In its paper entitled Water for Life, Defra set out how it would respond to the increasing pressure on water resources from climate change and population growth.
The department promised to design and implement a more sustainable abstraction regime – but it won’t be in place until the mid to late 2020s. Some have questioned whether this is sufficiently ambitious – what do you think?
Environment minister Caroline Spelman calls for water to be “valued as the precious resource it is”. However, water is scarcer in some parts of the country than others, so will this lead to huge cost disparities? How much regional variation will users tolerate?
There are warm words for a collaborative, catchment-based approach to tackling diffuse pollution. But with a diverse array of polluters and beneficiaries, who should fund such projects?
A panel of regulatory, industry and independent experts will attempt to answer these questions and more.
To follow our panellists and pitch into the debate, visit our website at 3pm on Friday. There will be an article with an inset panel marked “Cover it Live” that automatically updates as the discussion goes on. A box will allow you to add your own comments.
To check your system supports the format, see a previous live webchat here: http://bit.ly/ifTDaH
Customer-facing elements of the white paper will be covered in a second webchat at 3pm on Friday 13 January. Join us again for discussions on affordability, demand reduction, retail competition and more.