy to address these issues will be an important part of the further phases of the Water Cycle Study.

4.7 Interactions with Neighbouring Areas

Anglian Water manages water resources at a larger geographical scale (Water Resource Zones) than the study area (Figure 4.1). Competing demands for water related to development at this scale are assessed in their Water Resources Management Plans. For example, growth in Peterborough, Northampton, King’s Lynn and Dereham

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Creating the environment for business will affect the supply headroom and the availability of water in the study area. Consequently, there is a need to consider the outputs from neighbouring water cycle studies within Water Resource Zone areas although the studies have not progressed to the point where this is possible at this stage.

Although there are no public water supply abstractions directly downstream of the study area, the Ely Ouse Transfer Scheme transfers water from the Cut Off Channel to the River Stour to augment water resources at Essex and Suffolk Water surface water intakes. The Cut Off Channel is, in turn, fed by the Ely Ouse at Denver.

4.8 Key Issues

The following issues require further consideration in the next phase of the water cycle.

1) The study area has been identified as under serious water stress. Consequently, the availability of additional water resources is limited.

2) Water supply deficits are forecast in all three zones supplying the study area. This means that additional options are required to secure water supplies in the long term. Anglian Water has developed a range of demand management and resource development options to make up this shortfall.

3) The impact of climate changes and reductions in output that may result from the Restoring Sustainable Abstractions programme may place further stress on the availability of water resources in the future.

4) Bearing in mind the limited availability of water resources, developing policy for water demand management and achieving water neutrality should be key objectives for the future stages of the Water Cycle Study.

5) Currently, transfer of water from outside the study area provides a substantial proportion of water supply which has a high energy cost. Assessment of the potential to use more local sources of water should form part of future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

6) The assessment of the supply demand balance in this report is based on the Water Supply Zones that form the basis of Anglian Water’s Water Resource Management Plan. Further assessment of local supply demand balance issues and integration of this with housing growth outside the study area is required to determine requirements for improved water infrastructure.

7) The impacts on demand management on the supply demand balance require further investigation, taking into account the demand from existing housing. A range of scenarios should be considered based on options for demand management. The development of policy options and guidance aimed at implementing water demand management should also be considered.

8) There is a high demand for water to meet the statutory requirement to maintain navigation levels within the Middle Level Commissioners’ systems and it is important that public water supply is balanced against these requirements; for example the supply of water from the River Nene to the Middle Levels. These

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Creating the environment for business issues should be assessed, taking into account changes in upstream demand for water beyond the study area.

9) Further consideration of ongoing investigations on abstractions impacts on habitats and climate change is required (e.g. Habitats Directive and RSA programmes).

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Creating the environment for business 5. Water Quality and Wastewater

This section considers the capacity of the water environment to receive wastewater discharges, without detrimental effects on water quality or non compliance with environmental standards, and examines the potential capacity of the existing wastewater infrastructure to collect and treat wastewater in areas of proposed housing growth. Anglian Water Services (AWS) is the service provider for wastewater in the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts.

There are 40 WwTWs serving the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts (Figure 5.1 and Appendix C). One WwTW also serves areas outside the study area: Wisbech (West Walton) WwTW serves areas of King’s Lynn Borough, while the Newmarket and Teversham WwTWs which are sited outside East Cambridgeshire District serve areas within its boundary. Figure 5.2 shows the population served (Population Equivalent or PE) by WwTWs within the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts, and the estimated PE increases due to planned housing growth (available information on housing only defines broad locations so the estimated increases in population are preliminary at this stage). The wastewater treatment works listed in Table 5.1 below, along with the receiving water, are the main focus of this assessment because they are expected to receive most of the additional wastewater from the proposed developments. Within rural areas, private treatment works serving small estates and septic tanks/cess pools are also important in treating wastewater.

Table 5.1 Wastewater Treatment Works

Wastewater Treatment Works Receiving Water Nature of Receiving Water

Ely (New) WwTW Ely Ouse Large lowland river

Ely WwTW Ely Ouse Large lowland river

Soham WwTW Soham Lode Small lowland river

Littleport WwTW Mare Fen Drain IDB drain

Chatteris WwTW Nightlayers Fen Internal Drain IDB drain

Haddenham WwTW Aldreth Canal IDB drain

Doddington WwTW Ransonmoor Drain IDB drain

March WwTW Twenty Foot River IDB drain

Wisbech WwTW Tidal River Nene Tidal river

Whittlesey WwTW Whittlesey Dyke IDB drain

Burwell WwTW Catchwater Drain - Burwell Lode Catchwater drain

Bottisham WwTW Confluence Swaffham/Bulbeck Lode IDB drain

Witcham WwTW Witcham Catchwater, River Ouse Catchwater drain

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Figure 5.1 East Cambridgeshire and Fenland WwTWs

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Creating the environment for business

Figure 5.2 Population Equivalent by WwTW in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts

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5.1 Environmental Capacity

5.1.1 Watercourses

The receiving waters in the study area, described in Section 2.2, range from the major rivers with large upstream catchments such as the River Nene, River Ouse, River Cam and Hundred Foot River to smaller rivers mainly located within the study area. The major rivers with large upstream catchments provide a high level of dilution whereas smaller rivers provide less dilution and are, therefore, more heavily affected by local sources of pollution. The major rivers may be strongly affected by activities outside the study area (e.g. housing growth in Cambridge, Northampton and Peterborough). Several wastewater treatment works discharge into the extensive network of IDB drains with connections to either the inland or tidal rivers. Flow in the IDB drains is generally slow and influenced by pumping to higher level rivers during the winter and inputs of irrigation water during the summers via locks and slackers. Wastewater discharges into these drains are therefore subject to low levels of dilution, particularly during the summer, and impacts are complicated by changing directions of flow in the drains. The rivers in the study area all drain to The Wash and, therefore, have the potential to indirectly affect water quality in this protected/sensitive area and the adjacent West Norfolk and Lincolnshire coastlines.

5.1.2 Water Quality of Watercourses

The Draft River Basin Management Plan characterises the status of the rivers, transitional waters and groundwater in relation to meeting Water Framework Directive objectives (i.e. achieving good ecological status and the factors that contribute to this). The rivers in the study area have moderate ecological potential and either good chemical status or not requiring assessment. The exception to this are the non tidal reaches of the River Nene in the north which have been classified as failing to achieve good chemical status.

The geology beneath the northern half of the study area has been classified as unproductive strata (groundwater) and the EA has just one groundwater quality monitoring point approximately 7 km south west of Whittlesey. The southern tip of the study area, around Newmarket, lies above productive strata and in this area there are several groundwater level and quality monitoring points. The narrow band of groundwater beneath Ely and Littleport has good chemical status. However, the status of a larger groundwater body that extends beneath the Newmarket area is classified as poor. Similarly, the quantitative status of the narrow band is good, whilst the larger area is poor.

Nitrate levels are rising in the groundwater in this area. Anglian Water has taken account of this issue in its draft WRMP because it has the potential to impact on public water supply. Nitrate rich water requires higher levels of treatment and/or blending before the water can be put in to supply.

The environmental capacity of watercourses in the study area to receive additional wastewater flows can be assessed by comparing current water quality with Water Framework Directive water quality targets. Where targets for Good Chemical Status are exceeded, pollution from wastewater and other sources will need to be reduced to

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Creating the environment for business achieve Good Ecological Status, the ultimate objective of the legislation. Consequently, there will be no capacity to receive additional flows unless the quality of the wastewater effluent is improved.

Information to compare historical water quality in the study area with Water Framework Directive standards is not readily available. However, the Environment Agency has been monitoring the health of all receiving waters through the General Quality Assessment (GQA) Scheme for many years which can be used as a guide to current environmental capacity. The GQA classification provides a snapshot of receiving water quality based on the following aspects:

• Chemistry - water chemistry based on the following key determinands: Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Ammonia.

• Nitrate.

• Phosphours.

• Biology - based on the biodiversity of organisms living in the river and on the river bed.

• Chemistry and Biology are measured based on categories A-F, which represent ‘Very Good’ to ‘Bad’ water quality. Nitrate and Phosphorus categories are based on levels within the water, ranging from 1- 6, that represent ‘very low’ to ‘very high’ nutrient levels respectively. The 2007 dataset provides the latest readily available snapshot of river water quality and is used in this scoping assessment.

Table 5.2 compares the river water quality, based on 2007 GQA data, upstream and downstream of some of the key WwTWs within the study area. Broadly, the GQA grades can be used to indicate the likelihood of meeting Water Framework Directive targets.

1) A GQA grade for phosphorus of 4 or above indicates that the average phosphorus concentrations is greater than 0.1mg/l which compares to the WFD target of 0.12 mg/l. This is exceeded in most of the watercourses, particularly, downstream of the wastewater treatment works indicating that there is little capacity to receive additional wastewater flow.

2) The QGA chemistry grade is a combined assessment of Ammonia, BOD and Dissolved Oxygen. A grade of C or worse indicates that the watercourse is likely to exceed one of the WFD targets for these parameters.

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Table 5.2 River Water Quality Upstream and Downstream of Key WwTWs (based on information available in ‘In My Backyard’ on the Environment Agency’s website).

WwTW Receiving Water Upstream Downstream Chem Biol Ph Nit Chem Biol Ph Nit No EA sampling points upstream Ely (New) Ely Ouse River D 6 6 on river

Ely River Great Ouse NT B B 6 6 D 6 6

Catchwater Drain - Burwell No EA sampling points on Drain C 5 6 Burwell Lode Soham Soham Lode C B 5 6 E 5 6 March Twenty Foot River D A 3 4 D A 3 4

Whittlesey Whittlesey Dyke C A 5 4 C C 4 5

Ch - Chemistry classification Biol - Biology Nit - Nitrate Ph – Phosphate

This initial assessment indicates that improvements to water quality are required in many of the watercourses in the study area to achieve Water Framework Directive objectives. Further assessment is therefore required on the impacts of the wastewater treatment works on these receiving waters. This needs to take into account the slow flowing nature of many of the watercourses in the study area11.

The Water Framework Directive has a no deterioration policy. As a minimum requirement, where proposed growth is likely to cause a breach in the current consent conditions, the Environment Agency will require an overall standstill in the load to prevent deterioration in the receiving water quality. Where proposed growth involves an increase in flow, the Environment Agency will expect an assessment of the impact on the ability to achieve the WFD aim of achieving Good Ecological Status or the no deterioration policy in the Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study.

5.2 Protected Areas

Several of the protected areas (SPA, SAC, SSSI, Ramsar) described in Section 2 have water quality issues. The Ouse Washes and Nene Washes have been identified as affected by nutrients associated with upstream sewage treatment works, although these are mainly beyond the study area. However, within the study area there may be connectivity between Littleport WwTW and the Ouse Washes during the winter when water is pumped from the IDB drains to the Hundred Foot River from which water, in turn, is released to the Ouse Washes via a series of

11 For example, the Environment Agency has commented that there are major water quality problems with Ammonia and Dissolved Oxygen in Nightlayers Fen Drain downstream of Chatteris.

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Creating the environment for business slackers. Generally these transfers occur at different times of the year (pumping in the winter and release of water through the slackers in the summer) so connectivity is likely to be limited.

The Appendix 21 document for Wicken Fen indicates that Burwell WwTW discharges into Burwell Lode and Reach and Swaffham Prior WwTW discharge into Reach Lode, both of which are connected to Wicken Fen but it is concluded that these three consents do not have an adverse effect on the European features of Wicken Fen. However, in the absence of monitoring information the emergency overflow at Wicken Fen pumping station could not be shown to have no adverse impact on the site which therefore required further assessment. The Appendix 21 document for Chippenham Fen concluded that no wastewater treatment works have an adverse effect on the site because of the absence of connectivity.

Ely WwTW is located to the south-west (upstream) of the Ely Pits and Meadows SSSI so may affect the site if there is connectivity the Ely Ouse.

5.3 Planned Schemes

Table B1 in Appendix B, indicates key actions identified in the recently published draft River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) for the Anglian region which are mainly aimed at reducing phosphorus emissions. These are required for nutrients for Manea, Ramsey, Chatteris, Mepal, Somersham, Witchford, Wilburton, Littleport and Witcham sewage works for the Habitats Directive. Improvements are also required for nutrients at Burwell, Soham, Swaffham Prior, and Reach sewage works for the Water Framework Directive. An improvement for organic pollution at March sewage works for the Freshwater Fisheries Directive. Funding for these schemes is currently being determined by OFWAT and a decision on whether they will be taken forward will be made by the end of 2009.

5.4 Wastewater Infrastructure Capacity

5.4.1 Wastewater Treatment Works Consents

The Environment Agency regulates the quality of effluent discharges to help protect water quality, the environment and human health. This is done through issuing discharge consents which prescribe the flow rates and water quality standards that must be achieved at the point of effluent discharge. Full details of the consents for wastewater treatment works in the study area are provided in Appendix C.

5.4.2 Flow Consents and Capacity for Additional Wastewater Flows

Effluent discharge flow consents are set to a certain design horizon and as a result there is commonly a population and flow headroom allowance available in the effluent consent. As the population increases this headroom is

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Creating the environment for business eroded and the risk of non-compliance, and thus risk of failure to meet the water quality objectives in the receiving water, increases.

A fundamental factor describing capacity is a treatment works’ ‘Dry Weather Flow’ (DWF), which is a measure of the incoming flow to a WwTW derived from human activity (both domestic and trade), but excluding any storm- induced flows. ‘Formula A’, is commonly used to describe the flow passed forward for full treatment (i.e. not spilling from the sewer network via Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) following heavy rainfall).

The following data and assumptions were used to enable calculation of the increase in DWF that may result from the proposed growth.

• A household occupancy rate of 2.1 as advised by AWS (this is understood to be an average figure between currently higher rates forecast decreasing rates to 2031);

• A wastewater consumption rate (per capita consumption or pcc rate) of 144 l/day per person, as advised by Anglian Water, representative of the whole area throughout the calculation period;

• A fixed value of 1.25 to allow for infiltration rate of 25% of consumption has been assumed to remain constant and representative in all WwTW catchments;

• 100% of the water supply is returned to sewer;

• No allowance has been made for changes in holiday populations or trade effluent contributions (i.e. no growth in holiday populations and trade effluent has been assumed); and

• No allowance has been made for increases in non-household (i.e. business and similar) water usage;

The existing capacity of the wastewater treatment works to receive additional flows is provided by comparing the current observed DWF with the consented value. Table 5.3 presents the current consent conditions and populations served by all WwTWs in the study area. Five of the WwTWs in the study area (Whittlesey, Bottisham, Burwell, Witcham and Littleport WwTWs) currently exceed their consented DWF values, which indicates that they would not be able to accommodate any additional housing growth. Only Chatteris, Ely, Marsh, Soham and West Walton WwTWs are able to accommodate the proposed growth under current consents conditions.

Anglian Water is/will be negotiating higher DWF consents with the Environment Agency for a number of WwTWs in the area, in response to changes in the system of measuring DWF, which are also shown in Table 5.3. These, however, are subject to further assessment before approval and may require a tightening of the effluent quality standards to protect the receiving waters and meet ‘no deterioration’ policy. Likewise, additional changes to the consented flow to meet the requirements of the proposed growth would require assessment of the impact on the receiving water. Table 5.3 indicates capacity issues at Littleport sewage works where planned growth exceeds spare capacity even under the proposed consent.

At Ely, the capacity to incorporate additional growth depends on the division of flow between Ely Old and Ely New works. Anglian Water is currently reviewing the separation of flow between these treatments works and the handling of storm flows. Consideration is also being given to connecting some of the flow from smaller works in the area to Ely which would add extra flow.

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Creating the environment for business It must be noted that the housing figures given for Wisbech (West Walton) WwTW are for the Fenland district only, and do not account for any housing growth that is within the part of the WwTW catchment located within King’s Lynn and West Norfolk area. Projected growth in the King’s Lynn area, within the Wisbech WwTW catchment area, is over 500 new homes. This would give a grand total of over 1,576 new homes that Wisbech (West Walton) WwTW would need to accommodate.

It is also important to note that the housing figures quoted above and below in Table 5.3, for East Cambridgeshire are based on projected completions for 2006 to 2025, while the Fenland housing figures are based on 2009 to 2014 estimates only. This implies that for Fenland WwTWs there could be greater numbers of planned new homes to accommodate by 2025, as indicated by an additional 4,494 homes (Section 4) projected across the Fenland district between 2015 and 2024.

Table 5.3 Dry weather flow capacity for key WwTW within the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts

Extra possible housing No. DWF (m3/d) DWF Headroom (m3/d) capacity (No.) Planned new homes Site Name (Section 4)

Proposed Proposed Proposed Measured consented consented Consent Consented Consent Consented

BOTTISHAM WwTW 850 1,046 820 196 -30 519 281* WITCHAM WwTW 944 1,328 819 384 -125 1,015 330* BURWELL WwTW 777 1,373 690 596 -87 1,577 309* LITTLEPORT WwTW 1,900 2,314 1,300 415 -600 1,097 1,330* CHATTERIS- NIGHTLAYER FEN WwTW 2,242 N/A 3,800 1,558 1,421 309** SOHAM WwTW 715 2,894 2,500 2,179 1,785 5,765 4,721 1,271* HADDENHAM WwTW 484 749 630 265 146 701 386 77

DODDINGTON WwTW 490 640 616 150 126 396 334 61**

ELY (New) WwTW 1,148 N/A 1,604 456 1,207 1,708* ELY WwTW 2,315 4,350 2,035 5,383 WHITTLESEY WwTW 3,113 3,487 2,885 374 -228 990 211** MARCH WwTW 2,230 4,743 5,148 2,513 2,919 6,649 7,721 656** WISBECH/WEST WALTON WwTW 10,329 14,894 14,421 4,565 4,092 12,075 10,824 1,576 * 2006 - 2025 ** 2009 - 2014 only

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Creating the environment for business Water demand management as discussed in Section 4.4 would reduce the increases in flow to the sewage works and therefore reduce capacity issues. However, lower flow rates would change the quality of the raw sewage which may cause problems. These include increased sediment deposition in the flatter sewer sections, and hence a worsening of the first-flush effect of pollutants and sediment when CSOs spill and higher strength wastewater (i.e. higher BOD, ammonia and solids concentrations) which in turn may cause problems for the treatment processes at the works which will have to cope with more bio-solids.

5.5 Flood Risk and Drainage

Increases in wastewater flows have the potential to increase flood risk in the receiving watercourses. It may also result in additional drainage costs, particularly where pumping is required to transfer the water to higher level rivers (e.g. via Internal Drainage Board pumps). Any increase in discharge the Internal Drainage Board pumps requires consent from these organisations and may not be consented. These issues need to be assessed in more detail in future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

5.6 Sewer Network Capacity

Headroom in the sewerage network can be defined as the capacity to accommodate additional wastewater flow without leading to an increase in storm overflows or sewer flooding. As the connected population increases, there is generally an increase in the amount of raw wastewater although as described above this can be offset by the application of water efficiency measures in the new housing stock.

The performance and behaviour of CSOs is important when considering growth in a sewerage catchment, as these are the release points for wastewater in excess of sewer capacity. CSO discharges should occur under extreme wet weather only and are subject to EA consents and monitored by both the EA and water companies. Anglian Water indicated that there are storm overflow issues in some of the growth centres and further investigations will be required in later stages of the Water Cycle Study. Anglian Water have developed sewer network models (INFOWORKS) for some but not all of the centres for growth. There are no models for Soham, Chatteris and the model for Ely is relatively old so will require updating.

The possibility of climate change effects on CSOs leading to more frequent CSO spillages, as more extreme events occur, should be considered in the detailed Water Cycle Study, together with the impact on receiving waters, which may be exacerbated due to lower river flows in the summer as a result of climate change.

5.7 Key Issues

1) Water quality in many of the watercourses in the study area currently fails to meet Water Framework Directive targets. Any increases in wastewater flows, associated with the proposed growth therefore

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Creating the environment for business requires further investigations which should form part of further phases of the Water Cycle Study. This should also take into account impacts of water demand management on wastewater flows.

2) In addition to the environmental capacity of the receiving waters, there are hydraulic capacity issues at Littleport and Ely which may requirement upgrades to the capacity of the works.

3) Increases in wastewater flows also have the potential to impact on flood risk and drainage in receiving waters which requires further assessment.

4) The following wastewater treatment works have the potential to impact on protected habitats and therefore require further investigation: Littleport (Ouse Washes), Burwell, Reach, Swaffham Prior (Wicken Fen), Ely (Ely Pits and Meadows). Potential impacts of wastewater treatment works on the County Wildlife Sites also require investigation.

5) Development will erode spare capacity in the sewerage system which can eventually lead to problems such as localised sewer flooding, more frequent CSO operation, undersized pumping stations or WwTW inlet works and insufficient storm tank capacity. This significance of these issues requires further assessment and requirements for detailed sewer network modelling need to be scoped. Additional sludge management requirements also need to be considered.

6) Consideration of the wider sustainability issues (e.g. carbon emissions of infrastructure options) relating to introduction of new wastewater infrastructure, such as pumping stations or advanced/additional treatment technologies, is required.

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Creating the environment for business 6. Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Scoping

6.1 Policy and Guidance

SFRAs are an important planning tool to ensure Councils make informed decisions during the LDF process. SFRAs are used by Councils to refine information on the areas that may flood, taking into account all sources of flooding and the impacts of climate change, in addition to the information provided on the Environment Agency’s flood map. The SFRA then forms the basis from which to apply the Sequential Test and Exception Test in the development allocation and development control process. Scientifically robust SFRAs will streamline the planning process by reducing the likelihood of objections to planning applications on the basis of flood risk.

PPS25 and its accompanying Practice Guide Companion recommend a two-stage approach to preparing a SFRA as described below.

The Level-1 SFRA should be sufficiently detailed to allow application of the Sequential Test (Annex D, Table D.1 of PPS25) and to identify whether development can be allocated outside high and medium flood risk areas, based on all sources of flooding, or whether application of the Exception Test is necessary. The Level-1 SFRA should principally be a desk-based study making use of existing information. The key outputs are shown in Table 6.1 below:

Table 6.1 Outcomes of a Level-1 SFRA

Outcome Description ID

1 Plans showing LPA area, Main Rivers, ordinary watercourse and flood zones (including functional floodplain) across the local authority area, as well as previously allocated development.

2 An assessment of the implications of climate change

3 Areas at risk from other sources

4 Flood risk management measures, including location and standard of infrastructure and the coverage of flood warning systems

5 Locations where additional development may significantly increase flood risk elsewhere through the impact on existing sources of flooding, or by the generation of increased surface water run-off

6 Guidance on the preparation of FRAs for allocated development sites

7 Guidance on the likely applicability of SuDS techniques for managing surface water run-off at key development sites

8 Scope the need for a Surface Water Management Plan

9 Scope the requirements of a Level -2 SFRA (if required)

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Creating the environment for business The principle purpose of the Level-2 SFRA is to facilitate application of the Sequential and Exception Tests. The Level-2 SFRA is a more detailed study which should consider the detailed nature of the flood hazard (including flooding probability, flood depth, flood velocity and rate of onset of flooding), taking account of the presence of flood risk management measures. The detailed study should provide information on the location, standard and condition of any flood defences as well as undertake breach and overtopping assessments of these defences.

6.2 Data Compilation

At the scoping stage of the SFRA process, data was requested from a number of sources, as detailed in Table 6.2.

Table 6.2 Data Request and Status

Data Description Requested From Status

Records of historical flood incidents Anglian Water Services (AWS), GIS layer received from AWS (including sewer flooding/capacity issues, highway flooding) Environment Agency (EA),

Internal Drainage Boards (IDB)

District Councils

Watercourses and rivers (mapping) EA, IDB Received Environment Agency and Internal Drainage Boards

Relevant Reports: East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Councils, Received: EA Catchment Flood Management Plan Great Ouse Catchment Flood Management Plan , Environment Agency, September Strategic Flood Risk Assessments 2008

Fenland District Council Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Final Report, Bullen Consultants, March 2005

Fenland District Council Wisbech Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Final Report, JBA, February 2009

Flood mapping and modelling outputs East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Councils, Not yet received (coastal/fluvial areas, flood risk maps), EA, County Council12 details of maps where available

Geological mapping layers (drift and solid EA Received geology)

Details of IDB areas, assets and IDB Not yet received management plans

Location of key flood defences and drainage EA, IDB Not yet received assets

12 The draft Floods and Water Bill gives the County Council is likely to give some responsibility for flood mapping.

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Data Description Requested From Status

Other Not requested, obtained from internet Obtained:

Environment Agency web based flood maps and source protection zoning

6.3 Data Review

The supplied data was reviewed to determine its relevance to the SFRA process and to identify any data gaps. Table 6.3 below provides a brief summary of the data required to achieve each of the nine objectives and the status of existing information, discussed further in the following sections. Appendix E also provides summaries of the three SFRAs and the Catchment Flood Management Plan reviewed during this stage of work.

Fenland District has significant areas identified as being at risk of fluvial and/or tidal flooding. The great majority of Fenland District is at risk of flooding with only the towns of Wisbech, Chatteris, March and Whittlesey located on ‘islands’ of high ground above the floodplain. The predominant flood source is fluvial from the Great Ouse/ Bedford River systems, the Middle Level arterial drainage network and the North Level arterial drainage system. There is also a tidal risk associated with a narrow corridor of land along the River Nene. The district is mostly pumped drained, and is reliant on flood defences to minimise flood risk to the existing development. Due to the historical drainage of the area, a unique situation exists whereby the land in the overbank areas is lower than that of the channels, creating a significant residual risk if defences were to be breached or overtopped.

East Cambridgeshire District is similarly an area with a significant risk of flooding, predominant fluvial but also tidal is some areas. The watercourses and drainage systems are substantially embanked and the reliance on flood defences to minimise risk to existing development has created a substantial residual risk of flooding although the settlements of Ely, Littleport, Little Downham, Witchford, Stretham, Haddenham and Sutton are located on ‘islands’ of high ground.

The underlying soils and geology of the two districts, as well as the relatively flat topography suggests that localised flooding could be prevalent. However, the current system works effectively to ensure there is limited localised flooding.

As discussed in Appendix E, there is a considerable amount of existing data surrounding the fluvial and tidal risks to the districts. Overall however, flood risk from other sources, such as surface run-off, groundwater and artificial sources, is less understood and would need to be addressed in the Level-1 SFRA.

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Table 6.3 Summary Review of Data to Meeting Level-1 SFRA Outcomes

Outcome Brief Description Review Comments ID

1 Plans Partially covered, requires work and Most plans were available in existing may require update data with the exception of mapping the ordinary courses and functional floodplain.

2 An assessment of the implications of Partially covered, requires update Climate change was addressed to climate change varying degrees, however would need to be considered across the two districts, using latest estimates

3 Areas at risk from other sources Partially covered, requires work Only fluvial and tidal flooding were considered for the entirety of the two districts, other sources only addressed in Wisbech study area, would need to be considered

4 Flood risk management measures Covered, may require update Flood defence location and condition available for both districts, though may require update if information has changed since publication

5 Locations where additional Partially covered, requires work Only addressed in Wisbech SFRA, development may significantly would need to be considered for all increase flood risk elsewhere development locations in both districts

6 Guidance on the preparation of FRAs Partially covered, requires work Only addressed in Wisbech SFRA, would need to be considered for all development locations in both districts

7 Guidance on the likely applicability of Partially covered, requires work Only addressed in Wisbech SFRA, SuDS techniques would need to be considered for all development locations in both districts using information provided in Chapter 3 of this report.

8 Scope the need for a Surface Water Not covered Management Plan

9 Scope the requirements of a Level -2 Not covered SFRA (if required)

6.3.1 Objective 1: Mapping

Table 6.4 below lists each of the maps specified in PPS25 as being required in a Level-1 SFRA and whether they are already available. The mapping outputs of the SFRAs were available for the Wisbech and Fenland SFRAs, and the East Cambridgeshire SFRA. This review has checked the inclusion of the maps in the SFRA reports. The accuracy or adequacy of the maps has not been confirmed and this will need to be checked as part of the Level-1 SFRA.

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Table 6.4 Required Plans and Current Availability

East Cambridgeshire Fenland SFRA Wisbech SFRA13 Required Plans SFRA

LPA area √ √ √

Main rivers √ √ – not named as such but √ watercourses shown

Ordinary watercourse √ – not named as such but watercourses shown

Flood zones (including functional floodplain) √ – not functional floodplain √ – not functional floodplain √

Allocated development √ √ √

The most noticeable gap for the study area was mapping of the ordinary watercourses, and the delineation and mapping of the functional floodplain, which would need to be addressed in the Level-1 SFRA.

6.3.2 Objective 2: Assessment of Climate Change

Consideration of the effects of climate change was undertaken in all three SFRAs to varying degrees.

East Cambridgeshire SFRA described that climate change was not previously considered in the design of IDB managed pumps, which are key component of the flood defences for the district, and thus future flood protection is less than current levels. However, this was a qualitative review only, and the effects of climate change on sea level rise, rainfall and flood protection were not quantified. The Fenland SFRA considered the qualitative effects of climate change on sea level rise and increase in rainfall for the River Nene, Bedford River/Great Ouse, Middle level drainage and North level drainage systems, but no modelling was undertaken to quantify (or verify) these impacts. A quantitative assessment of climate change was undertaken in the Wisbech SFRA, and mapped outputs were provided.

All three climate change assessments were undertaken using information which will soon be superseded by the UKCP09 estimates, which was released in mid June 2009 and as such should be re-examined in the Level-1 SFRA. Further information on climate change is provided in Section 9.

13 The Middle Level Commissioners commented that the SFRA for Wisbech was a Level 2 Assessment. However, it should be noted that it refers purely to a breach/overtopping of the Agencys River Nene. It does not refer to all sources of flooding and the Hundred of Wisbech IDB were not involved in its production and, therefore, may require further information in processing future planning applications.

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6.3.3 Objective 3: Areas at Risk from Other Sources of Flooding

The Environment Agency flood maps consider fluvial and tidal sources of flooding, and therefore all three SFRAs addressed the risk presented to the study area from these sources. However, flooding may be a result of other sources namely surface water run-off, sewers/drainage infrastructure, groundwater and artificial sources (such as reservoirs).

The East Cambridgeshire SFRA only considered tidal and fluvial flood sources. The Fenland SFRA gave some consideration to localised flooding (surface water run-off) although considered it insignificant when compared to the effects of tidal breaching. The Wisbech SFRA gave consideration to all sources of flooding.

The Level-1 SFRA would need to undertake an assessment of potential flood risk from all sources in the study area, building on the fluvial and tidal assessments already undertaken.

6.3.4 Objective 4: Flood Risk Management Measures

Fenland and East Cambridgeshire districts are both heavily reliant on flood defences and internal drainage for flood risk management, which will need to be careful considered in the Level-1 SFRA. The presence of flood defences was discussed in all three SFRAs. However, the Wisbech SFRA did not describe the condition of these defences. The flood warning coverage was also identified in the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland SFRAs but not in the Wisbech SFRA.

The Level-1 SFRA should review the flood defence and flood warning information to ensure it is the most current available.14

6.3.5 Objective 5: Identification where Additional Development will Adversely Affect Flood Risk

The effects of development on downstream areas was discussed in detail in the Wisbech SFRA and also addressed in the Fenland SFRA, however was not considered in the East Cambridgeshire SFRA. The Level-1 SFRA should therefore build on the existing information, covering the entire study area and ensuring the latest housing allocation information is used in the assessment.

14 The Middle Level Commissioners have commented that the contents of the Wisbech SFRA are not considered to meet the requirements stipulated by PPS 25 and may be subject to future challenge.

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6.3.6 Objective 6: FRA Guidance

Details of the Flood Risk Assessment requirements for the identified development areas, were undertaken in detail in the Wisbech SFRA, but were not addressed in the Fenland or East Cambridgeshire SFRAs. The Level-1 SFRA should therefore ensure this guidance is provided across the entire study area for the identified development areas.

6.3.7 Objective 7: Guidance on Applicability of SuDS

An assessment on the applicability of SuDS across the study area was only considered in the Wisbech SFRA and therefore would need to be addressed in the Level-1 SFRA. Chapter 8 of this report provides a strategic level assessment of the SuDS potential in the study area, which should be used in the Level-1 SFRA. However, if more detailed housing allocation data becomes available, this should be updated and refined in the Level-1 SFRA accordingly.

6.3.8 Objective 8: Scope for Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP)

Recently published Defra guidelines “Surface Water Management Plan Technical Guidance” (February 2009) highlights that the need for the preparation of a SWMP should be scoped in a SFRA. None of the existing SFRAs considered this, and therefore this scoping exercise for the study area would need to be addressed in the Level-1 SFRA.

6.3.9 Objective 9: Scope for Level-2 SFRA

The more detailed Level-2 SFRA is undertaken to facilitate the application of the Sequential and Exception Tests and the need for this study would need to be scoped across the Study Area as part of the Level-1 SFRA. The Wisbech SFRA was prepared to constitute a Level-2 SFRA which incorporates a Level-1 SFRA and this should be considered in the scoping exercise.

6.3.10 Available Models

A request for any available models was made as part of the data collection stage of this study but none were provided. Using the information in the SFRAs it was found that some additional modelling was undertaken in preparing these studies, which could be used in the Level-1 SFRA.

The Fenland SFRA did not undertake any modelling as part of the assessment, only using the Environment Agency maps as the basis of the study.

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Creating the environment for business The East Cambridgeshire SFRA remodelled the Environment Agency Flood Zone 3 where the breaching of the main rivers was considered the principal source of flood risk mechanism. This was done using Mike-11 1D software and HYDROF2 2D software for the identified areas.

The Wisbech SFRA made use of an Environment Agency supplied ISIS model of the River Nene to undertake an assessment of the residual risk in the study area. The Middle Level Commissioner’s strategic model has recently been used for the Huntingdon SFRA and could be made available for future Fenland SFRAs if required (along with other IDB models).

These modelling outputs should be reviewed and incorporated in the Level-1 SFRA as appropriate.

6.4 Scope for Level-1 SFRA

The preparation of a PPS25 compliant Level-1 SFRA for the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland area would draw upon existing information wherever possible. Based on the required outcomes identified in PPS25 and the review undertaken for this scoping study, the following scope of work has been identified:

• Undertake a detailed review of existing SFRAs and CFMP.

• Update mapping data to include most recent information available (Outcome 1).

• Produce plans of ordinary watercourses in the study area (Outcome 1).15

• Define and map functional floodplain across the study area (Outcome 1).

• Undertake a quantitative assessment of the effects of climate change (using UKCP09 outputs) on flood risk, including a consideration of sea level rise, increase in rainfall and the effects on the standard of protection provided by flood defences (Outcome 2).

• Update information on:

- Update of historical flood event data (Outcome 3),

- Update of condition/presence of flood defences. (Outcome 4),

- Update information on any flood warning schemes (Outcome 4),

- Advice should also be included on how to use the Assessment with reference to ’windfall sites’ (Outcome 4)

• Consideration of all sources of flooding including fluvial, tidal, groundwater, surface water, sewers and artificial sources across the study area(Outcome 3).

15 Under the Land Drainage Act this means a watercourse that does not form part of the main river

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Creating the environment for business • Build on existing information on the likelihood for development to increase flood risk elsewhere to encompass all development areas in the study area (Outcome 5)

• Scope for the preparation of a Surface Water Management Plan (Outcome 5).

• Build on existing FRA advice to encompass all development areas in the study area (Outcome 6)

• Consideration of SuDS potential (principally using the information provided in Chapter 3 of this report) including mapping of Source Protection Zones (Outcome 7).

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Creating the environment for business 7. Consideration of Flood Risk and Drainage in the Water Cycle Study

7.1 Introduction

The National guidance for undertaking Water Cycle Studies, identifies that an Outline (Outline) WCS should achieve the objectives listed in Table 7.1 with respect to flood risk and drainage.

Table 7.1 Objectives of a Outline WCS

Objective Description ID

1 Help direct development away from areas of high flood or coastal erosion risk.

2 Help decide if you need a SWMP to provide a strategic approach to surface water drainage, groundwater flooding, and flood risk management.

3 Demonstrate that ‘in principle’ the LDF Core Strategy policies are compliant with PPS25.

4 Identify the need and opportunities for options that produce multiple benefits. For example, restoring a river and floodplain upstream of a town or city will improve the ecological quality of the receiving water, provide amenities and open space, as well as reducing existing flood risk.

5 Ensure that climate change impacts on flood risk and sea level risk are taken into account in spatial planning.

6 Provide high level policies and advice for developers if necessary.

7.2 Data Compilation and Review

An Outline WCS draws extensively on information presented in the SFRA, if available. As the Level-1 SFRA for the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Districts is intended to be produced concurrently with the Phase-1 WCS it is important that work is not duplicated, but rather the two processes compliment each other. As such, it is foreseen that the SFRA will provide the evidence base with which the WCS assessment will be undertaken. Therefore, data compiled as part of the SFRA scoping exercise was also reviewed for the application to undertake an Outline WCS. Assumed outputs of the Level-1 SFRA were also considered in the data review as these would be used in the preparation of the Outline WCS.

The following table details the information that would be used to achieve the objectives identified in Table 7.1.

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Table 7.2 Review of existing data and application in a Outline WCS

Objective Data Source Available and Fit for Purpose ID

1 SFRA mapping outputs Will be available from the Level-1 SFRA and fit for purpose.

Development areas Only broad locations defined, would need to refined (refer Chapter 3 this report).

2 SFRA output Will be available from the Level-1 SFRA and fit for purpose.

3 LDF Core Strategy policies Available and fit for purpose.

4 SFRA mapping outputs Will be available from the Level-1 SFRA and fit for purpose.

Development areas Only broad locations defined and would need to refined (refer Chapter 3 this report).

Outputs of WCS work for other technical areas (e.g. water Will be available from Phase-1 WCS and fit for purpose. quality, ecology, etc).

SuDS potential information (Chapter 3 this report) Available and fit for purpose.

5 SFRA climate change scenario maps. Will be available from the Level-1 SFRA and fit for purpose.

6 Outcome of the WCS

7.3 Key Issues

To avoid duplication of work, the following Scope of Works has been identified for the Outline Water Cycle Study:

• Assessment of flood risk to development allocation sites and identify appropriate land uses in accordance with Annex D of PPS25 (Objective 1)

• Draw on findings of SWMP scoping exercise undertaken in the Level-1 SFRA (Objective 2)

• Review existing LDF Core Strategy policies relevant to flood risk and drainage, recommending any amendments or additions to ensure compliance with PPS25 (Objective 3)

• Review SuDS potential, flood mitigation needs, and needs identified in other WCS chapters (e.g. water quality) to identify opportunities for multiple-purpose solutions (Objective 4)

• Provide policy guidance for Council and developers on appropriate land use, flood management measures and SuDS potential (drawing on the Level-1 SFRA and other WCS outputs ) (Objective 6)

• Note: Objective 5 will inherently be met as the SFRA climate change scenarios would be used in the WCS process

Beyond this, it is also recommended that the Outline Water Cycle Study includes a strategic level Critical Infrastructure flood risk assessment, which considers current and future climate change scenarios. Sir Michael Pitt’s review of the summer 2007 floods highlighted the importance of ensuring that critical infrastructure remains operable in times of flooding and it is therefore recommended that the Water Cycle Study takes this into

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Creating the environment for business consideration. At the Outline stage of the Water Cycle Study it is anticipated that the assessment would be limited to the identification of critical water infrastructure assets which are at risk of flooding (taking into account all sources of flooding) under current, and climate change scenarios, drawing on the information provided in the Great Ouse Catchment and Nene Flood Management Plans.

The East Cambridgeshire District Council core strategy has now been through public examination. Any changes that are required to make it compliant with PPS25 will be need to be considered in the Outline and Detailed Phases of the Water Cycle Study.

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Creating the environment for business 8. Sustainable Drainage Systems

8.1 Introduction

As described in PPS25, the effect of development is generally to reduce the permeability of at least part of the site due to increased areas of hardstanding. This in turn changes the site’s response to rainfall and, without specific measures, the volume and rate of run-off are likely to increase, which can increase the risk of flooding for the development and surrounding areas.

The Government’s Water Strategies Making Space for Water (2005) and Future Water (2008), and the requirements of the Water Framework Directive require a more sustainable approach to managing surface water run-off than previously adopted. Appropriately designed, constructed and maintained SuDS are more sustainable than conventional drainage methods because they can mitigate many of the adverse effects of urban stormwater run-off on the environment. They achieve this through:

• Reducing run-off rates;

• Reducing run-off volumes;

• Delay and attenuate peak flows;

• Encouraging natural groundwater recharge;

• Reducing pollution concentrations in stormwater;

• Reducing the volume of surface water run-off discharging to combined sewer systems;

• Contributing to enhanced amenity and aesthetic value of developed areas; and

• Providing opportunities for habitat and biodiversity enhancement.

8.2 SuDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) Design

SuDS are designed to reduce the potential impact of new and existing development with respect to surface water drainage discharges by using more natural processes to convey surface water away from development. They do this by:

• Dealing with run-off close to where the rain falls;

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Creating the environment for business • Managing potential pollution at its source now and in the future;

• Protecting water resources from point source pollution (such as accidental spills) and diffuse sources16

• SuDS are often described in a “management train”, a series of progressively larger scale practices to manage run-off and control water quality. The management train is:

o Prevention: application at individual sites, e.g. use of rainwater harvesting;

o Source control: control of run-off at or very near to its source;

o Site control: management of water in a local area or site;

o Regional control: management of run-off from a site or number of sites; and

• The Water Framework Directive supports the use of SuDs as it:

o Promotes sustainable water use based on a long-term protection of available water resources;

o Aims at enhanced protection and improvement of the aquatic environment, inter alia, through specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges;

o Contributes to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts.

Unlike conventional drainage, SuDS schemes often form part of public open space, with the potential to promote interaction between communities and their local environment, resulting in additional amenity benefits.

• SuDS use two main processes to manage and control run-off from developed areas, as discussed below.

8.2.1 Infiltration SuDS

Many SuDS techniques are based on infiltration of surface water into the ground. In most cases any pollutant particles are absorbed and dissipated by vegetation. Infiltration SuDS are best suited to areas overlain by permeable soils and drift geology.

Infiltration drainage techniques include permeable paving, soakaways, infiltration trenches, infiltration basins and swales. Areas underlain by Chalk and Glacial sand and gravel will generally be suitable for these techniques. Due to the variability of soils and geology however, site specific infiltration tests must be carried out to confirm the feasibility of infiltration drainage. In many cases, infiltration techniques provide capacity for holding back water whilst allowing infiltration to occur, and in this manner also offer storage or attenuation of rainfall run-off.

16 CIRIA C69; The SUDS Manual; CIRIA 2007

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Creating the environment for business Where infiltration is into an aquifer the risk of contamination must be minimised, particularly where the groundwater is a source of public water supply. Additional measures, such as oil interceptors, may be required.

8.2.2 Attenuation SuDS

Where infiltration SuDS are not feasible, either due to Source Protection Zones (SPZs), soil-type or limited land availability, non-infiltration (or attenuation) techniques may be more appropriate. Green roofs, rainwater harvesting, wetlands and detention basins are examples of attenuation techniques, although the scope and impact of these can be far more limited without infiltration. These examples reduce the rate of surface water run-off by holding back peak flows, following the management train hierarchy.

Table 8.1 below describes typical SuDS techniques and the process with which they utilise to manage surface water run-off.

Table 8.1 Common SuDS Techniques

SuDS technique Description Attenuation/Infiltration

Soakaways Typically square or circular excavations filled with rubble or precast concrete Infiltration rings that store and dispose of water through infiltration

Permeable Paving Paving that will permit rainwater to infiltrate into the soil or constructed layers Both beneath the surface

Infiltration Basins Depressions that store and dispose of water through infiltration when required Both during heavy rainfall events. During dry periods the basins remain dry

Infiltration Trench Shallow channels filled with rubble or stone that allow infiltration through the Both base and sides of the channel, as well as filtering out silt and pollutants

Filter Strips Vegetated strips of gently sloping ground to drain water from impermeable Both surfaces and filter out pollutants, silt and suspended sediments.

Swales Shallow vegetated channels that conduct and/or retain water, and allow filtering Both of particulates through the vegetation. If unlined these features allow infiltration into the underlying ground

Enhanced Swales Shallow vegetated channels underlain by pipes that conduct and/or retain water. Attenuation Water infiltrates through the shallow vegetated area, into a gravel surface overlying a pipe system which then conveys water downstream. Used when infiltration into the underlying ground is not possible.

Ponds Permanently wet basins designed to store water and attenuate peak flows, with Attenuation permanent bankside and emergent vegetation

Detention Basin Dry basins designed to attenuate peak flows and store water for specific Attenuation retention times

Wetlands Shallow pond systems with aquatic vegetation that allow water to be stored and Attenuation passed through vegetation for filtration of pollutants

Green Roofs Vegetated roofs that reduce run-off volumes and rates Attenuation

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8.3 SuDS Potential

To determine the potential for SuDS to be used in developments in the study area, a strategic level assessment was undertaken, using the supplied regional superficial and drift geology mapping and the Environment Agency web- based Source Protection Zones. Housing information was based on the assessment undertaken in Section 4 of this report.

In order to produce a successful detailed SuDS solution for a development, a number of site specific characteristics need to be taken into consideration including:

• Hydrology;

• Land use;

• Physical site features;

• Economics and maintenance; and

• Community and environment.

The assessment considered the above criteria wherever possible, as described in the following sections. A review of the historical surface water flood events was also undertaken using data provided by Anglian Water Services.

8.3.1 Historical Flood Events

Records of historical surface water flooding can give an indication of areas which would be particularly susceptible to increases in run-off, or where there is already a known issue with surface water management.

Anglian Water Services provided information on surface water incidents they have recorded between 2005 and 2008. From this, it was found there have been 511 incidents in the study area classed as either ‘full manhole’, ‘external flooding’ or ‘highway flooding’. The following table details the incidents recorded in each of the areas identified as likely to accommodate more than 100 housing allocations, with the assessment area defined as a 2.5 km radius around the centre of existing development.

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Table 8.2 Historical Surface Water Flooding Incidents17

Number of flooding incidents Town Total Recorded Incidents (external or highways)

Wisbech 116 60 (52%)

March 47 11 (23%)

Ely 60 28 (47%)

Soham 16 6 (38%)

Littleport 32 15 (47%)

Bottisham 7 3 (43%)

Chatteris 31 13 (42%)

Whittlesey None n/a

Burwell 19 14 (74%)

Although there have been recorded incidents in each of these areas, besides Whittlesey, Anglian Water Services are required to undertake corrective actions for each incident. In almost all incidences, the corrective action was recorded as some form of maintenance, typically clearing pipelines or manholes of debris and blockages. This highlights the importance of maintenance in surface water management. New development, whether utilising traditional drainage approaches, SuDS techniques or a combination of both, should therefore be required to demonstrate how the maintenance requirements should be met.

8.3.2 Hydrology

Geology comprises a key part of the hydrology component. A desk based analysis of the regional geology has identified that the study area is located on a number of bedrock strata with varying degrees of permeability. This was more closely examined for the settlements of Wisbech, March, Ely, Soham, Littleport, Bottisham, Chatteris and Whittlesey, which were all identified as likely locations for providing more than 100 dwellings in allocations. A 2.5 km radius around the existing centre of development was used as the area for each town.

A large part of the study area lies upon two impermeable bedrock layers - Oxford Clay and Kellaways Beds; and, Amptill Clay, Kimmerdige Clay and Corralian. These are described as low permeability non aquifer rock types which are unlikely to store or convey significant quantities of groundwater and effectively inhibit infiltration. Wisbech, Whittlesey, March, Chatteris, Littleport, and Ely are all located on either of these impermeable bedrocks. However, parts of Ely have unidentified superficial deposits overlying this impermeable strata, which may provide

17 Fenland District Council commented that there were surface water flooding problems in July 2009, particularly around Whittlesey which are not captured in the information collated for this report. This needs to be considered in later stages of the WCS.

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Creating the environment for business some scope for infiltration SuDS techniques. Areas identified as Peat in many cases contain silts and clays deposited by river flooding.

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Figure 8.1 Geological influences on potential SuDs systems (Bedrock Geology)

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Figure 8.2 Geological influences on potential SuDs systems (Superficial Geology)

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Creating the environment for business Burwell and Botisham are shown to lie on permeable bedrock comprising either Chalk including Red Chalk or Upper Greensand and Gault. All are shown to have mixed superficial deposits overlying these permeable strata which would affect the infiltration capacity.

As such, it is presumed likely that SuDS techniques which manage surface water through attenuation are likely to be dominant in the study area.

The majority of the study area is shown on the Environment Agency web based maps to lie outside Groundwater Source Protection Zones (SPZs; see Figure 4.5) SPZs are used to protect groundwater resources from pollutants and in these zones, the location and type of discharges into the water environment (which would include infiltration via SuDS) are closely controlled. As highlighted in Chapter 6 on scoping of the Level-1 SFRA, the SPZs should be mapped against development allocations to determine any constraints this may have on the SuDS potential.

Table 8.3 Infiltration Capacity in Identified Areas

Town Superficial Deposits Bedrock Geology Likely SuDS process

Wisbech Impermeable Impermeable Attenuation

March Impermeable Impermeable Attenuation

Ely Mixed (majority impermeable, Impermeable Attenuation, potentially some unidentified) infiltration in parts

Soham Mixed (majority variable, some Mainly Impermeable Attenuation, little scope for unidentified) infiltration.

Littleport Impermeable Impermeable Attenuation

Bottisham Mixed (majority unidentified, Permeable Attenuation, potentially some variable) infiltration in parts

Chatteris Impermeable Impermeable Attenuation

Whittlesey Impermeable and variable Impermeable Attenuation, potentially infiltration in parts

Burwell Mixed (majority unidentified, Permeable Attenuation, potentially some variable) infiltration in parts

The dominance of Peat in the study area would also need to be carefully considered. Peat is a sensitive soil type that is highly porous with a high soil water content. However, it is prone to drying if the natural flow paths are not maintained, and when drained becomes irreversibly desiccated. A significant portion of the study area was drained in the 1700s and the presence of improved agricultural land and township developments suggest that there may be areas where the Peat is no longer present or may no longer be in pristine condition. However, any development located on areas of active Peat would require careful planning. Consenting authorities are required to give weight to the implications of developments affecting areas designated as ‘blanket bog’ as defined in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. If development on active Peat could not be avoided and SuDS techniques were to be employed, they

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Creating the environment for business would need to rely on attenuation processes (as infiltration into Peat is not possible) as well as ensuring natural flow paths remain unobstructed.

8.3.3 Land Use

The existing land use on which development is to be located determines the amount of run-off that leaves the site, and how it must be managed. Essentially, the existing rate of run-off which leaves a site must be maintained after the development occurs although PPS25 states that opportunities should be taken to reduce flood risk more widely where possible. On brownfield (previously developed) sites this means the new development is permitted to discharge at the same rates which are currently occurring. As the site is already developed, this invariably would be at higher than naturally occurring rates, although this ensures new development does not further increase run- off. However, development on greenfield (undeveloped sites) will need to maintain greenfield run-off rates, post development where possible. Invariably this results in larger attenuation and storage requirements than for redevelopment of brownfield sites.

As the development allocation process has not been undertaken for the areas it is not possible to determine the proportion of greenfield sites which are being put forward. Some housing is to be located on greenfield sites in which case these larger attenuation requirements would need to be accommodated where possible.

8.3.4 Physical Site Features

Physical features such as ground slope, contaminated land, ecology etc, are an integral component of SuDS design which are dependant on the particular site location. At a strategic level, it is only possible to comment on the topographical condition of the broad housing allocation areas.

Some SuDS techniques (e.g. ponds, wetlands, infiltration basins, filter strips and swales) are not suited to areas with steep ground slopes. Where there is gravel overlying impermeable clay (e.g. Whittlesey and parts of March) particular care is required in implementing infiltration techniques. In flat and low-lying areas, topography is unlikely to significantly constrain SuDS implementation, although this is highly dependant on localised features.

Development of SuDs needs to take into account of the nature of the fenland environment and the operations of the Internal Drainage Boards who have expressed concerns about the impact of recent systems in the area and their impact on downstream drainage systems.

8.3.5 Economics and Maintenance

The economic and maintenance considerations of SuDS techniques will depend on their particular design, the development characteristics and management approach, and as such are not possible to assess on a strategic level. However, Table 8.4 below provides a qualitative comparison of the maintenance requirements of different SuDS techniques, assuming a generic design.

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Creating the environment for business Individual housing developments are unlikely to include schemes with high cost and maintenance requirements. Therefore, smaller developments are likely to incorporate cellular storage, infiltration trenches, soakaways and sand filters to manage surface water run-off. Given the dominance of impermeable geology in the study area, cellular storage and infiltration trenches are likely to play key roles in surface water management from small developments.

Larger housing developments have the opportunity to include some of the higher cost schemes as they can be used to manage surface water for the entire development, and can also be integrated into communal amenity areas. The impermeable bedrock of most of the area is likely to result in ponds, detention basin, wetlands, green roofs and rainwater harvesting having an important role in surface water management for large developments.

Table 8.4 Comparison of Economic and Maintenance Requirements for SuDS Techniques

SuDS techniques Economic Investment Maintenance Requirements

Pond Medium Medium

Cellular Storage Medium Low

Permeable Paving Medium Medium

Detention Basin Low High

Wetland High High

Infiltration Trench Low Low

Infiltration Basin Medium Medium

Soakaway Low Medium

Sand filter Medium Low

Bio retention Medium High

Filter Strip Medium Medium

Swale Low Medium

Green roof High High

Rainwater Harvesting High Medium

Using information provided in Table 5.8, CIRIA Guidance C697

8.3.6 Community and Environment

The planning estimates in Chapter 3 show that Wisbech, March, Ely, Soham, Littleport, Bottisham, Chatteris and Whittlesey are likely to accommodate more than 100 housing allocations. This suggests that a number of new housing developments may be built in the one immediate area, which would create an opportunity for communal SuDS schemes to be integrated into the green infrastructure and amenity areas. As discussed in Section 8.3.1, the regional geology suggests that attenuation SuDS are likely to dominate in the area, in which case utilising schemes such as ponds, detention basins and wetlands could be used in larger development to attenuate the combined surface water run-off from the greater development, as well as being integrated in areas of open space providing

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Creating the environment for business amenity and ecological value. In areas where the land take aspects of these approaches becomes prohibitive, green roofs can be designed to provide attenuation storage, as well as giving roof-top areas used for open space.

For the smaller allocations which are likely to require individual SuDS schemes, the use of green roofs and enhanced swales have the potential to provide ecological and amenity benefits.

Development of SuDs also provides opportunities form urban design with regard to their contribution to overall quality and appeal of new developments.

The dominance of Peat in the study area would also need to be considered from an environmental perspective. Peat is an important environmental asset with unique hydrological characteristics which need to be preserved if it is to be maintained. SuDS approaches will therefore be critical in ensuring natural surface water processes are maintained (or restored) in the areas overlying Peat. As such, development in Chatteris and parts of Whittelsey, March, Littleport and Ely would not only need to consider the effects of Peat on SuDS design, but how the implementation of SuDS will maximise the environmental benefits for this natural resource.

8.4 Adoption of SuDS

One of the biggest challenges in achieving the wider uptake of SuDs is the issue of eventual ownership of the systems and, in particular, who will maintain and repair them.

S104 of the Water Industry Act allows for a statutory undertaker to adopt the works and vest them in the undertaker. Current legislation therefore allows SuDs to be adopted only if they are legally sewers. SuDs combine amenity and environmental benefits with their drainage function, so often will not fully meet these requirements.

S106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows a LPA to enter into a legally binding agreement of planning obligation with a land developer over a related issue. They often require developers to minimise the impact on the local community and to carry out tasks that will provide community benefits. Government thinking steers the implementation of SuDs through the planning process and advocates the grant of planning permission with or without a S106 as the vehicle for ensuring future maintenance and funding. The legislation equally provides the mechanism for this. The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides for financial payment to local authorities carrying out maintenance of SuDs systems. There is also provision for a local authority to carry out maintenance work themselves if there is a breach of maintenance agreement.

Recommendation 20 of Sir Michael Pitt’s Review of the Summer 2007 floods (final report published December 2008) was for the Government to resolve the issue of which organisations should be responsible for the ownership and maintenance of sustainable drainage systems. The Government responded in support of this recommendation and interim advice has been that it is intended that local authorities should be responsible for adopting and maintaining new build (and re-developed) SuDS on highways and in the local realm. This was supported in the recently published draft Floods and Water Bill, which is currently under consultation.

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Creating the environment for business Where there is a requirement to implement SuDs, the local planning authority has two routes available to ensure that the SuDs are properly implemented and maintained. These are:

1. Through an agreement under S106; and

2. By a condition of planning permission.

Where the development is larger or the SuDs scheme complex, the S106 approach would be used. The S106 route requires negotiations and legal preparatory work in advance of the development taking place, but offers more security as it may only be varied by agreement. It also allows for financial contributions in the form of a bond or a periodic payment.

There are alternative methods as to whether the maintenance agreement is included as part of the S106 agreement or is stand alone (discretion of the LPA). The choice is governed by the degree of control the LPA would like to have over the maintenance issues - greater control maintenance framework as part of S106.

It is essential that the ownership and responsibility for maintenance of every SuDS element is clear; the scope for dispute kept to a minimum; and durable, long-term accountable arrangements made, such as management companies. Where the surface water system is provided solely to serve any particular development, the construction and ongoing maintenance costs should be fully funded by the developer. S106 agreements may be appropriate to secure this.

Authorities may wish to consider entering into an agreement under S106 to ensure the developer carries out the necessary works and that future maintenance commitments are met. They may also apply planning conditions which would require completion of the necessary works before the rest of the development can proceed.

8.5 Key Issues

1) The nature of the fenland environment places particular constraints on SuDs with regard to permeability of the land, high level of the water table, potential downstream impacts and interactions with the activities of the Internal Drainage Boards. Suitable design of SuDs systems should form part of future phases on the Water Cycle Study.

2) Development of SuDs provides opportunities for the development of green infrastructure and enhancement of urban space. These opportunities should be further explored in future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

3) Adoption of SuDs is an important issue and discussion between the parties who may adopt systems should be facilitated in future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

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Creating the environment for business 9. Ecology and Green Infrastructure

9.1 Introduction

Protected habitats and green space may place constraints on the locations of housing growth and associated water infrastructure. Constraints may be directly related to the suitability of land for development but also indirect impacts on habitats such as the effects of pollution and abstraction. The latter have been considered in relation to existing drivers such as the Habitats Directive Review of Consents and Restoring Sustainable Abstractions programmes in previous sections of this report. Other potential ecological constraints on housing growth such as the presence of protected species are addressed through the planning process, requiring detailed site information which is beyond the scope of this study.

Development of water infrastructure provides opportunities for the creation of green infrastructure and habitats. Although ecological benefits and new green space may result from water infrastructure as a ‘secondary’ benefit of meeting engineering requirements (e.g. the development of attenuation ponds) they are likely to be enhanced if they are promoted at the design stage and integrated into green infrastructure policy. Developing water infrastructure within the context of a green infrastructure strategy would also allow it to be consistent with the natural features of the local environment and co-ordinate the approaches of different infrastructure providers (e.g. housing developers, water companies, internal drainage boards).

9.2 Constraints

Potential constraints on water infrastructure related to protected habitats (SACs, SPAs, Ramsar sites and SSSIs) are considered in the separate sections of this report on water resources (Section 4), water quality (Section 5) and flood risk (Section 7). Consideration of these issues to meet environmental legislation forms part of the normal asset management planning process by water companies, regulated by the Environment Agency. The key issues are briefly summarised below:

1. Impact of groundwater abstraction on groundwater dependent ecosystems. Potential impacts on Chippenham Fen.

2. Wastewater discharges and nutrient concentrations in rivers and wetlands. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus within the fresh water bodies in the Districts are generally high and exceed Water Framework Directive targets. Nutrients emissions from sewage works have been identified as having an impact on the Ouse Washes, Nene Washes and Chippenham Fen through the Habitats Directive Review of Consents Process.

In addition to protected habitats, water infrastructure has the potential to impact on wider biodiversity, protected species and habitat. Direct impacts on protected species and habitats related to the physical impact of housing

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Creating the environment for business development are assessed as part of the planning process whilst indirect impacts are largely controlled through existing legislation such as the Water Framework Directive and Habitats Directive.

9.3 Opportunities

Development of water infrastructure can provide significant opportunities to create new green infrastructure and habitats, particularly the development of SuDs. Developers and infrastructure providers generally take an active role in developing the ecological value of their land holdings and employ or commission ecologists with this in mind. Anglian Water, for example, has an active role in managing the many SSSIs on its land holdings. The Water Cycle Study, however, provides an opportunity to enhance and coordinate these activities to achieve more integrated green space. It also provides an opportunity to promote the objectives of Biodiversity Action Plans (BAP) through habitat creation and extending the ecological connectivity of sites suitable for BAP species.

The primary opportunity for green infrastructure and ecological development is in relation to surface drainage. This includes existing surface water drainage systems including those owned and operated by the local authorities and internal drainage boards as well as new drainage schemes that form part of new housing developments (see Section 9). Larger flood alleviation and flood storage schemes also provide opportunities for habitat and green space creation. Clearly, care needs to be taken to ensure that changes to water level and flood management systems to develop green infrastructure does not compromise the flood defence and drainage.

The Internal Drainage Boards and Local Authorities are actively engaged in promoting the ecological value of their surface drains and Defra has recently promoted these activities through Biodiversity Action Plans (Defra 2009). This involves an audit of existing biodiversity, prioritisation of habitats and species and the development of an action plan. The action plan is based on setting objectives, targets and indicators and may involve improvements to water level management plans, changes to management practices and habitat creation. Public access to traditional surface water drainage infrastructure is, however, limited for health and safety reasons.

A Green Infrastructure Strategy has been developed for the Cambridge sub-region (Cambridgeshire Horizons, 2005) which includes the southern part of East Cambridgeshire district and a small part of Fenland district which is now under Review and will be extended to cover the whole of Cambridgeshire and the study area. The outputs from this work need to be considered as the Water Cycle Study is progressed.

9.4 Key Issues

1) Impacts of water abstractions and wastewater discharges on protected sites may be increased by planned growth. These need to be considered further in the future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

2) Provision of water infrastructure may create opportunities for development of green infrastructure. The opportunities and policy and guidance to promote them should for part of future phases of the Water Cycle Study.

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Creating the environment for business 10. Climate Change and Sustainability

10.1 Background

Climate change is likely to have major direct impacts on the water cycle as a result on changes in patterns of rainfall and evaporation. Furthermore, climate change will affect patterns of water usage and wider impacts on land use which will affect the water cycle. Current climate change modelling broadly indicates that there will be wetter warmer winters and drier hotter summers and that these impacts will become evident within the timescale of the revised Regional Spatial Strategy up to 2031. Climate change has also been identified as a key issue in the East of England Plan and the National Water Cycle Study guidance.

In particular, climate change may have the following impacts:

1. Reduction in the availability of water resources as a result of reduced rainfall. Increased temperature will tend to increase evapo-transpiration and may therefore reduce recharge of aquifers;

2. Climate change will impact on water usage particularly in relation to irrigation of gardens and parkland using potable water. This is likely to increase peak demand for water. The benefits of rainwater harvesting and storage will also be affected. Leakage rates from water mains may also change if patterns of water table levels change. Demand for summer irrigation water for agriculture is also likely to increase;

3. Along with increases in winter rainfall, climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of storms. This is likely to increase the intensity and frequency of fluvial flooding and urban drainage related flood events. Sea level rise associated with climate change will increase the risk coastal flooding. Sea level rise may also result in saline intrusion that may damage water resources;

4. Increased intensity of rainfall during storms will increase surface drainage flow into combined sewerage systems and therefore increase the hydraulic loading on these systems. This increases the risk of sewerage overflows and their impact on receiving waters. Changes in water table levels may also affect infiltration and leakage of water from the sewerage system;

5. Reduced summer rainfall will result in lower river flows which would reduce dilution of wastewater discharges. Compliance with environmental quality standards is, in some cases, based on 90 percentile values which tend to occur during the summer period so reduced river flows may have a magnified impact on compliance. Reduced flows will also reduce the scouring out of silt and therefore increase flood risk;

6. Climate change is likely to place stress on wetlands. Consequently, these systems are likely to become less resilient to other perturbations such as impacts of abstractions and discharges.

The potential impacts outlined above change the context in which impacts of housing growth on the water cycle occur and should therefore be considered as part of the Water Cycle Study process.

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10.2 Climate Change Modelling and UKCP09

Assessment of climate change impacts is based on global climate models which include a representation of land, air, ocean, ice, the hydrological cycle and the carbon cycle (further details are provided in Appendix D) and the latest output from the model has recently been released (UKCP09). The principle difference between UKCP09 and previous UKCIP02 is the level of spatial resolution in the output and the availability of a weather generator to produce time series output. This detailed output provides greater opportunities to incorporate climate change output into detailed analysis of impacts of housing growth on the water cycle. The late release of output from UKCP09 has meant that the output could not be reviewed within this Scoping Study. However, UKCP09 output should be used in later phases of the Water Cycle Study where further assessment is carried out.

Figure 10.1 Climate Change Impacts on Precipitation in the 2050’s Under the High Emissions Scenario

Annual Winter Summer

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10.3 Climate Change and the Study Area

Figure 10.1 shows predicted changes in average annual temperature, summer precipitation and winter precipitation for the High Emissions scenario. For Cambridgeshire substantial reductions in summer rainfall are predicted whereas winter rainfall is predicted to increase. Annual average temperature also shows a marked increase particularly by 2080. More frequent extreme weather events are predicted including more intense storms.

The low lying nature of the study area is likely to make it particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. High agricultural demand for water which will be increased as temperature rises in addition to reduced summer rainfall is likely to be of particular significance in the study area. For example, under drought conditions supply of water to the Middle Levels from the River Nene is restricted which is likely to occur more often in the future. Limited availability of water is also likely to place the wetlands in the area under stress, particularly those dependent on local sources of water to maintain water table levels (e.g. Wicken Fen and Chippenham Fen).

The slow flowing rivers and IDB drains in the study area will also be vulnerable to low summer rainfall and provide reduced dilution of discharges at this time of year.

Increased sea level, increased winter rainfall and more intense summer storms will increase flood risk. Although flood defences are robust, much of the study area is at risk of flooding if these fail in the future. Existing flood defences may not be adequate to protect certain areas considering the impacts of climate change (breaching and/or overtopping). Higher sea levels along with reduced scouring in the Ely Ouse are likely to restrict discharge through the Denver complex within the planning horizon considered in this study. This will require serious consideration with regard to upstream and downstream impacts and the requirements for engineering works to mitigate these effects.

10.4 Policy and Planning

10.4.1 National Planning Policy

The UK Government as a signatory of the Climate Convention is actively seeking to achieve its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The 2007 Housing Green Paper establishes targets for all new homes to emit 25% less carbon from 2010, 44% less from 2014 and to be zero carbon from 2016.

PPS1 ‘Delivering Sustainable Development’ (2005) and the December 2006 supplement: ‘Climate Change’, ‘Zero Carbon Development’ and the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ have now been incorporated in a Planning and Climate Change Bill. PPS1 requires regional planning bodies (RPBs) and local planning authorities (LPAs) to prepare development plans, which ensure that development is pursued in line with the principles for sustainable development, and promote outcomes in which environmental, economic and social objectives are achieved together over time.

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10.4.2 Regional Planning Policy

Reducing the impacts of climate change is an important element of the overall spatial vision of the East of England Plan to meet housing needs but “at the same time reduce the impact of climate change on the environment through savings in energy and water use and by strengthening it stock of environmental assets”. Policy SS1 (Achieving Sustainable Development) states that the region should “adopt a precautionary approach to climate change by avoiding and minimising potential contributions to adverse change and incorporating measures which adapt as far as possible to unavoidable change”. Policy ENG1 (Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Energy Performance) provides a framework for securing energy from decentralised, renewable and low-carbon sources and monitoring performance whilst Policy ENG2 (Renewable Energy Targets) sets targets for source energy from renewable sources.

10.4.3 Local Policy

Cambridgeshire County Council has developed a climate change strategy which is presented in their document, “Tackling climate change in Cambridgeshire” (2005). This sets out targets for carbon emissions from council operations, develops strategies to achieve these targets and aims to promote public and business awareness of climate change issues. East Cambridgeshire and Fenland District Council support the strategy.

10.4.4 Local Area Agreements

Local Area Agreements (LAA) are a way for local authorities and partner agencies to work together to improve services in the area. The LAA is a three year agreement between Central Government - represented by the regional Government Office - and a local area - represented by local authorities, Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and other key partners. The primary objective of an LAA is to set out the key principles for the area and deliver better outcomes for local people.

A number of the LAAs are climate change related and the water cycle strategy can aid delivery of the targets, the relevant indicators include:

• NI 186 - Per capita CO2 emission in the LA area;

• NI 188 - Adapting to climate change; and

• NI 197 - Improved local biodiversity.

10.4.5 Anglian Water

Anglian Water’s Strategic Direction Statement (2009) outlines the company’s strategy toward climate change. The document lists to key impacts of climate change on infrastructure and environmental capacity and how this is likely

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Creating the environment for business to affect future investment requirements for infrastructure. The document also outlines Anglian Water’s approach to reducing carbon emissions including electricity consumption. Key challenges identified are:

1. Protecting vulnerable inland and coastal assets from flooding.

2. Dealing with increased wastewater flows while protecting the water environment in the region.

3. Maintaining supplies of water to a growing population in drier, hotter summers.

4. Planning for the great uncertainty associated with climate change.

5. Reducing substantially the carbon footprint.

10.5 Assessment of Environmental Capacity and Water Infrastructure Provision

Assessment of climate change issues by the Environment Agency and water infrastructure operators is mostly based on a national guidance produced by the regulators (OFWAT, Defra and Environment Agency) and water industry (e.g. UKWIR). This ensures that a consistent approach is followed to the complex issue of climate change. This Section presents information on national guidance and the assessments carried out in the study area.

10.5.1 Water Resources

Anglian Water has forecast the impacts on its sources and customers’ consumption using the most recent climate change data and UKCIP02 based on methodologies developed by the Environment Agency.

The impact of climate change on deployable output from water sources will vary depending on the nature of the sources in a particular zone. It is generally considered that groundwater sources will be more vulnerable than surface water sources to changes in rainfall patterns. It may be easier to adapt water management arrangements in surface water dominated resource systems to respond to more extreme weather events (heavy downpours, prolonged dry periods).

Relevant to the study area, Anglian Water has forecast that Fenland zone will be the most affected by climate change.

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Table 10.1 Impact of Climate Change on Deployable Output

Water Resource Zone Deployable Output (Ml/d) Reduction due to climate Reduction as percentage (2006/07) change (3034/35) of 06/07 DO

Fenland 77.50 5.18 6.7%

Cambridge and West Suffolk 99.09 3.26 3.3%

Ruthamford 613.90 8.70 1.4

A reduction in supply of 5.18 Ml/d is forecast by 2034/35 and this represents a loss of 6.7% from current deployable output (77.5 Ml/d 2006/07). In Cambridge and West Suffolk zone Deployable Output (DO) is forecast to fall by 3.26 Ml/d by 2034/35 which is 3.3% of current DO (99 Ml/d). In both of these zones the fastest rate of decline is forecast to take place between 2008/09 and 2019/20. In Ruthamford zone, a loss of 8.70 Ml/d by 2034/35 represents 1.4% of current DO (613 Ml/d 2006/07).

The impact of climate change on deployable output was calculated for Anglian Water’s major reservoirs and water intakes, 25 groundwater and 10 surface water sources considered vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change on source yield (Mott McDonald, 2007).

The assessment was based on the Environment Agency (EA) guidelines (Environment Agency, 2008) using the outputs from six general circulation models (GCMs) to define a range of scenarios that can be used in water resources models. The wettest model represents the best case scenario in terms of yield, and the driest represents the worst case. The impacts are modelled for 2025/26 and interpolated for the intervening years. Anglian Water believe that the actual impact would be an acute event over a prolonged drought resulting from a period of low rainfall, more severe than recorded within the historical sequence.

The results identified a more significant impact on surface water source yield than for groundwater. However, the results also indicate that in some cases groundwater yield could increase, due to increased periods of prolonged and heavy rainfall. The results also show that whilst climate change might increase or decrease yield, licence constraints and water treatment works capacity have a greater impact on deployable output (AWS 2008). Overall, current deployable output reduces by 1% or 8 Ml/d under the median scenario, does not change under best case scenario, and decreases by up to 21% under the worst case scenario.

Anglian Water has used the range in outputs from the different models to define the uncertainty associated with the forecast (this uncertainty is incorporated into the headroom forecast). In the current year the Company assumes a headroom margin of 5% to maintain the security of supplies. It has allowed for an increase to 15% during the planning period. However, the impact of climate change on supply is only a minor factor in this uncertainty allowance. The main drivers are the uncertainties over population growth and the level of water consumption by domestic customers.

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Creating the environment for business Anglian Water has assumed that climate change will affect water consumption in both households and non households. It has provided a forecast of per capita consumption but as this includes the effects of climate change plus the effects of water efficiency measures, including metering, and changing occupancy rates etc., it is difficult to identify the climate change impact. The company states that the main impact of climate change on demand will be to increase the peak demand during periods of extremely hot and dry weather, but this is not quantified in the published information.

10.5.2 Flood Risk

Guidance on assessment of climate change impacts on flood risk forms part of Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25, Appendix B). This provides guidance on how to make allowances for climate change impacts in the application of the recommended methodologies to assess flood risk.

With regard to coastal flood risk an allowance of 4mm net sea level rise should be applied for the period 1990 to 2025 compared to 1990 levels. For 2025 to 2055 this increases to 8.5mm and for 2055 to 2085 this increases further to 12mm. A 10% sensitivity allowance should also be added to offshore wind speeds and wave heights from 2055 and a 5% allowance before this date. With regard to fluvial flooding the guidance recommends and allowance of a 10% increase in peak flow for the period 1990 to 2025 and an allowance of 20% beyond this. The guidance recommends that it is important that the analysis is incorporated into Strategic Flood Risk assessments. Guidance on development of drainage systems including flood systems is also provided by PPS25.

Consideration of the effects of climate change was undertaken in all three SFRAs to varying degrees. East Cambridgeshire SFRA described that climate change was not previously considered in the design of IDB managed pumps, which are key component of the flood defences for the district, and thus future flood protection is less than current levels. However, this was a qualitative review only, and the effects of climate change on sea level rise, rainfall and flood protection were not quantified. The Fenland SFRA considered the qualitative effects of climate change on sea level rise and increase in rainfall for the River Nene, Bedford River/Great Ouse, Middle Level drainage and North Level drainage systems, however no modelling was undertaken to quantify (or verify) these impacts. A quantitative assessment of climate change was undertaken in the Wisbech SFRA, and mapped outputs were provided.

All three climate change assessments were undertaken using information which will soon be superseded by the UKCP09 estimates, due for release mid June 2009 and as such should be re-examined in the Level-1 SFRA.

OFWAT Letter PRO9/12 (2008) provides an instruction to water companies of their planning requirements for assessment of resilience of their assets to flood hazards. Guidance is provided a supporting guidance document produced by Halcrow (Halcrow, 2008) that takes into account assessment of climate change impacts. Anglian Water has followed this guidance in assessing flood resilience of their assets.

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10.5.3 Wastewater

Anglian Water carries out climate change analysis in their design of the hydraulic capacity wastewater infrastructure by applying additional rainfall allowances in their sewer network modelling. Additional flows are also factored into analysis of the frequency and magnitude of their assessments of combined sewer overflows. OFWAT recommend (guidance letter PR09/13 - Sewerage System Design and Climate Change; 2008) that this should be in line with Defra’s guidance (Defra, 2006) on climate change in planning and designing public sewerage systems which should be incorporated into water asset management planning for PR09. Further guidance on drainage design is provided by a review by Atkins which was commissioned by OFWAT (Atkins 2008). The OFWAT letter recommends that sewerage flooding should not occur more frequently than 1 in 20 years and that no net increase in sewerage flooding should occur. Sewerage systems for new development should not occur with a return period of less than 1 in 30 years in accordance with the requirements for Sewers for Adoption (Atkins 2008) Investment should be based on a risk assessment approach based on the frequency of flooding and the sensitivity of the properties affected. With regard to climate change the letter requests that the water companies carry out “sufficient climate change sensitivity analysis on investment decisions to identify those which are sensitive to potential changes from UKCIP [ouput]”. In the absence of more accurate guidance each company should take account of increasing rainfall intensity in line with Defra’s guidance on climate change in planning and designing sewage systems. The assessment should take into account the entire asset life (e.g. over the next 100 years).

Climate change will also affect the capacity of waters to receive wastewater flows particularly during low flow periods which are expected to increase. At present these impacts are not considered in the setting of wastewater water quality and flow consents or in future asset planning. Analysis of these impacts could be carried out by sensitivity analysis using existing water quality models such as SIMCAT (e.g. reducing Q95 flows by 20%) or by using hydrological models to simulate changes in river flow based on output from UKCP09. Such analysis would be carried out at the river catchment scale rather than the Water Cycle Study area.

10.6 Research and Development of Guidance

Research into climate change impacts and the development of guidance is an ongoing process and release of UKCP09 output is likely to result in changes in the requirement for climate change assessment in relation to the water cycle. Table 10.2 summarises current developments in this area which may affect future Water Cycle Study work.

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Table 10.2 Key developments in climate change assessment

Topic area Developments

Water Resources Improved guidance on water resources and development of improved climate change factors. UKWIR project scheduled to release information in September 2009.

Water Resources UKWIR study on climate change impacts on groundwater levels. Ongoing work building on previous study; Effects of Climate Change on River Flows and Groundwater Recharge: A practical Methodology - Synthesis Report. UKWIR 2006,

Flooding Joint CEH/JBA guidance currently being developed

10.7 Climate Change Impacts and the WCS process

Water Cycle Studies should aim to identify any weakness in existing water infrastructure and environmental capacity assessments with regard to climate change and address these weaknesses if these are relevant to planning decisions on development. It should also aim to ensure that climate change is taken into account in further work related to the assessment of environmental capacity and the design of water infrastructures. Key factors in this process are listed below which are also illustrated in the flow diagram

1. Review of existing assessments of climate change with regard to national guidance and best practice.

2. Updating of the assessments to take into account UKCP09 output. Recent asset management planning and, in particular, Anglian Water’s asset management plans submitted for PR09 are based on UKCIP02 output. The implications of the more recent and improved information needs to be taken into account in future planning.

3. Guidance related to climate change impacts does not cover all parts of the water cycle.

Bearing in mind the wide ranging requirements to assess climate change impacts on the water cycle and ongoing work by Anglian Water and the Environment Agency, it is important to be clear about when climate change work should be carried out as part of Water Cycle Studies. Assessment of climate change issues in future phases of the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Water Cycle Studies should focus on climate change impacts on environmental constraints on housing growth and on the timing of delivery of water infrastructure if existing or ongoing work does not adequately address these issues. Additional studies that may form part of later stages of the Water Cycle Study should also take climate change into account. Table 10.3 identifies key areas where climate change should be incorporated into the further phases of the Water Cycle Study.

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Identify potential climate change impact

Y Has the impact been assessed adequately using industry guidance? Report findings of previous work

N

1) Guidance has not been followed Compare UKCP09 and UKCIP02 output 2) There is no guidance 3) UKCP09 output is substantially different to UKCIP02 output

Does the climate change impact affect the planning decision N on development? No requirement for further work

Y

Is it technically or financially feasible to carry out the N Assess and report significance of uncertainty work within the timescale of the WCS of impact to be considered in planning decision

Y

Determine when and whom should carry out further assessment

1) Carry out and report further climate change analysis in WCS 2) Provide scoping for other evidence base studies (e.g. SFRA or SWMP

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Table 10.3 Climate change in further phases of the Water Cycle Study

Topic area Key Issue Action Justification for further work Comments By when and by whom

Water Has current guidance from the Review differences between the This additional work should only May not be feasible in Detailed phase. By consultants Resources Environment Agency been existing methodology and guidance be carried out where the further project timescale if in collaboration with Anglian followed in developing the water to identify any deficiencies related to work is required to inform planning involves major reworking of Water. resource plan for the study housing growth (e.g. impacts on decisions within required WMRP analysis. area? water resource availability and timescales. demand). Carry out further work following the guidance.

Is assessment of the key water Carry out comparison between This additional work should only May not be feasible in Detailed phase. By consultants resources issues identified UKCIP02 and UKCP09 output. If be carried out where the further project timescale if in collaboration with Anglian WRMP and WCS Scoping differences significant in relation to work is required to inform planning involves major reworking of Water. Phase likely to be significantly housing growth carry out additional decisions within required WMRP analysis. affected by differences between work using UKCP09 output. timescales. the UKCIP02 and UKCP09 output?

Are there key habitats in the Where previous work has indicated This additional work should only Would be expensive and Collaboration between Anglian study area that are affected by abstraction impacts of the habitat are be carried out where uncertainty in time consuming if it Water, Environment Agency and abstractions (e.g. identified in significant and where housing growth relation to the impacts on wetlands involves running consultants. Site Action Plans). Are may affect abstraction rate – re-run may affect planning decisions. hydrological and abstractions affected by housing previous assessment using output groundwater models. growth? Are the findings of from UKCP09 output. previous investigations likely to be affected by climate change?

Has or will climate change be Review previous work to determine This additional work should only Detailed phase. By consultants assessed in relation to flood whether OFWAT guidance has been be carried out where the further in collaboration with Anglian resilience of water supply followed. Carry out further work work is required to inform planning Water. assets? following guidance. decisions within required timescales.

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Topic area Key Issue Action Justification for further work Comments By when and by whom

Has climate change been Provide guidance to developers Provide guidance if developers Detailed phase. Consultants assessed in the design of water regarding incorporation of climate have not considered already. and developers. demand management systems change allowances in their design. (e.g. grey water recycling, rain water harvesting).

Flood Risk Has PPS25 guidance been Provide scoping for addition Flood Statutory requirement. Separate study to be followed in the existing Flood Risk Assessment Work. commissioned by local Risk Assessments? authority; ideally to coincide with Detailed Phase.

Ensure that climate change Provide guidance to developers Provide guidance if developers Detailed phase. Consultants assessment is incorporated into regarding incorporation of climate have not considered already. and developers. the design of SuDs and change allowances in their design. drainage systems?

Has resilience to flooding been Provide scoping for further work to be Ensure drainage systems are Separate study to be considered in the design of incorporated into Surface Water designed adequately within commissioned by local drainage assets (e.g. Internal Management Plans. developments and downstream. authority; ideally to coincide with Drainage Board). Detailed Phase (e.g. SWMPs and SFRAs)

Wastewater Has or will sensitivity Carry out analysis using climate Ensure systems designed Detailed phase. By consultants assessment in relation to change allowances to inform design adequately. in collaboration with Anglian climate change been taken into of wastewater systems (e.g. Water. account in planning of INFOWORKS modelling). wastewater infrastructure following OFWAT guidance (sewage treatment and sewerage)?

Has climate change been taken Carry out further modelling work to Compliance with Environment Would require setting up a Detailed phase. By consultants into account in the assessment assess changes in flow in receiving Quality Standards under current rainfall run-off model and in collaboration with of environmental capacity of waters that result from climate conditions may not indicate future using time series output Environment Agency and environmental waters to receive change using UKCP09 output and compliance. from UKCP09 weather Anglian Water. additional wastewater flows in assess impact using water quality generator (EARWIG). relation to the development. models.

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Topic area Key Issue Action Justification for further work Comments By when and by whom

Has resilience to flooding been Review previous work to determine This additional work should only Detailed phase. By consultants considered in the design of whether OFWAT guidance has been be carried out where the further in collaboration with Anglian wastewater assets followed. Carry out further work work is required to inform planning Water following guidance. decisions within required timescales.

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10.8 Carbon Accounting and Mitigation

Sustainability and carbon accounting should form part of the options appraisal and cost benefit analysis that is likely to form part of the Detailed Phase Water Cycle Study. Carbon accounting for direct carbon emissions and embedded carbon have developed greatly in recent years and OFWAT have required water companies to report on green house gas emissions as part of their PR09 submissions (Part C8 of company guidance information requirements). UK Water Industry Research have also recently produced guidance documents for operational carbon production (UKWIR 2005) and embedded carbon (UKWIR 2008). Anglian Water has followed this guidance and monitors its carbon emissions and carries carbon accounting as part of the options appraisal and cost benefit analysis related to the provision of water infrastructure. Guidance on carbon accounting and mitigation are also available from the Carbon Research Centre and Carbon Trust18.

Approaches to carbon budgeting will vary greatly between stakeholders and it will be important to develop a consistent approach particularly in relation to indirect emissions which may rely on information along supply chains. Adaptation of the water industry approach to other sectors such as drainage would provide the most straight forward way to achieve this.

Fenland District Council has a 30% target for the reduction of carbon emissions as part of their climate change strategy.

10.9 Key Issues

1) Climate change has the potential to impact on all aspects of the water cycle and the provision of water infrastructure. It is therefore essential that climate change is taken into full account in the further phases of the Water Cycle Study.

2) Climate change is particularly relevant in the study area because of the limited availability of water resources, slow flowing nature of the rivers and the importance of managing drainage and flood risk.

3) A wide range of policy and guidance have been developed to address climate change in the provision of water infrastructure which is outlined in detail in this Chapter. It is essential that this guidance is reviewed and any deficiencies addressed in developing the Water Cycle Study.

4) Climate change mitigation is a key element of developing sustainable water infrastructure provision and should form a key part of the infrastructure options appraisal process.

18 www.carbontrust.co.uk; www.ems.psu.edu/~eser/CRC/

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11. Recommendations

This Scoping Study sets out existing information and output from previous work related to the assessment of potential environmental capacity and water infrastructure constraints for development and growth in the study area. As well as presenting the key findings of this work, a key objective of the Study is to identify remaining areas of uncertainty and recommend further work for next phase of the water cycle study. The recommendations for further work, which are listed below, reflect the key principles to take the water cycle study forward, presented in Section 1.5 of this report and the key issues identified at the end of each Chapter:

1) The information presented in the Scoping Study is based on current estimates of housing and commercial growth. Further information will become available during completion of the Water Cycle Study as a result of further work on site allocation and the review of the Regional Spatial Strategy. It will be important to incorporate this information as the Water Cycle Study progresses;

2) The assessment of the supply demand balance in this report is based on the Water Supply Zones that form the basis of Anglian Water’s Water Resource Management Plan. Further assessment of local supply demand balance issues and integration of this with housing growth outside the study area is necessary to determine requirements for improved water infrastructure.

3) The impacts on water demand management on the supply demand balance require further investigation, taking into account the demand from existing housing. A range of scenarios should be considered based on options for demand management. The development of policy options and guidance, aimed at implementing water demand management, should also be considered. The project vision aims to achieve water neutrality and the viability of achieving this should be assessed further taking into account the urban structure of the study area.

4) There is a high demand for water to meet the statutory requirement to maintain navigation levels within the IDB systems and it is important that public water supply is balanced against these requirements; for example the supply of water from the River Nene to the Middle Levels. These issues need to be taken into account including changes in upstream demand for water beyond the study area.

5) Ongoing investigations on abstractions impacts on habitats need to be taken into account and any impacts of housing growth on the issues identified (e.g. Habitats Directive and RSA programmes).

6) Several sewage works have potential hydraulic capacity issues: Requirements to upgrade these works and modify discharge consents should be assessed further taking into account impacts of increased flow on the receiving waters and the regulatory requirement for no deterioration. Implications on meeting Water Framework Directive Targets also need to be assessed. This should also take into account impacts of water demand management on wastewater flows.

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7) Wastewater treatment works contribute to high nutrient and low dissolved oxygen concentrations in the rivers and drains in the study area. Effluent from the wastewater discharges in some cases flows into IDB drains and small rivers with limited environmental capacity. These water bodies have existing water quality problems associated with slow flowing rivers. Further assessment is required to assess the capacity of these rivers to receive additional flow, particularly with regard to achieving Water Framework Directive objectives.

8) Impacts of additional wastewater flow on flood risk and drainage in downstream watercourses needs to be assessed further. This needs to take into account the consenting function of the Internal Drainage Boards in relation to discharges into their watercourses.

9) The following wastewater treatment works have the potential to impact on protected habitats and therefore require further investigation: Littleport (Ouse Washes), Burwell, Reach, Swaffham Prior (Wicken Fen), Ely (Ely Pits and Meadows). Potential impacts of wastewater treatment works on the County Wildlife Sites also require investigation.

10) Development will erode spare capacity in the sewerage system which can eventually lead to problems such as localised sewer flooding, more frequent CSO operation, undersized pumping stations or WwTW inlet works and insufficient storm tank capacity. The significance of these issues requires further assessment and requirements for detailed sewer network modelling need to be scoped.

11) Following the review of existing SFRAs within the study area, scoping for a Level-1 SFRA is presented in Section 6 of this report. This involves:

o Updating of mapping data to include most recent information available;

o Production of plans of ordinary watercourses in the study area (see Section 6 on definition of ordinary watercourse);

o Defining and mapping the functional floodplain across the study area;

o Undertaking a quantitative assessment of the effects of climate change (using UKCP09 outputs) on flood risk;

o Updating information on historical flood events, the condition/presence of flood defences and flood warning schemes);

o Consideration of all sources of flooding including fluvial, tidal, groundwater, surface water, sewers and artificial sources across the study area;

o Building on existing information on the likelihood for development to increase flood risk elsewhere to encompass all development areas in the study area;

o Scoping for the preparation of a Surface Water Management Plan;

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o Building on existing FRA advice to encompass all development areas in the study area[

o Consideration of SuDS potential.

It is important that work is commissioned to bring both East Cambridgeshire and Fenland district wide SFRAs up to date in accordance with the requirements of PPS25. Coordination of this work with the Water Cycle Study will be important to provide a sound basis for decisions made in the Outline and Detailed phases.

12) Recent output from UKCIP (UKCP09) should be compared to previous output to determine whether updating of existing assessments on environmental capacity and water infrastructure provision is required. Output from UKCIP should also be taken into account in the planning of technical work in the Outline phase of the Water Cycle Study to ensure that the outputs are robust in the long term. This should be based on existing or new guidance on climate change assessment where this is available.

13) Continued stakeholder engagement will be key to successful development and delivery of the Water Cycle Strategy. Stakeholder engagement needs to be carefully planned to ensure that the greatest benefits are achieved taking into account the timing of outputs from the study. Development of these plans will therefore form an important part of the next phase of the work.

14) Further work to assess infrastructure options with regard to costs and sustainability should be carried out in the Detailed Phase of the water cycle study. However, scoping for this should be carried out in the next phase of Water Cycle Study.

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12. References

Anglian Water (2008) Draft Water Resources Management Plan

Anglian Water (2009) Strategic Direction Statement

N. Arnell and N. Reynard, November 2008. Climate Change Implications in estimates of water resource zone deployable output, Supplementary guidance to Water Resources Planning Guideline Chapter 8,

Atkins (2008) Development of guidance for sewerage undertakers on the implementation of drainage standards .

BRE (1991), Soakaway Design Digest 365 (1991)

CIRIA Guidance:

C522: SuDS Design Manual for England and Wales (2000)

C523: SuDS Best Practice Manual (2001)

C582: Model Agreements for SuDS (2004)

C609: SuDS Hydraulic, structural and water quality advice (2004)

C625: Model Agreements for SuDS (2004)

C635: Design for Exceedance in Urban Drainage - Good Practice (2006)

C697: The SuDS Manual (2007)

Cambridgeshire Horizons (2005) Green Infrastructure Strategy

Communities and Local Government (2007) Water efficiency in new buildings – A joint Defra and Communities and Local Government Policy Statement. Communities and Local Government, Wetherby.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2009) National River Flow Archive [online: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/uk_gauging_station_network.html].

Department of Communities and Local Government (2006) Code for Sustainable Homes. A step-change in sustainable home building practice.

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Defra (2005) Making Space For Water. Taking forward a new Government strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England. Defra, London.

Defra (2008) Future Water. The Government’s Water Strategy for England. Defra, Crown Copyright, Norwich.

Defra (2008) Internal Drainage Board Biodiversity Action Planning. A guide to producing IDB biodiversity action plans DEFRA Flood and Coastal Defence Appraisal Guidance FCDPAG3 Economica Appraisal Supplementary Note to Operating Authorities – Climate Change Impacts October 2006 East Cambridgeshire District Council (2008) Annual Monitoring Report 2007/2008.

East Cambridgeshire District Council (2007), Submission Core Strategy Paper (May 2008)

East Cambridgeshire District Council Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (Atkins; 2005)

Environment Agency (2003) Proforma for Stage 3 Appropriate Assessment. The Ouse Washes

Environment Agency (2005) Proforma for Stage 3 Appropriate Assessment. The Wash

Environment Agency (2005) Proforma for Stage 3 Appropriate Assessment. The North Norfolk Coast

Environment Agency (2005) A Study of Domestic Greywater Recycling. Bristol. Environment Agency

Environment Agency (2006) Cam and Ely Ouse CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) Old Bedford CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) Nene CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) Upper and Bedford Ouse CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) Welland CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) North East Essex CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) East Suffolk CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) Broadland RiversCAMS

Environment Agency (2006) North Norfolk CAMS

Environment Agency (2006) North West Norfolk CAMS

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Environment Agency (2007a). Making Better/Use of Our Water Resources. Identifying Areas of Water Stress. Consultation Document. Bristol.

Environment Agency (2007b). Towards water neutrality in the Thames Gateway. Bristol.

Environment Agency (2007c). Water for life and livelihoods. River basin planning: summary of significant water management issues. Anglian River Basin District.

Environment Agency (2007a) Water Resources Planning Guideline, April 2007. Environment Agency, Bristol

Environment Agency (2007b) Identifying areas of water stress, Consultation Document. Environment Agency, Bristol.

Environment Agency (2007c) Water for People and Environment. Developing our Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales, Consultation Document. Environment Agency, Bristol.

Environment Agency (2007d) Method of Estimating Population and Household Projections. Bristol. Environment Agency.

Environment Agency (2007e) Towards neutrality in the Thames Gateway - Modelling baseline, business as usual and pathway scenarios. Bristol. Environment Agency.

Environment Agency (2007f) Water Efficiency in the South East of England. Retrofitting Existing Homes. Environment Agency, Bristol

Environment Agency (2007g) Assessing the cost of compliance with the Code for Sustainable Homes. Environment Agency, Bristol

Environment Agency (2007i) Water Efficiency in the South East of England. Retrofitting Existing Homes. Environment Agency, Bristol

Environment Agency (2008) Draft River Basin Management Plan

Environment Agency (2008). Water resource planning guideline. Bristol.

Environment Agency (2009) Water Cycle Study Guidance. http://publications.environment- agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO0109BPFF-e-e.pdf

Fenland District Council (2007) Annual Monitoring Report

Fenland District Council (2007) Core strategy and Development Policies – Preferred Options 2

Fenland District Council (2006) Core Strategy and Development Policies – Issues and Options Document

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Fenland District Council Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Final Report, Bullen Consultants, March 2005

Fenland District Council Wisbech Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Final Report, JBA, February 2009

Government Office for the East of England (2008) The Revision to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England

Great Ouse Catchment Flood Management Plan , Environment Agency, September 2008

Halcrow (2008)Asset Resilience to Flood Hazards: Development of an analytical framework.

Market Transformation Programme (2007) BNWAT 19: Alternative sources of water - greywater and rainwater reuse: Innovation Briefing Note

Met Office {online] http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19611990/areal/uk.html

Mott MacDonald report on ‘Impact of EA Climate Change Scenarios on Anglian Water Surface Water Resources’, November 2007

UKWIR (2008a) Carbon accounting in the UK water industry. Operational Emissions. (08/CL/01/5)

UKWIR (2008b) Carbon accounting in the UK water industry. Guidelines for dealing with ‘Embodies Carbon; and whole life carbon accounting (08/CL/01/6)’.

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Appendix A Key Habitats and Wildlife Sites

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Table A1 Water associated protected habitats in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland

Site Description of habitats Potential water related issues Designations

The Ouse Washes The Ouse Washes, comprising a 32 km long, 2403 ha area of washland are of international Water quality issues related to pollution SPA, SAC, Ramseur, importance in terms of their conservation interest. Within the Washes are internationally inputs from the upstream catchment SSSI important areas of wet grassland. The area is of great ornithological interest with nationally and and IDB pumps. Hydrological impacts internationally important breeding colonies of several species. In addition to this, the two rivers from the upstream catchment related to to the north-west of the washes [Counter (Old Bedford) Drain & River Delph] are designated as the frequency of flooding a SAC on the basis of their spined loach Cobitis taenia populations.

The Nene Washes The Nene Washes represents one of the country’s few remaining areas of washland habitat Water quality issues related to pollution SAC, SPA, SSSI, which is essential to the survival nationally and internationally of populations of wildfowl and inputs from the upstream catchment. Ramsar waders. The site is additionally notable for the diversity of plant and associated animal life within Hydrological impacts from the upstream its network of dykes. The washlands are used for the seasonal uptake of floodwaters and, catchment related to the frequency of traditionally, for cattle grazing in the summer months. These washlands play an additional role flooding in relation to the nearby Ouse Washes in that they accommodate wildfowl populations displaced from the Ouse Washes when deep floodwaters prevent their feeding.

The Cam Washes The Cam Washes are a series of low lying pastures which are subject to seasonal flooding. This Water quality issues related to pollution SSSI seasonal flooding, coupled with a range of grassland structure from damp short grassland to inputs from the upstream catchment. wet tussocky fields, with associated pools, ditches and river margins, together with relative Hydrological impacts from the upstream freedom from disturbance makes this an important site for numbers and diversity of wintering catchment related to the frequency of and breeding wildfowl and waders. Many of these wetland species are now becoming flooding increasingly scarce due to loss of suitable habitat. Associated areas of scrub and scattered trees further enhance the value of the area for other birds, in particular, warblers. Although some of the grassland has been agriculturally improved much of the area retains a useful floristic diversity and one small relatively dry field is included largely on floristic grounds. The variety of habitat and the wet condition of much of this area indicates that its value to other fauna, in addition to birds, is likely to be similarly high, but this remains to be fully studied.

Chippenham Fen Chippenham Fen and Snailwell Poor’s Fen is a site of national importance for its wide range of Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI,Ramsar, SAC, and Snailwell Poors wetland habitats and associated birds and insects. Areas of tall and often rich fen, fen grassland water levels. Water quality in surface National Nature Fen and basic flush have developed over shallow peat soils. The site also contains calcareous water features affected by diffuse Reserve grassland, neutral grassland, woodland, mixed scrub and open water. The flora is very diverse pollution. and includes a number of uncommon species, particularly in the damp meadows bordering the fen. The site is fed by two main chalk springs and several subsidiary ones. The water levels are controlled within a series of ditches and dykes which support a rich aquatic flora.

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Site Description of habitats Potential water related issues Designations

Brackland Rough A damp valley woodland, the site holds stands of alder Alnus glutinosa, a woodland type rare in Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI Cambridgeshire and becoming scarce throughout its natural range in lowland Britain. The water levels ground flora in the wetter areas of the wood is characterised by tall fen species. The site is bounded by watercourses.

Snailwell Meadows The situation of these meadows on spring-fed chalk with overlying peat deposits leads to a Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI variety of soil conditions. As a consequence the meadows support a range of grassland water levels community types ranging from dry calcareous pasture through wet neutral grassland to marshy grassland with acidic influences typical of fen edge pastures. Such community types are essentially southern in their national distribution and are rare in a Cambridgeshire context. Species-rich wet grassland situations such as this characteristically support a rich invertebrate fauna.

Soham Wet Horse This collection of meadows holds neutral grassland communities of the calcareous loam pasture Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI Fen type together with elements of alluvial meadow and calcareous clay types. Nationally such water levels. Water quality in surface community types are restricted to the south of the country. Such species-rich grassland occurs water features affected by diffuse infrequently in Cambridgeshire, and represents habitats which are now rare in the country as a pollution. whole. Traditionally these grasslands are managed for hay and for grazing. The wetter areas are dominated by a mixture of grasses, sedges and rushes.

Stow Cum Quy Fen Stow cum Quy Fen possesses areas of floristically rich calcareous loam pasture. In addition a Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI number of pools formed on Chalk Marl are present and these support a range of aquatic plants water levels levels including some uncommon species. Both the grassland and open water habitats described above are rare in the British Isles. The pools have a good range of emergent and aquatic living plants. The open water habitats are particularly attractive to dragonflies and damselflies including the emperor Ajax imperator. The site is additionally of importance due to its location within an otherwise intensively cultivated area where semi-natural habitats are rare.

Upware North Pit The freshwater habitats hold one of the only two native British localities for the water germander Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI Teucrium scordium, a plant listed in the British Red Data Book1. In addition, the pits are of water levels. Water quality in surface general value for the wetland communities represented and some other uncommon plants are water features affected by diffuse recorded. The site consists of a series of small flooded pits divided by bunds colonised by willow pollution. Salix spp. and hawthorn. The pools contain a large amount of emergent vegetation including stands of common reed and greater pond sedge Carex riparia. Among some of the more uncommon species to be found are the great water dock Rumex hydrolapathum and the saw sedge Cladium mariscus.

Ely Pits and Area of lakes, reedbeds, rough grassland and deciduous woodland that has recently been Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI Meadows designated for it’s population of bittern. The site is one of the few non coastal sites with water levels. Water quality in surface

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Site Description of habitats Potential water related issues Designations

significant bittern populations and is also important for other wetland and reedbed breeding water features affected by diffuse birds, including marsh harriers and bearded tits. pollution.

Wicken Fen This small remnant of the East Anglian peat fens is one of the best surviving examples and is Potential impacts of abstraction on SSSI, Ramsar, SAC, unique in a Cambridgeshire context. The site supports a range of characteristic fenland water levels. Water quality in surface National Nature communities and is notable for its diverse fauna and flora, in particular the invertebrate fauna water features affected by diffuse Reserve and the relic fen flora. To the north of the Wicken Lode is the original peat fen. Here the site pollution. supports fen communities of carr and sedge. The more open areas of sedge fen are typically of tall grasses, great fen or saw sedge, purple moor-grass, sedges and rushes. To the south of the Wicken Lode, the area is of rough pasture land, reedbed and pools which are attractive to breeding wetland birds and to wintering wildfowl, the area being subjected to winter flooding. The dykes, abandoned claypits and other watercourses carry a great wealth of aquatic plants. Many, such as greater spearwort Ranunculus flammula and lesser water-plaintain Baldellia ranunculoides are now uncommon elsewhere.

In addition the following terrestrial sites are in the study area and may be affected by water infrastructure:

Delph Bridge Drain SSSI Chettisham Meadow SSSI Devil’s Dyke SSSI, SAC Shippea Hill SSSI Upware South Pit SSSI Bassenhally Pit SSSI Adventurer’s Land SSSI Out and Plunder Woods SSSI Park Wood SSSI Ten Wood SSSI

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Table A2 County Wildlife Sites in East Cambridgeshire and Fenland

Fenland East Cambridgeshire

Block Fen Gravel Pits Ashley B1085 Ashley

Fortrey’s Hall Heronry Mill Road Hedgerows Ashley

Forty Foot Drain (East) Track west of Lower Windmill Ashley

Langwood Hill Pit Bottisham Park Bottisham

Sutton Mepal Pumping Station Drains Heath Road / Street Way green lanes Bottisham

Goosetree Heronry Brinkley Hall veteran trees Brinkley

Guyhirn Reed Bed Brinkley Wood Brinkley

Leverington Gull St George’s Churchyard Brinkley

Bedlam Hill Pit Bushy Grove Burrough Green

Manea Pit Burwell Brick Pit Burwell

Gault Bank Pollard Willows Burwell Disused Railway Burwell

Norwood Nature Reserve Spring Close Burwell

Whitemoor Pit and Nature Reserve The Swamp Burwell

Whitemoor Marshalling Yard Cheveley Park Stud veteran trees Cheveley

North Level Main Drain at Tydd Gote Warren Hill and adjacent areas Cheveley

Aliwal Road Pollard Willows Chippenham Avenue Fields Chippenham

Common Wash Chippenham Park Chippenham

East Delph Pollard Willows Freckenham Road RSV Chippenham

Eldernell Gravel Pits Havacre Meadows and Deal Nook Chippenham

Funtham’s Pit Byall Fen Pumping Station drains Downham

Lattersey Local Nature Reserve Great Widgham Wood Dullingham

Long Gravel Pit Little Widgham Wood Dullingham

Nene Washes Counter Drain (East) Parish boundary hedgerow Dullingham

Nene Washes Counter Drain (West) Angel Drove drains Ely

Pit southeast of Bassenhally Pit Beald Drove pollard willows Ely

Railway Lakes Black Wing drains Ely

Stanground Gullet and Bradley’s Pit Chettisham Meadows Ely

Block Fen Gravel Pits Ely Beet Pits Ely

Wimblington Common Gravel Pits Ely Cemetery Ely

River Nene (FDC) Middle Fen Bank pollard willows Ely

River Lark and associated habitat Ely

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Fenland East Cambridgeshire

Roswell Pits and adjacent area Ely

Aldreth Ponds Haddenham

Fen Side pollard willowsHaddenham

Guppy’s Pond and Hinton Hedges Haddenham

Haddenham Engine / Adventurer’s Head drainage systemHaddenham

River Great Ouse Haddenham

Isleham Railway Cutting Isleham

Chippenham Gravel Pit Kennett

Halfmoon Plantation Pit Kennett

Kennett Churchyard Kennett

Kennett restored gravel pit Kennett

Great Wood Kirtling

Lucy Wood and adjacent features Kirtling

Little Ouse River Littleport

Anglesey Abbey Lode

River Cam Lode

Swaffham Poor’s Fen Lode

Mepal Gravel PitsMepal

River Close parkland Mepal

Sutton & Mepal Pumping Station drains Mepal

7335 Old Rectory Meadows Snailwell

Snailwell Grasslands and Woods Snailwell

The Limekilns and adjacent areas Snailwell

Broad Piece Soham

East Fen Common and The Wash Soham

Mere Side GrasslandsSoham

Qua Fen Common Soham

Soham Cemetery Soham

Basefield Wood Stetchworth

Combers Wood Stetchworth

Great Chitlings Wood Stetchworth

Little Chitlings WoodStetchworth

Marmer’s Wood Stetchworth

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Fenland East Cambridgeshire

Pickmore Wood Stetchworth

Hundred Foot Bank swamp and ditch Sutton (E)

Old Bedford Low Bank drains Sutton (E)

Cow Bridge pollard willows Swaffham Bulbeck

Beacon Course green lane Swaffham Prior

Driest Droveway Swaffham Prior

July Course grasslands Swaffham Prior

Swaffham Prior Meadow Swaffham Prior

Wentworth pollard willows Wentworth

Ladies Grove and Hay Wood Westley Waterless

Kingfisher’s Bridge wetland Wicken

New River and Monk’s Lode Wicken

Charcoals Wood Woodditton

Ditton Park Wood Woodditton

Links Golf Course Woodditton

Wood South of Parsonage Farm Woodditton

Woodditton Kirtling Road RSV Woodditton

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Appendix B Planning and Policy

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National Planning guidance

PPS1 - Delivering Sustainable Development and the supplement to PPS1: Planning and Climate Change

The key theme in government planning policy is the need to achieve sustainable development, which includes dealing with the effects of Climate Change. PPS1 ‘Delivering Sustainable Development’ (2005) and the December 2006 supplement: ‘Climate Change’, ‘Zero Carbon Development’ and the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ have now been incorporated in a Planning and Climate Change Bill.

PPS1 requires regional planning bodies (RPBs) and local planning authorities (LPAs) to prepare development plans, which ensure that development is pursued in line with the principles for sustainable development, and promote outcomes in which environmental, economic and social objectives are achieved together over time. This should be achieved using a spatial planning approach.

Specifically, planning authorities should identify land suitable for meeting housing and other types of development taking into account the need to provide essential infrastructure and avoid flood risk. In addition, they should address the issue of climate change, the management of pollution and the minimisation of impacts from the management and use of resources based upon sound science. PPS1 advises that regional planning authorities and local authorities should promote amongst other things the sustainable use of water resources and the use of sustainable drainage systems in the management of run-off.

The PPS1 supplement advises local planning authorities that when deciding suitable locations for development, and for what type and intensity, they should take into account the capacity of existing and potential infrastructure including water supply, sewage and sewerage, to service the site or area in ways consistent with successfully adapting to likely changes in the local climate. In addition, they could consider physical and environmental constraints such as sea level rises, flood risk and stability, and take a precautionary approach to increases in risk which may arise as a result of potential changes to the climate.

PPS3 - Housing

PPS3 underpins the delivery of the Government's strategic housing policy objectives where the goal is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live in a decent home, which they can afford in a community where they want to live. Much of the future development in the District will be the provision of housing. The objectives are to deliver high quality housing, of appropriate mix, in sufficient quantity, at suitable locations by making efficient and effective use of land. Local Planning Authorities are advised they should make effective use of land by re-using land that has been previously developed; the national target is that at least 60% of new housing should be provided on previously developed land.

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PPS12 - Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities through Local Spatial Planning

PPS12 was published in June 2008. It outlines the nature of local spatial planning and the key components of local spatial plans and how they should be prepared. It should be taken into account by local planning authorities in preparing Local Development Frameworks (LDFs), which include development plan documents (DPDs) and other local development documents (LDDs).

With regard to infrastructure, PPS12 states core strategies should:

“be supported by evidence of what physical, social and green infrastructure is needed to enable the amount of development proposed for the area, taking account of its type and distribution. This evidence should cover who will provide the infrastructure and when it will be provided. The core strategy should draw on and in parallel influence any strategies and investment plans of the local authority and other organisations.”

The water cycle study will form part of the robust and credible evidence base, which will underpin policies within the Core Strategies and other relevant LDDs for East Cambridgeshire and Fenland.

PPS25 - Development and Flood Risk

PPS25 sets out Government policy on development and flood risk. It aims to ensure that flood risk is taken into account at all stages in the planning process to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding, and to direct development away from areas of highest risk. It also aims to ensure that new development does not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere. Where, in exceptional circumstances, new development is necessary in such areas then the aim is to make it safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere and, where possible, to reduce flood risk overall.

PPS25 stipulates that all planning applications for developments greater than 1ha must be accompanied by a Flood Risk Assessment detailing surface water management plans to demonstrate that run-off does not increase from the proposed development once it has been built and that run-off is not simply moved elsewhere.

This echoes comments from the Pitt review, which reiterates comments in PPS25. It makes it clear that developments within ‘Flood Zone 2’ and ‘3’ should not be allowed to proceed unless there is clear proof that they are compatible developments for these zones. As this report is being used to inform this process it will act as an aid to the decision making process when advising on the suitability of developments in line with guidance within the Pitt Review.

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Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure is a strategically planned and delivered network comprising the broadest range of high quality green spaces and other environmental features. It should be designed and managed as a multi-functional resource capable of delivering those ecological services and quality of life benefits required by the communities it serves and needed to underpin sustainability. Its design and management should also respect and enhance the character and distinctiveness of an area with regard to habitat and landscape types.

The Access to Natural Greenspace Standards (ANGSt) as currently defined and recommended for adoption in PPG17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation, are:

• Every home should be within 300m of an accessible natural greenspace of at least 2ha plus;

• At least 1ha of Local Nature Reserve should be provided per 1,000 population;

• At least one accessible 20ha site within 2km;

• At least one accessible 100ha site within 5km;

• At least one accessible 500km site within 10km.

Natural England believes that the provision of green infrastructure should be an integral part of the creation of sustainable communities throughout England.

East of England Plan Water Policy

POLICY WAT1: Water Efficiency

The Government will work with the Environment Agency, water companies, OFWAT, and regional stakeholders to ensure that development in the spatial strategy is matched with improvements in water efficiency delivered through a progressive, year on year, reduction in per capita consumption rates. Savings will be monitored against the per capita per day consumption target set out in the Regional Assembly’s monitoring framework.

POLICY WAT2: Water Infrastructure

The Environment Agency and water companies should work with OFWAT, EERA and the neighbouring regional assemblies, local authorities, delivery agencies and others to ensure timely provision of the appropriate additional infrastructure for water supply and waste water treatment to cater for the levels of development provided through this plan, whilst meeting surface and groundwater quality standards, and avoiding adverse impact on sites of European or international importance for wildlife.

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A co-ordinated approach to plan making should be developed through a programme of water cycle and river cycle studies to address the issues of water supply, water quality, wastewater treatment and flood risk in receiving water courses relating to development proposed in this RSS. Complementing this approach, Local Development Documents should plan to site new development so as to maximise the potential of existing water/waste water treatment infrastructure and minimise the need for new/improved infrastructure.

POLICY WAT3: Integrated Water Management

Local planning authorities should work with partners to ensure their plans, policies, programmes and proposals take account of the environmental consequences of river basin management plans, catchment abstraction management strategies, groundwater vulnerability maps, groundwater source protection zone maps, proposals for water abstraction and storage and the need to avoid adverse impacts on sites of European importance for wildlife. The Environment Agency and water industry should work with local authorities and other partners to develop an integrated approach to the management of the water environment.

POLICY WAT4: Flood Risk Management

Coastal and river flooding is a significant risk in parts of the East of the England. The priorities are to defend existing properties from flooding and locate new development where there is little or no risk of flooding.

Local Development Documents should:

• use Strategic Flood Risk Assessments to guide development away from floodplains, other areas at medium or high risk or likely to be at future risk from flooding, and areas where development would increase the risk of flooding elsewhere;

• include policies which identify and protect flood plains and land liable to tidal or coastal flooding from development, based on the Environment Agency’s flood maps and Strategic Flood Risk Assessments supplemented by historical and modelled flood risk data, Catchment Flood Management Plans and policies in

Shoreline Management Plans and Flood Management Strategies, including ‘managed re-alignment’ where appropriate:

• only propose departures from the above principles in exceptional cases where suitable land at lower risk of flooding is not available, the benefits of development outweigh the risks from flooding, and appropriate mitigation measures are incorporated; and

• require that sustainable drainage systems are incorporated in all appropriate developments. Areas of functional floodplain needed for strategic flood storage in the Thames Estuary should be identified and safeguarded by local authorities in their Local Development Documents.

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Primary Water Related Legislation

Water Framework Directive

The Water Framework Directive sets out a requirement to achieve good ecological status in rivers, estuaries and coastal waters, together with good status of groundwater by at 215. It presents a unique opportunity for holistic environmental management for all users of the water environment. Standards for coastal and transitional (estuaries) waters brought in to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive require that thermal conditions, oxygen conditions, transparency and nutrients are considered. A cross body Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) has recently published a set of environmental standards. Whilst there is no certainty that these standards will become statutory in the current form, they form the best current knowledge of how the standards may change. It is considered likely they will be finalised later this year.

Habitats Directive and Birds Directive

As people make increasing demands on the environment our wildlife habitats are coming under more and more pressure. The Habitats Directive recognises this and aims to protect the wild plants, animals and habitats that make up our diverse natural environment. The European Directives created a network of protected areas of national and international importance. These are called ‘Natura 2000’ sites and include Habitats Directive Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites. A number of water-dependent species are also protected under the Habitats Regulations, e.g. great crested newt, otters, floating-leaved water plantain. The Habitats Directive has been transposed into English law as the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994, now known as the Habitats Regulations. Existing and future water management has the potential to affect a number of these designations and the Environment Agency Review of Consents process has identified a series of amendments that will be required to existing abstraction licences and discharge consents if adverse effects on the European Sites are to be avoided.

Shellfish Water Directive The Shellfish Waters Directive aims to protect shellfish populations and contributes to the high quality of shellfish products. It sets water quality standards in areas, mainly in estuaries, where shellfish grow and reproduce. The directive requires that certain substances are monitored in the shellfish waters. These substances can threaten the survival of shellfish, inhibit their growth or make them too expensive to treat before they can be used as a food source. In the UK, the directive is implemented by the Surface Waters (Shellfish) (Classification) Regulations 1997 and the Surface Waters (Shellfish) Directions 1997. The directive will be repealed in 2013 by the EC Water Framework Directive, which must provide at least the same level of protection to shellfish waters (which the WFD classifies as protected areas) as the Shellfish Waters Directive does.

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Bathing Waters Directive The Bathing Waters Directive sets out water quality standards to protect the environment at bathing waters throughout the bathing season. It requires popular bathing waters to be ‘designated’ and monitored for water quality, particularly for human waste from sewage treatment works. In England and Wales the bathing water season runs from mid-May to September. The directive is implemented through the Bathing Waters (Classifications) Regulations 2003. A revised Bathing Water Directive became law in the UK in March 2008. As well as stricter water quality standards, it contains a requirement to provide more detailed and standardised information about bathing waters across Europe.

Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) regulates the collection and treatment of wastewater from residential properties and industry. Under this Directive receiving waters can be designated as ‘Sensitive' where additional levels of treatment are required at significant contributing discharges. These can either be direct discharges or those upstream of the designated reach/water body that serve a population equivalent in excess of 10,000. One type of sensitive area is the “Sensitive Area [Eutrophic]”, where elevated nutrient concentrations, mainly nitrogen or phosphorus, present a risk to the ecological status of the receiving water. In these areas, larger sewage discharges must be treated to reduce nutrient loads.

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Table B1 Actions identified in the draft River Basin Management Plan that may affect Water Infrastructure in the Study Area

Pressure Action When Where Means of delivery Lead Organisation Driver

Scenario A - What is already happening and what will happen

Abstraction and other LOCALLY DERIVED MEASURE: Establishment of 2015 Lark Valley, Chatteris Partnership NFU, CLA, farmer's Water resource artificial flow agricultural water abstractor groups in the Lark Valley, (Middle Level) and agreements groups, Environment stress pressures Chatteris and BAWAG (Broadlands Agricultural Water Broadland, Internal Agency Abstractor Group) Drainage Boards.

Sediment (as a direct LOCALLY DERIVED MEASURE: Fen Protection Project 2015 Fens Grants and funding. RSPB, Natural England, Increase in pollutant) - pressure to protect peat. Need to continue with Great Wildlife Trusts. biodiversity and Fen project (joins up Holme and Woodwalton Fen), reduction in Major potential to protect and enhance biodiversity and pollution. environmental quality through Wicken fen, Ouse Washes, Needingworth, Lakenheath and Boston sites.

Abstraction and other Investigation to determine impact of abstraction on the 2015 River Little Ouse Restoring Sustainable Environment Agency Local site (RSA) artificial flow site Abstraction pressures programme

Abstraction and other Investigation to determine impact of abstraction on the 2010 Ouse Washes Habitats Directive Environment Agency Habitats Directive artificial flow site pressures

Abstraction and other Investigation to determine impact of abstraction on the 2015 Brackland Rough Restoring Sustainable Environment Agency SSSI artificial flow site Abstraction pressures programme

Abstraction and other Action is required to achieve favourable conservation 2015 Nene Washes Habitats Directive Environment Agency Habitats Directive artificial flow status pressures

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Pressure Action When Where Means of delivery Lead Organisation Driver

Nutrients Improvement of polluting discharge (continuous) at 2010 Anglian RBD AMP4 Anglian Water Services Habitats Directive Witchford WwTW, Wilburton WwTW, Littleport WwTW Ltd and Witcham WwTW

Nutrients SUBJECT TO APPROVAL IN 2009: Improvement of 2015 Anglian RBD PR09 Anglian Water Services Urban Waste polluting discharges (continuous) at Haslingfield TW, Ltd Water Treatment Burwell WwTW, Brandon WwTW, Botesdale Directive WwTW,Barnham WwTW, Attleborough WwTW, Mildenhall WwTW, Hawstead WwTW, Weeting WwTW, Thetford WwTW, Swaffham WwTW, Swaffham Prior WwTW, Stanningfield WwTW, Soham WwTW Royston WwTW, Rougham (Suffolk) WwTW, Reach WwTW, Newmarket WwTW, Necton WwTW, West Stow WwTW, Linton WwTW, Ashwell WwTW, Great Welnetham WwTW, Elmswell WwTW, Debden WwTW and Burwell WwTW

Abstraction and Water Investigation to determine impact of abstraction on the 2015 Soham Wet Horse AMP4 Water Company SSSI Company other site Fen artificial flow pressures

Nutrients Improvement of polluting discharge (continuous) at 2010 Anglian RBD AMP4 Anglian Water Services Habitats Directive Manea (Town Lots) WwTW, Ramsey WwTW, Chatteris Ltd WwTW, Mepal WwTW and Somersham(Cambs) WwTW

Organic pollutants Improvement of polluting discharge (continuous) at 2008 Anglian RBD AMP4 Anglian Water Services Fresh Water Fish March WwTW Ltd Directive

Scenario 'B - Additional actions that will happen if this plan is approved

Abstraction and Water Investigation to determine impact of abstraction on the 2010 Chippenham and PR09 Water Company Habitats Directive Company other site Snailwell Fen artificial flow pressures

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Pressure Action When Where Means of delivery Lead Organisation Driver

Organic pollutants SUBJECT TO APPROVAL IN 2009: Improvement of 2015 Anglian RBD PR09 Anglian Water Services WFD polluting discharge (intermittent) at Chatteris - Ltd Huntingdon Road SSO

Scenario C - Additional actions that could happen if we had more certainty

Abstraction and LOCALLY DERIVED MEASURE: Wicken Fen Vision. 2100 Wicken Fen Grants and funding. National Trust Increase in National Trust other The Wicken Fen Vision is an ambitious plan to create a (Cambridgeshire) Education and biodiversity artificial flow new nature reserve covering around 56 square awareness pressures, Nutrients, kilometres between Cambridge and Wicken Fen. This campaigns. Organic pollutants, will be the largest project of its kind in lowland England. Priority Hazardous Today The National Trust owns 930 hectares in the Substances, Priority area. The National Trust sees the Wicken Fen as an Substances and exciting opportunity to create a mosaic of different Specific Pollutants, habitats for wildlife and different sorts of open space for Sediment (as a direct people to enjoy. There will be wetland habitat, especially pollutant) in the lower lying areas around the existing Wicken Fen. This will include areas of open water and marshy areas with tall vegetation such as reeds and bulrush. The existing Wicken Fen was the first Nature Reserve to be owned by the National Trust and is today one of the few remaining areas of fenland wilderness in East Anglia with over 7800 recorded species.

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Table C1 Current Population and Consent Conditions for WwTWs Serving the Study Area

Figures from JR08 Consent (mg/l) DWF (m3/d) Site Name District Council data

Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed TSS BOD NH3 Measured consented Total PE TSS BOD NH3 consented

East Cambridgeshire GREAT FEN SOHAM WwTW District 18 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A 6

East Cambridgeshire CHEVELEY PARK WwTW District 20 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A 4

East Cambridgeshire SHIPPEA HILL REDMERE WwTW District 27 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A

East Cambridgeshire PRICKWILLOW-LARK BANK WwTW District 36 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A

East Cambridgeshire LITTLE OUSE VILLAGE WwTW District 40 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A

East Cambridgeshire LITTLEPORT PLAINS LANE WwTW District 45 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A 11

East Cambridgeshire KENNETT HP WwTW District 127 25 15A - 8 - N/A N/A 27

East Cambridgeshire BLACKHORSE DROVE WwTW District 170 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A

East Cambridgeshire KIRTLING WwTW District 185 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A

East Cambridgeshire BURROUGH GREEN WwTW District 198 40 20A - 20 - 59 N/A 68

COVENEY WwTW 239 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A N/A East Cambridgeshire

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Figures from Consent (mg/l) DWF (m3/d) JR08 Site Name District Council data

Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed TSS BOD NH3 Measured consented Total PE TSS BOD NH3 consented District

East Cambridgeshire REACH WwTW District 241 30 30A - 10 - 30 N/A 62

East Cambridgeshire BRINKLEY WwTW District 305 60 40A - 20 - 44 87 70

East Cambridgeshire CHIPPENHAM WwTW District 421 40 20A - - - 42 100 51

East Cambridgeshire SWAFFHAM PRIOR WwTW District 590 30 25A - 30 - 64 N/A 170

East Cambridgeshire PRICKWILLOW WWTW District 598 60 30A - - - 30 145 100

East Cambridgeshire WILBURTON WWTW District 938 50 20A - - - 189 N/A 225

East Cambridgeshire MEPAL WwTW District 951 60 40A - 25 - 165 N/A 180

East Cambridgeshire DULLINGHAM WwTW District 1094 40 20A - 15 - 187 215 205

East Cambridgeshire LITTLE DOWNHAM WwTW District 1893 30 15A - 10 - 402 N/A 431

East Cambridgeshire ISLEHAM WwTW District 1933 65 45A - 8 - 231 N/A 423

East Cambridgeshire WITCHFORD WwTW District 1973 40 20A - 12 - 400 730 522

East Cambridgeshire STRETHAM WwTW District 1992 35 20A - 20 - 206 N/A 500

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Figures from Consent (mg/l) DWF (m3/d) JR08 Site Name District Council data

Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed TSS BOD NH3 Measured consented Total PE TSS BOD NH3 consented

East Cambridgeshire HADDENHAM WwTW District 2811 35 20A - 5 - 484 749 630

East Cambridgeshire BOTTISHAM WwTW District 3289 40 20A - 5 - 850 1046 820

East Cambridgeshire WITCHAM WwTW District 3974 20 12A - 6 - 944 1328 819

East Cambridgeshire ELY (NEW) WwTW District 4688 50 25A - 10 - 1148 N/A 1604

East Cambridgeshire BURWELL WwTW District 5456 27 14A - 9 - 777 1373 690

East Cambridgeshire LITTLEPORT WwTW District 6325 30 15A - 5 - 1900 2314 1300

East Cambridgeshire SOHAM WwTW District 12073 35 17A - 8 - 715 2894 2500

East Cambridgeshire ELY WwTW District 13587 50 25A - 15 - 2315 N/A 4350

CHRISTCHURCH-FEN VIEW WwTW Fenland District 91 0 0 - 0 - N/A N/A 24

PARSON DROVE WwTW Fenland District 266 30 15A - 10 - 41 N/A 100

BENWICK WwTW Fenland District 731 30 15A - 17 - 52 N/A 180

MANEA-TOWN LOTS WwTW Fenland District 1478 20 15A - 5 - 233 N/A 320

DODDINGTON WwTW Fenland District 3468 24 20A - - - 490 640 616

CHATTERIS-NIGHTLAYER FEN WwTW Fenland District 9779 30 15A - 6 - 2242 N/A 3800

WHITTLESEY WwTW Fenland District 14070 30 15A - 8 - 3113 3487 2885

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Figures from Consent (mg/l) DWF (m3/d) JR08 Site Name District Council data

Proposed Proposed Proposed Proposed TSS BOD NH3 Measured consented Total PE TSS BOD NH3 consented

MARCH WwTW Fenland District 20234 20 10A - 3 - 2230 4743 5148

Boundary between King's Lynn & West Norfolk District and East WISBECH (WEST WALTON) WwTW Cambridgeshire District 156500 - - 40 - 20 - 10329 14894 14421

Appendix C Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009

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Appendix D UKCP09 Analysis

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Detailed scenarios for the UK are generated using a regional climate model. This is a high resolution model which is nested in the full global climate model. This model produces the output that forms the basis of the climate change predictions produced by UKCIP; a Defra funded body, based at the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford. UKCIP are facilitators, providing people with free access to the UK climate change scenarios and tools to help understand climate impacts and adaptation. The climate change models have been run for a range of scenarios to account for uncertainty regarding future carbon emissions.

The first set of scenarios was produced in 1998 and is known as UKCIP98. These were superseded in 2002 by UKCIP02. Recently in June 2009 output has been released, known as UKCP09. The latest output uses the same climate change models as were used for UKCIP02 but in contrast to previous output, probabilistic output also been produced based on a range of model set ups and referencing output from other climate change models. The output is also at a higher resolution than previous UK scenarios, with data being available at a 25km resolution. This provides much greater spatial detail but also means that topographic features are better resolved so air flow over hills, descriptions of catchments, etc should be more accurate.

For the first time, daily and sub daily data will be available thanks to the use of a weather generator. This is a tool which provides information on future climate which is statistically consistent with the probabilistic climate projections. It is based upon empirical relationships with stochastic variation applied to provide variability in the generated time-series. The UKCP09 weather generator is based upon EARWIG, a weather generator previously developed for the Environment Agency by the same team who are developing the UKCP09 weather generator. The weather generator output that will be available through UKCIP is based on a 5km resolution grid of the UK and will be consistent with the projections.

The provisional list of available fields is provided below. The output from UKCP09 can be incorporated into existing methodologies to assess environmental capacity and requirements for water infrastructure and may also result in modifications to guidance for climate change assessment.

Quantities Available in the UKCP09

Probabilistic over land

Mean Sea Level Pressure (hPa) Total Cloud Cover (%)

Net Downward Surface Long-Wave Flux (W/m2) Net Downward Surface Short-Wave Flux (W/m2)

Relative Humidity at 1.5m (%) Total Downward Short-Wave Flux (W/m2)

Precipitation rate (mm/day) Precipitation rate (%)

Min air temperature at 1.5m (K) Max air temperature at 1.5m (K)

Mean air temperature at 1.5m (K) 99th percentile daily precipitation rate (%)

1st percentile Max air temperature at 1.5m (K) 99th percentile Max air temperature at 1.5m (K)

1st percentile Min air temperature at 1.5m (K) 99th percentile Min air temperature at 1.5m (K)

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Snowfall Rate (%)

Probabilistic over marine regions

Precipitation rate (mm/day) Precipitation rate (%)

Mean air temperature at 1.5m (K) Total Cloud Cover (%)

Weather generator - daily output

Mean Total Daily Precipitation Rate (mm/day) Sunshine Hours (0-24)

Minimum Daily Temperature (° C) Maximum Daily Temperature (°C)

Vapour Pressure (hPa) Relative Humidity (%)

Potential Evapo-Transpiration (mm/day) Direct Radiation (W/m2)

Downward Diffuse Radiation (W/m2)

Weather generator - hourly output

Mean Total Hourly Precipitation Rate (mm/day) Sunshine Hours (0-24)

Mean Hourly Temperature (° C)

Vapour Pressure (hPa) Relative Humidity (%)

Potential Evapo-Transpiration (mm/day) Direct Radiation (W/m2)

Downward Diffuse Radiation (W/m2)

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Appendix E SFRA Report Summaries

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East Cambridgeshire District Council, SFRA Stage 2 Report, ATKINS, October 2005

The East Cambridgeshire Level 2 SFRA focused on the 12 growth areas, identified as; Bottisham, Burwell, Ely, Fordham, Haddenham, Isleham, Little Downham, Littleport, Soham, Stretham, Sutton, and Witchford.

The Environment Agency flood maps showed that a large proportion of the East Cambridgeshire District Council is located in Flood Zone 3, the majority of which is contributed to fluvial sources with only a small area identified as tidal flooding. However the low-lying fenland area is protected from fluvial and tidal flooding by substantial embankments and flood defence schemes. The River Great Ouse is embanked along its entire route through the study area. The Ouse Wash system was designed to safely contain fluvial flood events up to the 1 in 200 year, though some reaches of the Ely Ouse system have a standard of protection less than 100 years. The flood defence system is complicated involving sluices, gates, pumps and embankments.

The SFRA describes that the fens, which characterise the areas, were first drained in the 18th Century. Extensive drainage since then has resulted in the fens having shrunk below the channels that drained them and have gradually become an area where the rivers are higher than the surrounding land. As parts of the fens are as much as 1.5 m below mean sea level and the estimated high flood level is 3.5 m to 4 m above this, the SFRA identified the greatest challenge being the protection of the fens from flooding by failure of overtopping of the river embankments which are continually sinking.

The SFRA identified that flooding in the fen is rare, but when it does occur it can have catastrophic and fatal consequences. Two principle sources of flood risk were identified; overtopping, and breaching of the main river embankments. However, the SFRA focused on a breach scenario as this was considered to be the worst case, and as the vast majority of the defences are to designed to provide a defined standard level of protection, overtopping would rarely occur.

Extensive flooding of the study area was considered only likely to occur following a breach of the South Level Barrier, the Great Ouse banks just upstream of the Earith or the embankments of the Ely Ouse system. The area considered to be most at risk from breach is the farmland immediately adjacent to the Bottisham, Swaffham Bulbeck, Reach and Soham Lodes.

The SFRA revised the Environment Agency maps where breaching of the main rivers was considered the principle flood risk mechanism.

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Fenland District Council, SFRA Final Report, Bullen Consultants, March 2005

The 2005 SFRA examined flood risk in the Fenland District in relation to the 32 nominated development areas. Four principal sources of flood risk were identified the:

• tidal channel of the River Nene;

• Great Ouse/Bedford River system between Denver and Earith;

• Middle Level arterial drainage network; and

• the North Level arterial drainage system

The SFRA described that the great majority of Fenland District is shown on the Environment Agency’s Flood Maps as being within the floodplain of the fens, with a narrow corridor of land along the River Nene shown as tidal floodplain. The central areas of Chatteris, March and Whittlesey are, however, shown to be situated on ‘islands’ in the fluvial floodplain. The land is chiefly between 1m below and 1 m above OD. There are, however, islands of higher land (5 m OD) scattered throughout the District, generally associated with long established urban or village settlements.

In the fens the entire area, in theory, constitutes the “natural floodplain” of all the rivers that flow through it. In reality, centuries of fen drainage, flood defence and land reclamation works have rendered the concept of a ‘natural floodplain’ for fenland rivers inapplicable. The SFRA classed 23 of the 32 development areas as being wholly, or the major part of them, not at a significant risk of flooding (i.e. not in Flood Zone 3). Surface water attenuation measures would still be required in these areas to ensure flood risk to areas downstream is not increased.

The Middle Level System is a series of high-level watercourses, which are embanked above the level of the surrounding land. Overflowing of these high-level watercourses can become a serious problem where they are embanked above the level of the adjacent land. The River Nene is an embanked main river and is tidal for most of its reach through the Fenland District. The Smeeth Lode is also an embanked watercourse.

The SFRA describes that the low-lying fenland areas between the high-level watercourses of the Middle Level System are pumped-drained into the system. The land drainage pumping stations and their associated network of unembanked fen drains are maintained by IDBs. If an unembanked channel is overtopped, the overflow spreads slowly over a wide area and, with the exception of local low spots, what occurs is widespread water logging, rather than serious inundation.

The SFRA identified that breaching of flood embankments is the principal cause of major flooding in fenland areas. Localised flooding was identified as a potential flood risk however the SFRA disregarded this as insignificant when set against the immensely greater hazard posed by overtopping or breaching of a major flood defence embankment

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Appendix E Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009

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Fenland District Council, Wisbech SFRA Final Report, JBA, February 2009

The 2009 SFRA was prepared by JBA to constitute a Level 2 report that also incorporates the requirements of a Level 1 report. The report was prepared under current policy (PPS25). The SFRA considered possible sources of flooding and found that the tidal risk dominates at Wisbech. The SFRA provided quite detailed information for each of the proposed development sites, taking into consideration climate change predictions, and provided an outline for detailed FRA to be prepared for new development in the study area.

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Great Ouse Catchment Flood Management Plan, Environment Agency, September 2008

The 2008 CFMP identified the main sources of flood risk as being:

• River flooding from the Great Ouse, particularly at:

- Leighton Buzzard

- Bedford and Kempston

- Biggleswade

- Beeston

- Sandy and Blunham

- St Neots and Godmanchester

- Huntington

- Houton

- Wyton

• Surface water drainage and sewer flooding. Parts of the Bedford and Kempston, Leighton Buzzard and St Neots are known to have experienced this type of flooding

• Groundwater flooding. Parts of the River Lark, River Thet and River Wissey subcatchments could be susceptible to flood risk due to high groundwater levels in the underlying aquifer.

Coastal flooding, downstream of Kings Lynn and along The Wash coastline were not considered in the CFMP

The CFMP described that the Great Ouse catchment has a history of flood risk issues generally arising from high rainfall that can lead to extensive flooding. However, over the last 100 years numerous engineering schemes have been implemented that have modified the catchment’s response to rainfall and have all reduced the flood risk. In addition, a Flood Warning Scheme has also been implemented. The CFMP recognised however that flooding cannot be completely prevented and certain parts of the catchment are still more vulnerable than others to the risk of flooding.

The CFMP identified that critical infrastructure and community services are affected. The infrastructure identified was; all main railway lines, several motorways and A-roads, a number of power sub-stations and a sewerage treatment works. The community services at risk include schools, care homes, hospitals and emergency response centres.

The effects of climate change were considered to increase the risk to people and properties in the Fens as a result of an increased residual risk of overtopping and complete embankment failure.

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The geology of the study area was described as being dominated by Chalk in the south east, Mudstone in the north west and Limestone at very western end. In the lower part of the catchment, particularly the Fens, thick deposits of peat or mud cover the mudstone. The peat deposits are dominant in terms of hydrology, and like the chalk are highly permeable. However, the ability of these deposits to absorb water is constrained by the small difference between the ground surface level (close to mean sea level) and high water table.

The main areas of groundwater flow in the catchment are the chalk and sandstone rocks in the centre and east of the catchment. These regions are classed as primary aquifers; although the capacity of the aquifer to absorb and store rainfall is highly dependant on the moisture conditions at the time. This means that although the conditions that cause a flood can be monitored (groundwater levels and/or rainfall), it is difficult to predict where and when flooding may occur. This is a challenge for flood risk management in the Great Ouse catchment.

The Great Ouse catchment contains a mixture of land uses with agriculture comprising 65% of the total catchment area, wile urban development represents approximately 7% of the total catchment area. While urban areas represent a small proportion of the catchment these are important areas that can have a notable effect on flood risk not only locally but also to neighbouring areas.

Although overall population is low in comparison to other parts of the UK, rapid expansion of the main urban areas has occurred. This, along with the further intensification of agriculture has resulted in heavy use of the river for water supply, with resultant negative impacts on river flows. Urbanisation of the catchment has also changed the flooding patterns and risk, with more assets to protect and an increase in paved areas leading to more rapid flooding in some cases.

The GO catchment has come under increased development pressure via a variety of sources including growth points, infill development and other local development initiatives. Long-term management of flood risk may be compromised if suitable policies for the sustainable management of flood risk are not adopted and implemented in the catchment.

Appendix E Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009