Water Working Group
Chair: Robert Cunningham, RSPB
Vice Chair: Carrie Hume, WWT
Secretary: Kirsten Knap
The Water Working Group seeks to restore the ecology of the UK’s rivers, lakes and wetlands by working to ensure the delivery of the objectives of the Water Framework Directive. Through the work of the Blueprint for Water coalition, the group advocates 10 steps to sustainable water.
QUARTERLY UPDATE: October to December 2009
Throughout the quarter the Blueprint for Water coalition continued lobbying to influence the draft River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs), which the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, submitted to the European Commission in December, in line with the Water Framework Directive deadlines.
In November Ofwat published their final determinations on price limits for 2010 to 2015 as part of the Periodic Review 2009 (PR09). The Blueprint had responded to Ofwat’s draft determinations in October, broadly welcoming them, but raising concerns with the long-term inplications of the determinations not being strong enough. Following the final publication, the Blueprint coalition submitted a press release to the media, which again broadly welcomed the final determinations, but raised concerns that the investment plans would not be sufficient to maintain infrastructure and tackle leakage or to cope with the significant changes in water scarcity and climate change.
On 18 November, during the Queen’s speech, it was stated that “Legislation will be introduced to protect communities from flooding and to improve the management of water supplies”, and on 19 November the Floods and Water Management Bill was introduced into Parliament.
Link continues to be represented on the Pitt Natural Processes Working Group and has attended two Pitt Working Group meetings this quarter. Link was also invited to sit on the the Water Protection Zone Stakeholder Group and the Chair of the Water group has attended two meetings this quarter in October and December.
We are pleased to announce that at Link’s AGM on 8 December Robert Cunningham (RSPB) and Carrie Hume (WWT) were elected as Chair and Vice Chair respectively of the Water Working Group for 2010.