Dacorum Borough Council, St Albans City and District Council, Three
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Dacorum Borough Council, St Albans City and District Council, Three Rivers District Council, Watford Borough Council, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council Water Cycle Study Scoping Study Final Report Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited 2212959 Aston Cross Business Village 50 Rocky Lane Aston Birmingham B6 5RQ United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)121 333 4466 Fax: +44 (0)121 333 4275 www.hyderconsultin g.com Dacorum Borough Council, St Albans City and District Council, Three Rivers District Council, Watford Borough Council, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council Water Cycle Study Scoping Study Final Report Author Daniel Vogtlin Checker Bob Sargent Approver Renuka Gunasekara Report No 5000-WX54733-BMR-02-Dacorum-et-al-WCS-Scoping-Study Date 23 April 2010 This report has been prepared for Dacorum Borough Disclaimer: Council, St Albans City and District Council, Three Rivers This report was prepared prior to April 2010 and hence District Council, Watford Borough Council, Welwyn Hatfield makes reference to the Floods and Water Management Bill. Borough Council in accordance with the terms and This Bill was amended and enacted after the publication of conditions of appointment for Scoping Study dated the draft report, and as such any further WCS work should December 2009. Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited (2212959) revisit this topic. cannot accept any responsibility for any use of or reliance on the contents of this report by any third party. Water Cycle Study—Scoping Study Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited-2212959 k:\wx54733 - dacorum bc et al wcs\f-reports\5000-wx54733-bmr-02-dacorum-et-al-wcs-scoping-study.doc CONTENTS 1 SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Study Area ........................................................................................ 1 1.2 Policy Context ................................................................................... 1 1.3 Growth Proposals ............................................................................. 2 1.4 Baseline Data ................................................................................... 2 1.5 Issues and Constraints ...................................................................... 4 1.6 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................. 5 2 Introduction ....................................................................................... 6 2.1 Study Area ........................................................................................ 7 2.2 Steering Group ................................................................................. 8 2.3 The Water Cycle ............................................................................... 8 2.4 Current Funding Mechanism............................................................ 10 3 Policy Context ................................................................................. 12 3.1 National .......................................................................................... 12 3.2 Regional ......................................................................................... 16 3.3 Local Policy .................................................................................... 17 4 Development ................................................................................... 19 4.1 Growth Scenarios ........................................................................... 19 4.2 Potential Growth Points ................................................................... 21 5 Baseline Data.................................................................................. 25 5.1 Water Resources ............................................................................ 25 5.2 Water Supply .................................................................................. 28 5.3 Wastewater Treatment and Sewerage ............................................. 34 5.4 Water Quality .................................................................................. 36 5.5 Ecology and Conservation ............................................................... 37 5.6 Flood Risk ...................................................................................... 44 5.7 Confirmation of Study Area .............................................................. 51 6 Issues and Constraints .................................................................... 52 6.1 Water Resources ............................................................................ 52 6.2 Water Supply .................................................................................. 55 6.3 Sewerage ....................................................................................... 55 6.4 Wastewater Treatment .................................................................... 56 6.5 Water Quality and Ecology .............................................................. 63 6.6 Flood Risk ...................................................................................... 64 Water Cycle Study—Scoping Study Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited-2212959 Page i k:\wx54733 - dacorum bc et al wcs\f-reports\5000-wx54733-bmr-02-dacorum-et-al-wcs-scoping-study.doc 7 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 66 7.1 Constraints Matrix ........................................................................... 66 8 Recommendations and Further Work .............................................. 81 8.1 Potable Water ................................................................................. 81 8.2 Wastewater and Sewerage .............................................................. 83 8.3 Flood Risk ...................................................................................... 89 8.4 Developer Guidance ....................................................................... 89 9 Additional data requirements ........................................................... 93 Glossary Technical Glossary Appendices Appendix A: Report Figures Appendix B: Data Register Appendix C: Policy Context Appendix D: Water Framework Directive Water Cycle Study—Scoping Study Page ii Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited-2212959 k:\wx54733 - dacorum bc et al wcs\f-reports\5000-wx54733-bmr-02-dacorum-et-al-wcs-scoping-study.doc 1 SUMMARY 1.1 Study Area This WCS Scoping report has been conducted for the Local Planning Authority areas (LPA) of Dacorum Borough Council (DBC), St Albans City and District Council (SADC), Three Rivers District Council (TRDC), Watford Borough Council (WBC) and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC), located in the southwest of Hertfordshire in the East of England. A Water Cycle Study (WCS) is required to inform the preparation of Core Strategy and Site Allocation Documents, and ideally provide evidence to support any polices included in the Local Development Framework (LDF) that relate to water resources, supply and sewerage, wastewater treatment, flood risk, water quality and the wider water environment. 1.1.1 Study Boundary In addition to considering the growth in the five LPA areas, the study area also extends beyond the above LPA boundaries (see Section 5.7). The growth proposed will impact the wastewater treatment works (WwTW) and receiving watercourses at Blackbirds, Deephams, Rye Meads and Chesham, in addition to the WwTW within the five LPA areas. Although possible growth in the surrounding LPA areas may be referred to throughout the report, it has not been specifically accounted for in this WCS assessment. 1.1.2 Steering Group The stakeholders involved in steering this WCS were: Dacorum Borough Council (DBC); Natural England (NE); St Albans City and District Council (SADC); Thames Water Utilities Ltd (TWU); The Environment Agency (EA); Three Rivers District Council (TRDC); Veolia Water Central (VWC); Watford Borough Council (WBC); and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC). In addition, Hertfordshire Biological Records Centre (HBRC), Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and British Waterways (BWW) have provided information throughout the consultation. 1.2 Policy Context This WCS makes reference to national policy, in the form of Planning Policy Supplement (PPS), EA and Defra strategies and other national aspirations such as the Code for Sustainable Homes. Regional policy, emanating from the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) and the Hertfordshire based Building Futures design guide, is referred to throughout the WCS. Water Cycle Study—Scoping Study Hyder Consulting (UK) Limited-2212959 Page 1 k:\wx54733 - dacorum bc et al wcs\f-reports\5000-wx54733-bmr-02-dacorum-et-al-wcs-scoping-study.doc Any existing Local Policies adopted by the LPAs in relation to water infrastructure or the wider water environment are also discussed. 1.3 Growth Proposals Growth targets for the study area have been used to assess two scenarios: Scenario 1: Equivalent to the existing RSS targets (with some amendment due to the current legal challenge); and Scenario 2: Based on the highest target applicable to each LPA from either the existing RSS or the forthcoming RSS Review. Scenario 1 sets a target of nearly 30,000 additional homes in the study areas from 2010 – 2031. The growth proposed under Scenario 2 is currently more than double this amount, with approximately 62,000 new homes proposed from 2010 – 2031. The LPAs have provided a high-level assessment of where this growth may be accommodated, relying on existing committed sites, proposals in Local Plans and the outcomes of Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments