ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
Unleashing innovation research in the water sector
The UK water sector is preparing to meet the challenges of AMP8, and in November, Helen Wakeham, director of water transformation at the Environment Agency, will deliver a keynote speech at UKWIR’s annual conference. Here, she discusses the research, innovation and funding opportunities for the water sector.
What role do research and innovation play in addressing UK water challenges?
Securing clean and plentiful water is a huge challenge. If we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always got – and it will not be good enough. We need innovation in water and wastewater treatment, nature-based solutions, and sludge management, along with improved land management and agricultural practices, and new approaches to pollution from transport and urban areas.
The size and scale of the challenge for the water environment is immense, and significant investment is needed. If we are to rise to it, then regulators, the water industry, the supply chain and others need to work together to innovate. We need to base decisions on robust data and evidence to ensure resources are focused on the right things to have the biggest impact.
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How does the Environment Agency decide what to allocate resources to?
At the Environment Agency (EA), we use data and evidence to inform everything we do. It is critical that we continue to build and maintain a robust evidence base which strengthens our understanding of the state of the environment, the pressures and risks impacting it and what we need to do to mitigate these.
As England’s environmental regulator, we are doing everything we can, with the legal powers and resources we have, to maintain and improve water quality for future generations. We are playing our part by transforming the way we regulate the sector, embedding a new approach that targets our resource and interventions, to uncover non-compliance and drive better performance from the water industry.
To do this we are revolutionising the way we use data - developing and implementing new approaches to turn huge quantities of data into regulatory intelligence. A new risk-planning tool being rolled out next spring will allow the efficient analysis of multiple data sources to drive regulatory effort to where it is needed the most.
Innovation is not just about tangible assets, but also about encouraging a
| December 2023 |
www.draintraderltd.com Helen Wakeham
culture that embraces innovation and transformation in relation to processes, mindsets, and technology. Research and innovation allow us to deliver more for the environment, make enhancements to our IT and digital capability, and better align policies and investments to give the best possible outcomes.
How can funding be used to enhance the water environment?
Unleashing innovation and developing new sources of finance are fundamental for delivering nature recovery. Alongside public sector investment, the private sector must be encouraged and supported to invest in protecting and enhancing our environment, in climate adaptation and nature restoration.
We all need to be gearing up now - building skills, capacity and capability, and working collaboratively so that we
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