Spotlight on...
EASTERN REGION WATERWAYS Chris Howes explains how water resource management in East Anglia could help progress the Boston to Peterborough Wetland Corridor project Sitting in my narrowboat, in the middle of January, with the rain pounding on the roof and the swollen waters of the River Great Ouse rushing past, last summer’s water shortages are only a distant memory. This may seem an odd time to be thinking about water resource management, but it isn’t. There are two parts to water resource management: getting rid of excess water (flood management), and guaranteeing a sufficient year-round supply of clean water to meet demand. For many years these activities have both taken place but perhaps despite, rather than in accord with, the other. Here in the Eastern Region, those of us who boat on the rivers Nene or Great Ouse know how quickly the water rises after what appears to be quite a modest amount of rain. Much of the surrounding ground is clay, and rain runs straight off it and into the rivers. Last year, during two heavy rainfall events the Environment Agency disposed of a total of 100 million cubic metres of water (approaching twice the volume of water in the Manchester Ship Canal) by pumping out to the Wash. This was at a time when the underlying water levels in the region remained very low. Shortage of water for navigation affected the Grand Union Canal between Braunston and Stoke Bruerne during the summer of 2019, and locks were closed overnight. I remember the
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frustration of waiting in steady drizzle for Canal & River Trust to reopen the Buckby Flight one morning. There was a certain irony that the locks were shut to save water despite the seemingly abundant quantities descending on me from above.
Water Resources East What is clearly needed is an approach to water management which balances and reconciles the two apparently contradictory requirements of getting rid of water, and of finding it. To tackle this problem across the country, five regional planning groups working as part of EA’s national framework have been set up. Water Resources East has been instructed to take a holistic approach for the Eastern Region. WRE (which covers 31,000km² from the Humber in the north to Basildon in the south, and Northampton in the west to the East Anglian coast) is predicted to face a gap between supply and demand of 750 mega litres per day if it carries on managing water resources in the same way as before. This is the equivalent of 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools-full daily. WRE is focused on recognising the impact that climate change and population growth will continue to have on Eastern England’s finite water supply, combined with the need to enhance the environment in this region. Spring 2020 23/01/2020 12:23
