Part 2: Water resources (sections 57 to 60)
22.This Part of the Act focuses on water resources and includes provision for reporting on progress on water abstraction reform in England, withdrawal of compensation for undertakers, main river maps in England and Wales, and Environment Agency maps of waterworks.
23.The Act supports the Government’s commitment to reforming the water abstraction management system in England by requiring the Secretary of State to report to Parliament on progress.
24.It also supports the Government’s priority of restoring sustainable abstraction. It removes the ability of undertakers to claim compensation for losses resulting from modification and revocations of their abstraction licences. Undertakers will instead consider sustainability reductions as part of their mainstream business planning process, and recover the costs through Ofwat’s Price Review process.
25.There is an amendment to the Water Resources Act 1991 (“the WRA”) to transfer responsibility, from the Secretary of State to the Environment Agency in England and from the Welsh Ministers to the Natural Resources Body for Wales in Wales, for maintaining the main river maps for England and Wales, and to require that the map shall be kept in electronic form. There are also provisions concerning amendments to these maps, consultations on new maps and entitlements to free copies.
26.The Act repeals part of the WRA to remove the duty on the Environment Agency to keep and maintain a public register of maps showing the pipes and waterworks it holds.