Busy week of water news
The past couple of weeks have seen the publication of a few water related reports and legislation. We thought you may enjoy a roundup of the news here.
Climate Change Risk Assessment shows the need to adapt
A Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and National Adaption Programme (NAP) have been published by the Government to prepare the nation for the implications of climate change. Part of the Climate Change Act 2008, the CCRA and NAP will be reviewed every 5 years.
Increases in flood risk and pressure on water resources confirm drainage as a critical part of urban planning as we try to adapt to manage these effectively.
The Defra Press Release can be found here which includes links to the relevant pages.
Final report on Pitt Review progress
Defra has published the final progress report on implementing the recommendations made by Sir Michael Pitt following the 2007 flooding in England. The status of each of Pitt’s recommendations is included in the report.
To download the report, follow this link.
Progress report on Flood and Water Management Act 2010
A progress report on the measures from the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 has been published by Defra. It includes measures brought into force or published up until 1 December 2011 and a schedule for implementation in 2012, including secondary measures and legislation.
Section 32 and Schedule 3 on Sustainable drainage are listed for implementation in 2012 “Subject to the outcome of separate consultation exercises being held in England and Wales”.
There is still plenty of time to provide feedback on the proposed National Standards and related sustainable drainage consultation, which ends on 13 March 2012.
To read the progress report, click here.
Introduction of Water Industry (Finance Assistance) Bill to House of Commons
On 2 February the Water Industry (Finance Assistance) Bill was introduced to the House of Commons, meeting policy commitments made in the Autumn Statement and the Water White Paper, Water for Life. Two key intentions are to reduce bills for South West Water household customers and to provide contingent financial support for exceptionally large or complex water or sewerage infrastructure.
The Bill is available here.
More information on the Defra website can be found here.
Thames Water building swale to protect homes
In a North London residential area, Thames Water is building a swale to protect properties from flooding. It is the first scheme of its kind to be installed by Thames Water and shows that water and sewerage companies are starting to consider Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) as solutions for draining surface water.
The swale is due to be 60 by 10 metres in area and about a half a metre deep, with pipes underneath to drain the excess water into a new surface water outfall pipe. The scheme will also include more conventional underground stormwater storage beneath a nearby car park.
More information on the scheme is available on the Thames Water website.
Are there other water and sewerage companies with SuDS stories to share?
PFRAs published online
In December 2011 the Environment Agency published Preliminary Flood Risk Assessments (PFRAs), produced by Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) in England and Wales, online. The PFRAs are the first part of the planning cycle for flooding set out in the Flood Risk Regulations (2009) which implement the requirements of the European Floods Directive. The Floods Directive aims to provide a consistent approach to managing flooding across Europe.
The PFRA for each area collects information already available on past floods and from existing flood models to identify Flood Risk Areas. The PFRAs are organised by River Basin Districts with the Micro Drainage office location, Newbury, part of West Berkshire Council falling in the Thames region. Included in the West Berkshire Council PFRA is the Thatcham Surface Water Management Plan which included modelling in Micro Drainage software.
Why not have a look at where you live and work?
Link to PFRA Information http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/135491.aspx
Link to Information on Flood Risk Regulations http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/125459.aspx
Link to West Berkshire Council PFRA http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/PDF/FLHO1211BVSS-E-E.pdf
Code for Sustainable Homes Factsheet
The Micro Drainage team were delighted to receive feedback at their Autumn workshops on the drainage industry issues of greatest importance. One item which came up time and time again was the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH).
To help with using WinDes software to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Category 4: Surface Water Runoff Sur 1 section, Micro Drainage has produced a Fact Sheet. Based on the work process required to fill in the Sur 1 Summary Template, it takes a step-by-step approach to completing a CSH design. The factsheet is available to download from the company website <CSH Fact Sheet>.
Piped Up! – 2011 in review
Happy New Year to you all.
Thank you those that commented on Piped Up! posts in 2011. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared an annual report for the blog: just follow the link below if you want to see the statistics. We were particularly pleased to see that readers come from all around the world.
We are looking forward to posting more news and views from the drainage community in 2012.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
England follows Wales in Sewer Standards
Yesterday Defra opened consultation on adoption of new sewers and lateral drains.
The Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011 came in to force on 1st July 2011 and existing private sewers and lateral drains became the responsibility of water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales on 1st October 2011.
Separate consultation has already begun in Wales, as we reported in Piped Up! on 10th November. Now Defra wants to implement a process of automatic adoption for all new foul sewers and lateral drains in England, backed up by national build standards.
You only have until 31st January to comment, and Defra welcomes views on adoption arrangements and regulation, and build standards and their impact. You can download the consultation documents here.
Defra SuDS consultation launched
Defra’s consultation on the Implementation of the Sustainable Drainage Provisions in Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) begins today. A total of fifteen documents are available to download covering the Draft National Standards and information on Approval, Enforcement and Appeals.
Responses are encouraged via an online survey and the consultation runs until 13 March 2012.
For more information see the Defra webpage.
Updated framework to assist development of Local FRM Strategies
The Local Government Association (LGA) has published a 2nd Edition of their ‘Framework to assist the development of the Local Strategy for Flood Risk Management’. The refresh, published in November 2011, updates the February 2011 version taking account of the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy.
Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) have a statutory duty to produce and implement a local strategy for Flood Risk Management (FRM). Some local authorities have already made significant progress and are sharing their experiences on the Communities of Practice FlowNet forum.
The LGA framework is available here.
Water White Paper
Yesterday Defra published its Water White Paper, Water for Life, describing “a vision for future water management”.
Whilst the paper focuses on dealing with issues such as abstraction, competition, pricing and efficiency we also see aspects relevant to drainage. Improving water quality in rivers by tackling water pollution will be required for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) obligations. With a catchment-based approach being taken, stormwater drainage will have to be considered.
Already the Environment Agency is supporting 10 WFD catchment pilot studies with 70 expressions of interest come forward. Focus will be on 25 pilots to be evaluated early in 2013. In addition a National Strategy on Urban Diffuse Pollution will be consulted on in 2012. Sustainable drainage systems are likely to be part of the solution, by providing water quality improvement and other environmental benefits.
Sustainable drainage systems are also mentioned as a method to reduce pressure on the sewer network. The anticipated consultation on National SuDS Standards and a new sustainable drainage approval system also gets a mention, as does a strategic approach to drainage planning.
As well the catchment pilots, a draft Water Bill is expected in early 2012 to deliver the strategy.
Click below for more information.
Defra Press Release: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/12/08/spelman-water-reform-needed-to-tackle-threat-of-future-droughts/
Defra Water White Paper: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/legislation/whitepaper/
International Flood Risk Management Approaches
The Environment Agency has been working with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Rijkswaterstaat, and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to develop a document that explores flood risk management practice as developed in the USA, the Netherlands, Japan and the UK.
No prescriptive “best practices” are promoted as appropriate in all circumstances. Rather, the approaches presented comprise a collective set of best practices among the four countries.
Commonalities are striking. Despite their varied histories and circumstances, the four countries face similar key challenges. These include adapting to new understandings of risk that take into account the impacts of climate change, bridging gaps between land-use decisions and flood risk management considerations, effectively communicating risk to the general public in a way that promotes individual as well as societal responsibility, and aligning planning and actions to identify and meet the most critical risks within a framework that is socially, environmentally, economically, and politically acceptable.
There are also some notable distinctions in approaches between the four countries. For example, The Netherlands is unique in specifying a legislated level of protection. Japan sets long-term aspiration goals for levels of protection along its major rivers. The United Kingdom and United States instead use analysis of risk to inform decision-makers about the options available to them. The United States and United Kingdom are unique in supporting separate flood insurance programs (although the provisions of the two programs differ); Japan, in contrast, includes floods in its household comprehensive insurance, while The Netherlands government does not offer flood insurance. Japan has a widespread volunteer network for flood fighting and flood damage prevention stemming from its historical experience (although cultural changes are posing some challenges), while citizens in The Netherlands have less experience in responding to floods because of that country’s history of high levels of structural protection.
According to the report, “The approaches documented provide a palette from which to choose, selecting what is useful and adjusting where needed. The collaboration leading to this document has helped those within the four countries better understand the approaches taken in other places, the reasons for them, and the challenges faced.”
The report can be downloaded here.
