Water bills may rise to offset environmental impact

Following my Nuffield study on water I was interested to read the recent Guardian report on water resources. The article reports that water costs could rise after water companies have been told to look for alternative sources of water due to the current environmental impact of abstraction.

The Environment Agency found widespread damage and threats to wildlife, including chalk rivers, wetlands, and other protected water habitats. This could open the way for greater water transfer or the building of  desalination plants.

I feel that all this discussion will open the way for on farm reservoirs which can capture winter rainfall, potentially assist to avert flooding and are more flexible than a large reservoir, create a lot of unique wildlife habitats and are much more cost effective. There are a number of innovative ways to address this issue and we need to move forward not look back at old technology and old mechanisms of managing water supply and demand.