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 Copyright and Non-Disclosure Notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by Entec (© Entec UK Limited 2009) save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by Entec under licence. To the extent that we own the copyright in this report, it may not be copied or used without our prior written agreement for any purpose other than the purpose indicated in this report. The methodology (if any) contained in this report is provided to you in confidence and must not be disclosed or copied to third parties without the prior written agreement of Entec. Disclosure of that information may constitute an actionable breach of confidence or may otherwise prejudice our commercial interests. 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Document Revisions No. Details Date 1 Draft report July 09 2 Final Aug 09 v3 Revised Final Sept 09 Page ii Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009 Creating the environment for business Page iv Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009 Creating the environment for business 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. Page v Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009 Creating the environment for business 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. Page vi Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009 Creating the environment for business Page vii Doc Reg No. C24978/r001v3 October 2009 Creating the environment for business 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