The sector’s initial position was to oppose any form of realignment, but over the months it softened its stance and that’s to be welcomed. The companies always argued that they needed to be regionally focused – especially when you consider that managing water resources has long been shifting from artificial boundaries in activities or geography to one based on catchments and river basins. This argument has undoubted value.
But it has its downsides, too. As we reported early this month, when homeware and DIY supplier B&Q sought to take action on water efficiency, it did not find a lack of enthusiasm among water companies. All the water companies had programmes in place, and were working hard on customer engagement and distributing equipment. But there was no consistency. It meant the retailer’s ambition that water might become the new timber, so that customers begin to look for a sustainability mark, was further off than it hoped.
If bringing retail into focus allows there to be more consistency about water efficiency, it will have a lot to recommend it. Similarly, if bringing water sourcing into focus allows a more sustainable approach to develop, for example using abstraction trading, it will be valuable.
One area where the White Paper does disappoint is in innovation. When Ofgem is asking for bids for innovation funding from pots that will top a billion pounds, allowing £3.5 million for the water sector looks paltry – especially given the Environment Agency’s recent warning over increased drought to 2050. Let’s hope it’s the seed for something bigger.