Perhaps in a country where rain is never far away we do not pay enough attention to water. Whenever there is a drought, no sooner has a hosepipe ban been introduced than the heavens open and all ideas about how to improve supply and expand capacity are shelved until the next dry spell.
Yet parts of Britain have less rainfall than much of Europe and the population has grown significantly over the past 25 years. Water management is a growing concern with experts warning that the south east faces running out of water within 20 years. In addition, new sewers, treatment works and outfall restrictions are needed. This all costs money, a lot of it. One reason that the water industry was privatised was to drum up the necessary investment and yet few are happy with the performance of the companies, despite improvements in pollution control and leak repairs over the years.
There is a widely held sense that the companies took too much in dividends and corporate bonuses while investing too little in infrastructure.
Now they want the regulator Ofwat to let them charge consumers significantly more if they are to fulfil their obligations to improve the network and ensure water supply remains plentiful.
The Government has had to wade into this particular quagmire without any clear idea of what to do about it. The Environment Secretary Steve Reed has opted to set up a commission to try to find answers with a “root and branch” assessment of why the “whole water sector has failed”.
He says that Ofwat may be disbanded for not being “robust enough” but it would still need to be replaced by another regulator. The problems with water are not limited to the powers of the regulator.
We need more capacity yet no new reservoirs have been built for decades. A grid might help transfer water around the country and has been mooted for more than 60 years, but no progress has ever been made. The country’s only desalination plant in east London is lying unused for unfathomable reasons.
Mr Reed appears to believe that better regulation is the answer when what is needed is more strategic, long-term planning – though renationalisation is not the solution, as Mr Reed has conceded. He has an onerous task. The Government’s energy policy risks the lights going out. Voters won’t be pleased if the taps run dry as well.