Naturally Resilient Final Draft report Wildlife and Countryside Link Project number: 60608287 03 July 2020 Naturally Resilient Project number: 60608287 Quality information Prepared by Checked by Verified by Approved by Penelope Borton Katie Pearson Carl Pelling Katie Pearson Jess Wood Sarah Krisht Lindsay Perry Sarah Waite Revision History Revision Revision date Details Authorised Name Position 1 06/03/2020 Draft Report 06/03/2020 Katie Pearson Project Manager 2 24/05/2020 Final Draft 24/05/2020 Katie Pearson Project Manager Report Prepared for: Wildlife and Countryside Link AECOM 1 Naturally Resilient Project number: 60608287 Prepared for: Wildlife and Countryside Link Prepared by: AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited Aldgate Tower 2 Leman Street London E1 8FA United Kingdom aecom.com © 2020 AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited. All Rights Reserved. This document has been prepared by AECOM Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited (“AECOM”) for sole use of our client (the “Client”) in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles, the budget for fees and the terms of reference agreed between AECOM and the Client. Any information provided by third parties and referred to herein has not been checked or verified by AECOM, unless otherwise expressly stated in the document. No third party may rely upon this document without the prior and express written agreement of AECOM. Prepared for: Wildlife and Countryside Link AECOM 2 Naturally Resilient Project number: 60608287 Table of Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 10 2. Overview of approach ................................................................................................................. 13 3. Interdependencies between the water sector and the natural water environment ..................... 18 4. Definition, principles and metrics for resilience .......................................................................... 22 5. Legislation, regulatory frameworks, policies and incentives to enhance resilience.................... 35 6. Key stakeholders ........................................................................................................................ 53 7. Current and future risks to resilience .......................................................................................... 61 8. Managing risks to resilience through collaboration ..................................................................... 71 9. Summary of key findings............................................................................................................. 93 10. Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 98 Glossary .............................................................................................................................................. 103 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 104 Appendix A – Online survey questionnaire ......................................................................................... 107 Appendix B – Case studies ................................................................................................................. 114 Appendix C – Defining resilience: Supporting information .................................................................. 136 Appendix D – Key stakeholders: Supporting information ................................................................... 154 Appendix E – Interdependencies between sectors: Supporting information ...................................... 170 Appendix F – Current and future risks to resilience: Supporting information ..................................... 188 Appendix G – Managing risks to resilience through collaboration: Supporting information ............... 205 Figures Figure 3-1: Interdependencies between the water sector and the natural water environment ............. 21 Figure 4-1: Key Considerations for Delivery of Resilience ................................................................... 24 Figure 8-1: Summary of management opportunities identified by survey respondents........................ 72 Figure 8-2 Perceived ‘blockers’ of collaboration between the water sector and the natural environment to enhance resilience (online survey; n=16) ......................................................................................... 89 Figure 10-1: Flow Chart for Resilience Projects Involving the Water Industry and Natural Water Environment .......................................................................................................................................... 99 Tables Table 2-1: Selected case studies .......................................................................................................... 15 Table 4-1: Common themes across definitions of resilience in the literature ........................................ 23 Table 4-2: Recommended Resilience Metrics for Environmental Systems ......................................... 29 Table 4-3: Recommended Resilience Metrics for Water Companies .................................................. 30 Table 4-4: Use of Resilience Metrics in Case Studies ......................................................................... 32 Table 5-1: Legislation, regulatory frameworks, policies and incentives for enhanced resilience .......... 35 Table 5-2: Review of Impacts of Legislation on Case Studies ............................................................. 51 Table 6-1: Sectoral overview of key stakeholders with respect to enhancing resilience (in alphabetical order) ..................................................................................................................................................... 53 Table 6-2: Key stakeholders with respect to enhancing resilience (in alphabetical order) ................... 53 Table 6-3: UKWIR’s Big Questions ....................................................................................................... 55 Table 6-4: Sectoral mapping of key stakeholders against UKWIR priorities (in alphabetical order) ..... 56 Table 6-5: Mapping of key stakeholders against UKWIR priorities (in alphabetical order) .................. 58 Table 7-1: Risks themes for the water sector and the natural environment .......................................... 61 Table 7-2: Survey respondents’ views on top risks to resilience ........................................................... 66 Table 7-3: Survey respondents’ top five current and future risks to resilience (n=16) .......................... 67 Prepared for: Wildlife and Countryside Link AECOM 3 Naturally Resilient Project number: 60608287 Table 7-4: Effects on people due to potential for risk to materialise ..................................................... 69 Table 8-1: Management Measures for Risks Themes .......................................................................... 73 Table 8-2: Effect of joint risks to resilience on interdependencies within the water environment ......... 78 Table 8-3: Summary of Stakeholder Collaboration in Resilience Case Studies .................................. 80 Table 8-4: Mapping of key stakeholders against risk management measures (in alphabetical order) . 83 Table 8-5: Sectoral mapping of key stakeholders against risk management measures ....................... 86 Table 9-1: Sectoral overview of key stakeholders with respect to enhancing resilience (in alphabetical order) ..................................................................................................................................................... 95 Table 9-2: Survey respondents’ top five current and future risks to resilience (n=16) .......................... 96 Prepared for: Wildlife and Countryside Link AECOM 4 Naturally Resilient Project number: 60608287 Executive summary Project Background & Aims AECOM were commissioned by Wildlife and Countryside Link on behalf of a partnership of water companies and environmental NGOs entitled Naturally Resilient. The steering group formed from this partnership to lead the project consisted of representatives from Wildlife and Countryside Link, Thames Water. The overarching aim of the project is to explore the interplay between resilience in the water sector and resilience of the natural environment. The water sector is critically dependent on the resilience of the natural environment, in particular the water environment (e.g. rivers, lakes, groundwaters, etc.). Similarly, the resilience of the water environment depends on sustainable and managed abstraction and discharges by water-dependent sectors including water companies. This interdependency between sectors has become increasingly evident in recent years, particularly given the growing recognition that we are in a climate and biodiversity emergency. The observation that improving the resilience of the natural environment enhances the sustainability and resilience of water companies is complemented by Ofwat’s recommendation that water companies should achieve ‘resilience in the round’ (Ofwat, 2017b). In 2018, Defra’s National Policy Statement for Water Resources Infrastructure required Ofwat to