October update from Chris Murray, Chair of WRSE
This week, five of our member companies will publish their final Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs) for 2025 to 2075, while Southern Water’s consultation on its draft WRMP is well underway.
Affinity Water, SES Water, South East Water and Portsmouth Water all gained approval from Defra last month to finalise their plans, and I know a great deal of work has gone into making these final changes.
But the hard work doesn’t stop there, and the companies are moving forward at pace with the delivery of some of the key schemes within the plans.
Southern Water and Portsmouth Water recently held a groundbreaking event at Havant Thicket reservoir and Affinity Water launched its public consultation on the Grand Union Canal (GUC) Transfer – which is also the topic of our first-ever podcast.
Meanwhile, Thames Water is considering the feedback received during its South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO) consultation events and undertaking a series of customer information sessions on its Teddington Direct River Abstraction Project.
It is evident that water companies, and regional groups, are doing all they can to turn their plans into action, but we also need the Government and our regulators, to play their part by providing the funding, policies and support needed to plug the 2.7 billion-litre water shortfall we face if no action is taken.
While much of the focus of the Government’s proposed reform of the water industry is on wastewater, we previously wrote to the new Secretary of State, Steve Reed MP, asking Defra to remove barriers to infrastructure development.
More recently, we also responded to Ofwat’s Draft Determination of water companies’ 2025 to 2030 business plans and asked them to reconsider the funding allocations for new supply schemes and water efficiency measures included in the regional plan.
As we move towards finalising the regional plan for the South East, which will be published in 2025 when Southern Water’s WRMP is finalised, we are also looking ahead to the next round of regional planning.
We have reflected on our experience of producing the last regional plan, where, for the first time, five regional groups across England produced coordinated plans, in-line with the National Framework for Water Resources.
We have set out six recommendations to improve the governance and processes around regional planning and build on the success and lessons learned in the 2025-2030 plan development.
This paper is informing a series of strategic discussions, and I look forward to meeting with our partners and stakeholders over the coming months at what is a critical time for the water industry, as the government is developing plans to reform the sector and update the Environment Act.
Chris Murray MBE, Independent Chair of WRSE
To support our future plans, I’m delighted to announce that Meyrick Gough, who until now held the role of WRSE’s Technical Director, has been promoted to the new role of Managing Director.
Meyrick joined WRSE from Southern Water in 2018 as our first-ever Technical Director and led the significant technical work, in partnership with the WRSE member companies, to produce the first regional plan. All investment modelling was carried out regionally and translated into the six Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs).
In Meyrick’s new role, he will continue to develop the regional planning approach for the 2029 and 2034 plans.
