Regulation for a Sustainable Water Industry

Regulation for a Sustainable Water Industry is CIWEM's positive vision for the future water industry in England and Wales. CIWEM believes a wide-reaching review of the governance of the water industry is needed now to ensure that our use of water is sustainable in the long term and in respect of environmental limits. Notwithstanding the successes achieved in the delivery of water and sewerage services in the last two decades, the structure, regulation and management of the water sector needs to be considered afresh if the challenges of the future, from population growth, climate change and environmental management are to be met.

CIWEM's vision includes calls for more carbon, water and resource efficiency; more innovation, the frequent reuse of water and the sustainable management of catchments. Relationships in the industry also need to change with more partnership working, more integration and water companies delivering broader water "services" - through a regulatory regime based on long term investment and planning cycles. CIWEM also believes that the true price of water needs to be established and for metering to become commonplace.

We believe these measures need to be built into a future Water Bill and subsequent secondary legislation and guidance. CIWEM hopes that the 2011 Water White Paper will provide a platform for this by including a single set of industry objectives (with sustainability in mind) to guide politicians in the long term and to address how policy should be implemented by the industry. We believe there needs to be a blend of legislative, policy, regulatory and market mechanisms to set the platform for the delivery of effective and efficient water, sewerage and environmental services with sufficient freedom and incentives to encourage the development and uptake of new ways of working.