Water White Paper was worth waiting for

Timelines in the water sector are so long that it is more important for policy to be right than to be hasty. The final appearance of the Water White Paper last week made my wait worthwhile because, after thorough consideration, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has adopted many of the pro-competition measures set out in my "gradualist" 2009 independent review of competition and innovation; some others are deferred for more detailed consideration. All are set out in a few unobtrusive pages of a wider document.