Improving surface water drainage:
Consultation to accompany proposals set out in the Govt’s water strategy Future Water
Full consultation document is 106 pages. 50 questions for respondents to answer. Issued Feb 2008, end date of consultation 30 April 2008
Executive Summary
1 To support the Government’s new Water Strategy, Future Water, this
consultation sets out policies to improve the way that surface water drainage is
managed.
2 The floods last summer showed the real damage that surface water flooding
can cause. The Environment Agency estimates that two-thirds of the 57,000
homes affected were flooded from surface water runoff overloading drainage
systems. Combined damage from the June and July floods is estimated to be
around £3 billion.
3 The interim report from the Pitt Review on lessons learned has urged early
action to improve the way that surface water is managed, particularly in high
risk areas. Improving surface water drainage is a key part of the Government’s
new Water Strategy. This consultation takes forward some of therecommendations outlined in the Pitt Review interim report.
4 The Water Strategy puts forward three policy proposals on surface water
management and this accompanying consultation sets out the details.
a. Establishing Surface Water Management Plans as a way of improving
co-ordination of activities between stakeholders involved in surface
water drainage. This part of the consultation addresses the long-recognised
fragmented responsibilities for managing surface water drainage. Surface
Water Management Plans could provide a much-needed co-ordinating
mechanism. We ask stakeholders for their views on whether preparation of
the plans should remain voluntary or become required in high risk areas, and
what roles each of the key stakeholders should play.
b. Clarifying responsibilities for adoption and management of sustainabledrainage systems (SUDS). This part of the consultation asks stakeholdersfor their views on options for encouraging SUDS as a viable alternative toconnecting surface water into sewers. It puts forward specific proposals inrelation to responsibilities, policies and processes to increase uptake ofSUDS.
c. Reviewing automatic right to connect (Section 106 of the Water Industry
Act 1991). This part of the consultation reviews the existing and longstanding
ability for new development to connect surface water drains orsewers to the public sewerage system, which could act as a potential barrierto the use of SUDS. The right to connect foul drains and sewers to the publicsewerage system will remain. Traditional piped drainage has delivered manybenefits and will continue to have a role to play as part of surface waterdrainage. But to prepare for climate change and continuing developmentpressures, we should ensure that a much fuller range of drainage approachesis considered when surface water drainage systems are designed,constructed and improved in the future.
5 The consultation is backed by two Impact Assessments that review the main
costs and benefits of each policy option.
Part 1: Consultation Overview
Introduction
1.1 The floods last summer exemplified the distress and damage that surface water flooding can cause. The Environment Agency estimates that two-thirds of the 57,000 homes affected were flooded from surface water runoff from fields and paved areas going into property or overloading drainage systems, and from
local watercourses, ditches and sewers. Combined damage from the June and
July floods is estimated at around £3 billion.
1.2 Sir Michael Pitt’s interim report of the summer floods has highlighted the risks
from surface water flooding and put forward recommendations to reduce the
chance of such an event occurring again.This consultation forms part of a
wider programme of work to consider the urgent recommendations and interim
conclusions of Sir Michael Pitt’s review.
1.3 The problems will only worsen unless we take steps to manage the risk
effectively. The Government’s Foresight report estimated that currently 80,000
properties have a very high likelihood of flooding from surface water runoff
(10% annual chance), causing on average £270 million of damage each year.
With climate change these costs will increase if we take no action and could
rise to several billion.
1.4 The Government’s new Water Strategy, Future Water, sets out a vision for
more effective drainage of surface water, in order to deal with the dual pressures of climate change and housing development. By the 2030s, we will manage surface water more sustainably, by allowing for the increased capture and reuse of water, slow absorption through the ground, and where appropriate more above-ground storage and routing of surface water separate from the foul
sewer. Moving large volumes of water from one place to another and treating
surface water has energy costs. Water will increasingly be managed on the
surface, rather than relying on wholesale upgrade of the existing sewer system
to higher design standards, which will be a costly and lengthy process.
1.5 Such an approach will reduce flood risk, improve water quality, and lessen the burden on the sewer system, which otherwise will struggle to cope with the
extreme rainfall events that climate change is likely to bring. Water companies
could potentially have to spend around £1 billion per year to stop flooding from
sewers getting worse given increasingly intense rainfall events.Keeping
excess rainwater out of sewers will be a particularly important element of
adaptation because the potential capacity of the landscape to absorb, store and
convey water is much greater than the below-ground system.
1.6 In line with Sir Michael Pitt’s recommendations and those of the Royal
Commission on Environmental Pollution,the new strategy puts forward policy
measures to improve the way that surface water runoff is managed. In
particular, it proposes: (1) using Surface Water Management Plans as a tool to
improve co-ordination between stakeholders involved in drainage and local
management of flood risk; (2) promoting sustainable drainage systems by
clarifying responsibilities for ownership and adoption; and (3) reviewing the
ability for premises to connect surface water drainage automatically into the
public sewer system (Section 106 of Water Industry Act 1991).
1.7 These policy proposals will involve significant changes in the way that surface water is managed. As such, Defra is consulting with stakeholders on details of the proposals. The consultation supports the key principles of integrated water management, including reducing risk, improving water quality and adapting to climate change. As flooding and water management are devolved issues, the consultation covers England only. The Welsh Assembly Government plans toconsult separately on its approach to future surface water management, whichmay include reviewing Section 106 of the Water Industry Act (1991).
1.8 Part 2 of the consultation focuses on the role that Surface WaterManagementPlans might play in enabling a co-ordinated and strategic approach to managingsurface water drainage. Part 3 then considers how arrangements for theadoption and ownership of sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) could be
improved to encourage their use. Finally, Part 4 examines how Section 106 of
the Water Industry Act (1991) could be revised to change the provision for
premises to connect surface water drainage into the public sewer system as
default. All three parts of the consultation are backed by Impact Assessments
that review the main costs and benefits of each policy option (Annexes B and
C).