“Consulting on the Public Good”

A Water Company Perspective What do we mean by Public Goods?

River Parrett in flood January 2001. A good example of “Multi Functional Land Use” for the public good. Upgrading pumping facilities Creating temporary flood water storage areas Improving the water holding capacity of soils Protection of habitats and environmental features

Dredging and maintaining river channels

“Consulting on the Public Good”

A Water Company Perspective

Water supply base and assets

AMP 7 Review and Social Contract Examples of “Public Good” delivery.  Established by Royal assent in 1846 now is a Plc owned by iCON Agbar and Itouchu.

 Area of supply 2,400 square kilometres  Number of supplies 518,000  Length of mains 6,700 kilometres  Population served 1,151,000  Average daily supply 264 million litres  Sources 68 (including , rivers, springs, wells and boreholes)

 Raw water reservoirs 14 (The largest is Lake at 20, 460 million litres)

 Treatment works 16 (2M litres/day at Tetbury to 165M litres/day at Purton)

Bristol Water overview:

Fresh water Supply only business Water Quality

 The final water produced at treatment works must meet the quality standards set out in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016

 Parameters include: E.coli, aluminium, turbidity (a measure of clarity), THMs (disinfection by-products), pesticides, nitrate, arsenic etc.

 The treatment processes in place are tailored to the source (raw) water used at each treatment works, so can vary greatly depending on raw water quality

 Minimal treatment required at Tetbury WTW, which is a secure groundwater source relatively unaffected by surface activities

 Comprehensive range of processes at Purton and Littleton due to the variable quality in the G&S canal

SSSI

River YEO

River CHEW Lake - 222 ha Favourable Condition Flower Rush, eels and Ruddy Darter (DragonFly)

Chew Valley Lake – 576 ha Favourable Condition Green winged orchid, over winter wildfowl (247 bird species recorded)

Rivers Chew and Yeo Recreation Education and Training for all ages. Asset Management Programme (AMP)

Ofwat as the economic regulator of the water and sewerage sectors, are in place to achieve the following:

 protect the interests of consumers, wherever appropriate by promoting competition  make sure that the water companies properly carry out their functions  ensure that the water companies can finance their functions

Also:  promote economy and efficiency  contribute to the achievement of sustainable development

AMP (07) Period 2020 - 2025 Ofwat AMP 07 Priorities

 Delivering more for less for customers including through innovation, by regulating monopolies and developing markets.

 Holding companies to account for good customer outcomes – by taking action when things go wrong, improving transparency and requiring companies to put customer interests at the heart of all they do. Response – A Social Contract

WHY A SOCIAL CONTRACT?  We see a social contract as a framework that will help us have a positive impact on the wellbeing of society.

 It has to provide assurance of how we deliver services that go beyond the basic requirements of competitive markets, regulation and legislation and corporate social responsibility. Social Contract - Aims Social Contract - Consultations

Case Study  The Chew Valley Neighbourhood Plan identified there was a need for an access trail.  Requirement was consistent with Bristol Water objective to increase recreational use of the lake and its surrounding estate  Support was gained for the trail, with key players - the West of Rural Network, Natural England, cycling charity Sustrans, Bath & North East Council and Bristol Water

In July 2018 Bristol Water and Sustrans held a public consultation meeting to show their plans for a traffic-free walking and cycling route around .

Delivery – Partnership Building

 Talk to people – get them to talk to us  Primary Catchment Contact  Manage relationships, identify influencers  Involvement of EA as regulator?  FREE Advice, support, wider opportunities for helping  NMP, NVZ, X-Compliance  Workshops, 1-1 visits

• GRANT!!

bristolwater.co.uk Catchment Management Initiatives

Establish WQ monitoring programme

Mendip Lakes Partnership – coordinated delivery of shared goals

Risk /opportunity Establish position with regulators and regulation – Primary assessment Catchment Contact, cross-compliance

Farmer engagement – nutrients / soils / NVZ planning / Catchment water quality, flow and land infrastructure audits etc. use monitoring Farmer Focus Group, Soils and Countryside Stewardship workshop,

Partnership building biannual newsletter, workshops /demonstration days

Bristol Water Catchment Grant Scheme Farmer engagement  Demonstrate effectiveness of adopted measures to reduce phosphorus losses (Kg) Advice / support delivery

bristolwater.co.uk

Grant Scheme – Case Study

• Large dairy farm on top of Mendips

• Limited slurry storage, high rainfall, spreading slurry twice per week all year

• Benefit – from spreading every week, now have 6 months storage.

• Improved utilisation of manures – REDUCED PHOSPHATE LOSSES

Grant Scheme – Case Study

• CVL catchment – dairy farm

• Dirty runoff from yard in winter into surrounding fields and ditches

• Can now keep clean and collect runoff – REDUCED PHOSPHATE LOSSES bristolwater.co.uk

What does the next 10 Years hold ?

 More of the same – water companies are going to have to become more customer and community focussed and view core services as “Public Goods” rather than commodities that are traded.

 Greater accountability for the delivery of “Public Goods”.

 Industry will be challenged to deliver efficiency savings in order to eliminate “Water Poverty”.

 Development of new technologies and innovative solutions to manage a finite resource in the face of increased demand.

Thank You

Bristol Water Social Contract: https://www.bristolwater.co.uk/about-us/social-contract/

David Cliffe: [email protected]