UK water research – what do policymakers
need to know? By Rebecca Slack, Lee Brown, Gordon Mitchell & Joseph Holden, water@leeds
Freshwater biodiversity - Katrina Hemingway
Communicating water research - Yee Wei Kheoh
Water@leeds, the water research centre at the University of Leeds, was formed in 2008 with the aim of providing cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on the grand challenges concerning water. Changes to the hydrological cycle as a consequence of climate and land use drivers, population growth, migration and the global economy are expected to have very significant impacts on people and the environment. The academic research sector is well placed to investigate the effects of different environmental parameters and policy decisions on water management but there is frequently a disconnection between research and policy development. While the last decade has seen the development of ‘evidence-based policy’ and a move away from ideological policies, there remains a critical need for more researcher-practitioner debate to stimulate attempts to find appropriate solutions.
In the UK, there are a number of issues concerned with water resource management. The rising cost of energy for water treatment and distribution, as well as pressures for a low carbon economy, have underlined water utilities’ dependence on energy. The Pitt Review (2008) highlighted the uncertainties over future flooding, while the impact of climate change on water resources is still much debated, particularly if the recent freezing temperatures seen across the UK continue, resulting in pipes bursting and disruptions to the water supply. UK housing demand is such that the built environment will expand over coming years, potentially compounding problems of water pollution and flooding, as well as increasing demand for water. Rising demand leads to pressure to over- abstract waters needed to maintain ecological health, a
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Freshwater pollution - Rebecca Slack/ water@leeds
problem that could exacerbate failures to meet EU Water Framework Directive quality targets.
A further key issue facing the management of UK water resources relates to how the water sector is structured and governed. Within the water and sewerage industry, there are different structures of company ownership in each of the devolved nations of the UK (All Party Parliamentary Water Group [APPWG], 2008). With the wide range of other bodies responsible for water management (e.g. environmental protection agencies, internal drainage boards, planning authorities, etc), it is clear that the UK water sector is institutionally complex and this may hamper sustainable water management (Pitt, 2008). Financing of the water industry also has significant implications for innovation intended to promote water sector sustainability. For example, in England and Wales, regulators’ concerns over customers’ ability to pay for water services means that water utilities must renew an ageing infrastructure against a backdrop of tight budgetary constraints (APPWG, 2008), rising customer debt (Emaginating, 2009), and five year planning cycles which may be too short to promote long- range planning for sustainability. Since 2000, there has been a 60% decline in investment in research and development in the UK water sector (APPWG, 2008).
These challenges, which focus on the sustainable use of water and associated factors, need to be addressed through strategic actions and decision-making that are driven by evidence-based policy. Research, however, needs to be clearly directed at issues that influence policies. It is in this context that water@leeds turned
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