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Kent faces a thirsty
future
AS WE go to press, Kent is heading
for a dry summer. Rainfall was well below average for all the winter months and
every water company in the South East bar one has implemented a drought plan.
With resources already low, and more restrictions to come on
abstraction with the European Water Framework Directive, the county faces the
additional demands of more than 120,000 new homes during the term of the South
East Plan. How can we absorb a 20% increase in housing when we barely have
enough water at the moment?
At our South East Plan meeting on 30 March, Paul Bevan, chief
executive of the South East England Reg1onal Assembly (SEERA) said the region
would "be in balance in terms of water by 2025". CPRE takes issue with
his optimism. Kent contains no reservoirs, which means that ground water and
rivers are the county's primary sources of water. Both of these sources are
decreasing.
Climate change has led to less reliable rainfall and an
increase in air temperature, with more loss of water from evaporation and
transpiration (uptake by plants and trees). SEERA's confidence regarding water
supply in " "Kent is based on the possible " construction of a
reservoir at Broadoak, near Canterbury, the piping of water from an expanded
Bewl Reservoir in East Sussex and the increased exploitation of groundwater and
river sources.
If we take the example of Mid-Kent Water and its commitment to
supplying the growing town of Ashford, we can see why SEERA's hopes will not
translate into reality. Chart A (above) shows the estimate by the water
companies of growing demand (with a " + headroom" allowance for
unusually high use of water). It shows supply remaining comfortably greater than
demand throughout the plan period. In chart B, CPRE Kents calculations show a
different picture: the European Water Framework Directive takes an enormous toll
on available resources, while Broadoak's contribution is questionable, since it
would be supplied by an already over-abstracted River Stour. Neither chart takes
account of climate change.
This likely shortfall seriously questions Kents ability to
cope with house building on the scale demanded by the South East Plan. It also
highlights the need for water efficiency to be included in new build and retro-
fitted into current housing stock.
CPRE Kent agrees entirely with the plan that a key factor in
efficient and sustainable supply of water will be "promoting improved water
efficiency in new development through water- saving fixtures and behavioural
changes of inhabitants".
But the plan says only water-efficient housing should be
built (rather than must). Measures to improve water efficiency -such as
low-flush WCs, low-flow taps and showers and water- efficient appliances -are
virtually cost- free in new build and are conventionally used in many other
countries. There is no real impact on lifestyles.
We need unconditional. non- negotiable codes for this. and
they need to apply now. not halfway through the plan period. Every year's
delay brings another 10,000 or more energy and water users to the county.
As well as being more efficiently saved. water in Kent must
also be recycled. Recycled water will be a key element of supply in the future.
and CPRE Kent supports the recycling of all wastewater, including properly
treated effluent back to the river system. It can then be re-abstracted from
rivers and fed back into the mains system.
Southern Water recently received permission from Kent County
Council to go ahead with its Weatherlees effluent plan near Sandwich. This will
involve pumping raw sewage 12km from Ramsgate, treating it, then pumping it back
another 12km so that it can be discharged into the sea.
We have campaigned for the treated water to be pumped into the
River Stour. from which it could be re-abstracted. further treated and put into
the mains.
WHILE our water supplies are
becoming less reliable. we are also more at risk from flooding. Rainfall in the
South East comes in shorter. more intensive bursts than it used to. There is
less of the steady. day-after-day precipitation which is very good at delivering
water to aquifers and soaking the soil without washing it away. More intense rainfall,
especially when it falls on dry ground, is more likely to run off rather than
soak in, and this is exacerbated by rolled agricultural land and a profusion of
impermeable surfaces such as tarmac.
Heavy rain which runs off to this extent can rapidly overwhelm rivers and
flood vulnerable areas. CPRE Kent welcomes the emphasis in the plan on the
precautionary approach with regard to flooding, particularly as climate change
means that today's low- risk area is tomorrow's high-risk zone.
This is not, therefore, an area where we can afford to compromise on the
integrity of natural flood plain areas as they will almost certainly come into
play with increasing frequency. However, the plan does allow for development
within high- flood-risk areas providing the developer can demonstrate that: a)
There is no alternative suitable site outside of [any) floodplain area and b)
"Other sustainable development objectives take precedence." (We would
welcome enlightenment as to what objectives could take precedence over the
protection of life and property! )
The plan suggests that to make a new development "more resilient to
"flooding", electrical sockets can be raised, or ground floors
reserved for things such as car parking. These "undercroft" parking
areas, however, will still contain a lot of valuable and vulnerable possessions.
While the South East Plan is at least aware of potential water problems in
the South East, we feel it does not address the issue with the necessary urgency
or clarity of thought. There is always a lag between decision-making and actual
change, and with large-scale infrastructure developments such as the expansion
of Bewl Reservoir, the delay can be very long indeed.
Measures to ensure water supply for the region need to be implemented very
soon, and domestic water efficiency, a vital component in any attempt to keep
the taps flowing, must not be just another grand aspiration that gets poured
down the drain when the building begins.
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