WATER in the UK - LINKS to
articles & websites on our WATER resource -
collated by Henry Adams
First
a global & European overview:
'How
much water is there on, in, and above the Earth', and how much of
that is fresh-water
These
graphics from the USGS may surprise you - and water is so vital to
us! Comments on this on Treehugger.
Also: The
Water Book by Alok Jha
Growing
global thirst for energy threatens water supplies - Claire Provost,
21mar14, Global development, The Guardian.
Hardly surprising that big companies such as multinationals want to take
control of this resource to sell to the highest bidder. And in Texas this
can be the fracking companies not agriculture and drinking water
consumers. As Texas and California droughts show, and of course worse
droughts in poorer countries even more so, drinking water could become
regionally scarcer due to climate change, and the latter will be increased
by the very companies that are demanding more of it, then polluting it -
fracking companies (and the tar sands industry) for example. Ask
yourself - should access to clean drinking water be a human right?
www.right2water
state: "Water and sanitation are a human right! Water
is a public good, not a commodity. We invite the European
Commission to propose legislation implementing the human right to water
and sanitation as recognised by the United Nations, and promoting the
provision of water and sanitation as essential public services for
all. ..." Do sign up to
this EU Citizens' Initiative (ECI). 14jan14 SEQUEL: 'EU
citizens force water debate onto agenda' EurActiv.
NB: 7mar14 UK
is out of step with the rest of the world on access to water - Prof
David Hall, in The Conversation. Refers to the profit-extraction from
water-extraction, the ECI and what the public want, in contrast to UK
government's privatized preference, and only the Green Party (in 2014)
supporting a return of water to the public sector. "Private
companies in England, however, are now [2014] celebrating their 25th
year of lucrative exploitation of their natural monopolies, with most of
them now owned by private equity consortia or Asian multinationals. The
companies are extracting profits of around £2
billion a year above the cost of a public service funded
through low-cost public debt. This means renationalisation would save
the average household £83 per year, cutting bills by more than 20%."
David
hall is visiting professor of Public Services International Research
Unit, University of Greenwich.
8sep15 SEQUEL: MEPs in plenary session vote in favour of the ECI, but will
the EU Commission listen? And will water be excluded from TTIP and other
FTAs and BITs?
Right2water
citizens’ initiative/ Commission must act, say MEPs - EP news.
Water
services and basic rights - EP backs Citizens' Initiative on Right to
Water despite centre-right dissent - The Greens | European Free
Alliance.
Governments
are
being lobbied by big companies to commodify, privatize and marketize
the world's basic resources such as water, under the ideological
pretence that free markets can resolve the distribution of
increasingly/potentially scarce resources such as water, and that
private works "better" than public - even for vital services.
Increasingly scarce
water resources could increase resource conflicts and the potential for
war.
Water
wars a new reality for business and governments Oliver Balch
6oct14 Guardian Sustainable Business.
Example study by my nephew: Nicholas Adams MA thesis: "Crossing the
Rubicon: Is Water Scarcity in the Indus River Basin a Threat Multiplier to
Existing Sources of Conflict Between India and Pakistan?" link to
podcast link 2012.
Why am
I now interested in this?
- CLIMATE CHANGE - affects the
availability of fresh-water. For example: Australia's precipitation is
expected to become even more extreme over time, especially with drought,
and also flood (despite this, Australia is world's biggest exporter of
coal and Australian gov (in 2016/17) want to open up huge new coal
mine). Southern Europe could become drier. California has recently been
experiencing increasing drought. Parts of Madagascar are experiencing
increasingly persistent drought, making former farmland arid. Droughts
can increase conflict and potential for war.
- FRACKING - uses vast
quantities of water, produces vast quantities of contaminated waste,
threatens to pollute aquifers, ground-water, rivers, ... (my fracking
web-page tries to deal with this e.g. http://www.dragonfly1.plus.com/FRACKING.html#WATER-use).
- OVER-ABSTRACTION is damaging
and eliminating aquatic habitats (listen to BBC R4's Face the Facts: Sold
Down River)
- POLLUTION - e.g. by water
companies e.g. by sewerage - is continually happening - mainly
because fines are too small in relation to the costs of preventing
pollution. True until in March 2017: Thames
Water hit with record £20m fine for huge sewage leaks "Massive
fine reflects change in sentencing as previously low penalties failed to
deter water firms from polluting England’s rivers and beaches".
- WE ARE BEING RIPPED OFF
by water companies (they have a monopoly control over their areas):
our money is being siphoned off as big dividends or payouts to
wealthy investors and private equity firms (including foreign firms and
investors), instead of into improved services, and corporate tax is
dodged by risky high debt to equity ratios (e.g. c. 80%), which result
in demands for taxpayers to subsidize projects (hey - wasn't
privatization supposed to have the benefit of access to private
investment?), and risk of potential bank-like bailouts. 'End the Great Water Rip-Off' - petition by George
Turner (who wrote 'Money down the drain' - in 'refs/links/news'
section below). Renationalise
English water - Neil Clark, The Guardian, jan12. Private
water companies make over £1bn from 'unnecessarily high prices' -
Oliver Wright - Political Editor of The Independent, 13jan16, and
referring to this: CETA
would lock-in water privatization in England - The Council of
Canadians. And see 10sep17 piece in the FT linked to below - which
restates the above references, which I'll restate in
a nutshell: Your bill payments go via profits to the private equity
owners to dividends - i.e. unearned income of wealthy recipients,
instead of into capital investments into water infrastructure - which is
financed not from the profits but by mounting unsustainable debts. -
Sounds like a good example of the worst of neoliberalism - loved by the
Tories for the way it sucks up money from us all to their wealthy
donors. This has to change!
- CORPORATE CONTROL over water
puts profit above public need, and will get increased legal power if TTIP and CETA
are implemented: CETA
would lock-in water privatization in England - The Council of
Canadians (jan2016), refers to e.g. David
'Hall [Public
Services International Research Unit] says "UK is out of step
with the rest of the world on access to water" (18mar14), and Holding
the Line Against the Corporate Takeover – Stop TTIP - Food &
Water Europe: "TTIP, CETA and TISA all pose major threats to many
of the victories that civil society has achieved over the decades to make
the human right to water a reality and to promote and recover public
control over water management. Trade
agreements can limit the capacity of local, regional and national
governments to decide how to deliver public services, such as water supply
and sanitation. They can make privatisation processes iron-clad.
Investment protection mechanisms would allow corporations to challenge
processes of water remunicipalisation, the powerful wave of local
governments taking back public control over water, like in Paris and
Berlin.".
Also: CETA
would hinder water remunicipalization in England 11nov13, The
Council of Canadians.
Organisations
-
some relevant ones:
DEFRA
- Water was the responsibility of Owen Paterson from 2012-2014, before
that Benyon - when Monbiot used the name "deathra"! (as DEFRA appeared
to in effect stand for: DEpartment for FRAternizing with shooting and
vested interests).
Environment
Agency - http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
@EnvAgency EA's Future NW - that concerns our future
water in NW England. Chairman: Lord Chris Smith, Chief Executive: Paul
Leinster.
'Environment Agency job cuts bigger and quicker than
expected' - 25oct13 The ENDS Report
OFWAT - http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/
"Ofwat
(The
Water Services Regulation Authority) is the economic regulator of the
water and sewerage sectors in England and Wales. We are here to make sure
that the companies provide household and business consumers with a good
quality service and value for money." Motto:
"Water today, water tomorrow"
[or was it 'gone tomorrow'?].
WATER UK - http://www.water.org.uk/
- umbrella organisation for the water
companies - "Working on behalf of the Water Industry for a
sustainable future". Of benefit to us re fracking: 'Water industry lays down challenge to UK shale gas
fracking industry' - Water UK, 17jul13. But later in the summer
it appeared to take more of a pro-fracking stance - no doubt due to
potential profits to the water companies from selling water for
fracking.
Water Companies - monopolistic, highly-leveraged, high debt
to equity ratio (eg c.80%), tax-dodgers, some are owned by Private
Equity firms (eg Thames Water & Yorkshire Water, ) - without
share-holders, others are on the Stock Exchange with share-holders.
Some are foreign-owned, yet UK may be forced to bale them out if they
get into difficulties like the banks. Note: 14mar17
Vultures
[Macquarie] who left Thames Water with £10bn of debt: Controversial
Aussie bank Macquarie sells stake in UK giant - seems to
have just escaped the big fine - 22mar17
Thames
Water hit with record £20m fine for huge sewage leaks
When Thames Water spoke on BBCR4 they of course describe
themselves as a "business" not a 'service' or 'public service'. No
wonder citizens of Ireland don't want their water service
privatised, and are campaigning to stop that happening.
United Utilities
'Water Resources Management Plan Have
your say Our future plans' - for North West's water
Waterwise - http://www.waterwise.org.uk/ Waterwise @Waterwise
Promotes "water efficiency by reducing waste, not by restricting use". At
least part-funded by the water industry.
CIWEM - http://www.ciwem.co.uk/
@CIWEM
The
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management - Working for
the public benefit for a clean, green and sustainable world, CIWEM is
the only independent, chartered professional body and registered charity
with an integrated approach to environmental, social and cultural issues.
Consumer
Council
for Water - interacts with OFWAT re water-pricing for consumers.
My present understanding is that prices are set for long periods, and that
currently the price is based on inflation plus 0.5% (however I haven't
checked this).
FOOD and WATER Europe e.g. this article: Holding
the Line Against the Corporate Takeover – Stop TTIP - Food &
Water Europe.
US: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Public
Water for All "We help communities resist pressure to sell and
outsource their public water systems to private corporations and keep
control of this precious resource." &, set up by NOAA
& partners: Water
Resources Dashboard - U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit.
Some
other refs/links/news:
10sep17 Water
privatisation looks little more than an organised rip-off - "Bills
are rising to fund massive shareholder payouts" - Jonathan Ford in FT.
'We Own It': "Excellent article from the Financial Times." and quotes:
"... Quite why this natural monopoly should not operate through
not-for-profit, public interest companies is ever less clear." In
a nutshell: Your bill payments go via profits to the private equity
owners to dividends - i.e. unearned income of wealthy recipients,
instead of into capital investments into water infrastructure - which is
financed not from the profits but by mounting unsustainable debts.
-
Sounds like a good example of the worst of neoliberalism - loved by the
Tories for the way it sucks up money from us all to their wealthy
donors. This has to change!
22mar17 is/was
#WorldWaterDay.
World
Water Day: one in four children will live with water scarcity by 2040
- The Guardian - "Unicef report says climate change and conflict
are intensifying risks to children of living without enough water, and
that the poorest will suffer most". www.unicef.org/wash/waterandclimate
22mar17 Thames
Water hit with record £20m fine for huge sewage leaks -
Damian Carrington. Thames
Water fined record £20million over sewage leaks - Henley
Standard.
22may17 Global
warming is increasing rainfall rates - John Abraham - The Guardian.
26sep16 Canada: Boycott
Launched After Nestlé Outbids Drought-Stricken Town to Buy Well for
Bottled Water
3may16 Price
water or prepare for a thirstier, poorer planet - World Bank -
Climate Home - climate change news. I haven't read this, but bear in
mind that the World Bank is not to be trusted - it's track record is
poor.
15feb16 NASA
4 Billion People at Risk as 'Water Table Dropping All Over the World'
- Ecowatch.
22mar16 Coal
plants use as much water as 1 billion people and consumption set to
double: report - The Guardian - "World Water Day research finds
44% of coal plants, and 45% of planned coal power plants, in areas of
water stress"
22mar16 Investigation:
Coal plants risk global water shortage - Energydesk.
Fighting
over groundwater: water companies v environmentalists 14oct14
Oliver Balch Guardian Sustainable Business. "Environmental groups accuse
water companies of over-abstraction, putting wildlife and plants at
risk; water companies claim it’s not so simple" "According
to the UK Environment Agency, 35%
of groundwater bodies are at risk of not achieving good groundwater
quantitative status. Many of the most contentious cases relate
to habitats that rely on chalk aquifers, found predominantly in southern
and eastern England." Water
utilities take around 35% of
all the UK’s public water requirements from groundwater sources.
NB: There's a Water Bill coming up in
this Parliamentary Session (Nov.2013) - maybe that mat be an opportunity
for us to push for more consumer say e.g. on abstraction and use of water
for fracking?
Water shortages may make fracking impractical, industry
says 27nov13 Fiona Harvey Environment
theguardian.com
Wind in the Willows river 'risks running dry'
if new water bill is passed Damian Carrington
25nov13 Environment The Guardian
Water is too precious a resource to be squandered Richard
Benyon
17nov13 Comment is free The Observer via Karen, who tweeted:
*** 'Environment Agency job cuts bigger and quicker than
expected' - 25oct13 The ENDS Report
Environment Agency cuts will have a far-reaching
impact on communities autumn13 Public Leaders
Network Guardian Professional
** Political pressure is mounting on polluting water
companies Damian
Carrington 5aug13 Environment theguardian.com
** The water companies and the foul stench of exploitation Nick Cohen 3aug13 Comment
is free The Observer
*** Revealed how UK water companies are polluting
Britain's rivers and beaches
3aug13 Damian Carrington & Sophie Barnes Environment
The Observer Joan Walley of EAC Simon Hughes
Petition by George Turner https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/end-the-great-water-rip-off
'Money down the drain: getting a better deal for
consumers from the water industry' (pdf) - A devastating analysis of water
industry by George Turner of the
liberal thinktank CentreForum 'Think tank urges water industry shake up'
*** BBC Radio 4 - Face the
Facts, Sold Down River
Very useful info here. Eg licences were made half a century ago for
"perpetuity" for big amts of water to be potentially taken. - Why should
the UK public pay foreign-owned water co.s (e.g. Thames Water) many
millions of pounds of compensation to stop them over-abstracting and
damaging rivers? (even though they needn't do so) part of that money may
go to wealthy ppl in dividends. Benyon is Minister. chalkstreams &
Kennet again. "A
licensing system designed more than half a century ago means water
companies can legally, and easily, extract large quantities of good
quality water from water courses to deliver cheaply to the consumer."
The EU WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE
Precautionary principle: a
search of the EU Water Framework Directive for the words
'precautionary principle'
DIRECTIVE 2000/60/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23
October 2000
establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy
Page 3:
(11) As set out in Article 174 of the Treaty, the Community policy on the
environment is to contribute to pursuit of the objectives of preserving,
protecting and improving the quality of the environment, in prudent and
rational utilisation of natural resources, and to be based on the
precautionary principle and on the principles that preventive action
should be taken, environmental damage should, as a priority, be rectified
at source and that the polluter should pay.
Page.7:
(44) In identifying priority hazardous substances, account should be taken
of the precautionary principle, relying in particular on the determination
of any potentially adverse effects of the product and on a scientific
assessment of the risk.
Water Framework
Directive - results of a Google search copied here:
1.
The
EU Water Framework Directive - integrated river
basin ...
ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/
Following
extensive
consultations on Water Framework Directive River Basin
Management Plans should since 22.12.2009 be available in all River
Basin ...
2000/60/EC - Introduction
to the new EU ... - WFD
Implementation Reports
2.
Environment Agency - Introduction to
the Water Framework Directive
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/33362.aspx
31
Jul
2013 - introduces
the water framework directive and explains how we will
work to enhance the quality of water.
3.
Environment Agency - Managing and
improving the water environment
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/33106.aspx
31
Jul
2013 - The
Environment
Agency is the lead authority in England for implementing the Water
Framework Directive (WFD), a European directive which ...
4.
Water
Framework Directive -
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Framework_Directive
The Water
Framework
Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for ...
Objectives of
the Directive - Spatial
management of river basins - Transgressions
5.
EU Water
Framework
Directive - JNCC - Defra
jncc.defra.gov.uk
›
... › European
Legislation
The
purpose
of the EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for
the ...
6.
wfd
uktag: Welcome to the United Kingdom Technical Advisory ...
www.wfduk.org/
It
was
created to provide coordinated advice on the the science and technical
aspects of the European Union's Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).
7.
Natural England - Water
Framework Directive (WFD)
www.naturalengland.org.uk
› Our work › Water
The
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) was adopted in 2000.
The purpose of the Directive is to establish a framework for the
protection of inland surface ...
8.
Implementing
the Water Framework Directive 2009-2015
www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/water-home/wfd.htm
Implementing
the Water Framework Directive 2009-2015. NIEA would like
to thank the following photographers for their contribution to the River
Basin ...
9.
Water Framework Directive | Department of the
Environment ...
www.doeni.gov.uk/index/...the.../water/water_framework_directive_.htm
The Water
Framework
Directive (WFD) introduces a holistic approach to the
management of water quality, and establishes a system for the protection
and ...
10.
- Water Framework Directive -
CIWEM
www.ciwem.co.uk/policy-and.../water.../water-framework-directive.aspx
The Water
Framework
Directive is a piece of European Union legislation designed to
preserve, restore and improve the water environment. It establishes
a ...
UK's
EPR - Environmental Permitting Regulations
From googling EPR regulations:
Environment Agency - Environmental permitting "Guidance
on
the authorisations you need for installations, waste, water
discharge or groundwater activities you carry out."
The Environmental Permitting (England and
Wales) Regulations 2010 - according to
www.legislation.gov.uk
EPR-Regs-2013-consolidated-changes pdf
Cumbria's water
Ignore this
in italics (reminders for me to investigate):
Haweswater
and Ennerdale supply Sellafield to cool nuclear reactor etc, via ... -
investigate.
Reduction
in flow through River ... can threatend rare species
If a new
Nuclear p.s. is built there it may have to use de-salinated sea water.
For
want of a drink - John Grimond in The Economist on 20may10 - a
long read full of interesting facts and stats on water.