Water & Marine Spatial Planning and Climate Change

08-Dec-10

Back to Water & Marine Spatial Planning Group
Back to EPP Network's Planning to live with climate change
Back to Network's hompage Back to Members' Area

Climate Change Champion

This page is updated by the Water and Marine Spatial Planning Group's Climate Change Champion, Laura Cox.

Water & Marine Spatial Planning and Climate Change

Climate change is already impacting on the UK water industry with respect to its operations (both water and wastewater), asset serviceability and maintenance, and its long-term strategic planning and investment decisions.

Key impacts include:

An increase in the intensity, severity and frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, storms and floods
Reduced availability of water in rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, which also means lower quality in some cases due to reduced dilution of pollutants
More treatment of water supplies due to lower quality of water in the environment, which will cost more money and burn more energy
Effects on existing sewerage systems, which were not designed to take climate change into account; more intense rainfall is likely to exceed the capacity of parts of the network and cause local flooding
Water quality problems caused by run-off taking nutrients and pesticides from agricultural land, for example, and transferring them into rivers and lakes
Effects on the structure and operation of dams and reservoirs, for example from increased siltation and slippage
Pipe systems for both drinking water supply and sewerage becoming more prone to cracking as climate changes lead to greater soil movement as a consequence of wetting and drying cycles
Increased risk to assets on the coast or in flood plains from flooding, storm damage, coastal erosion and a rise in sea level
Discolouration and odour problems resulting from higher temperatures and more intense rainfall events
Likely increased demand for water, particularly at times of reduced availability, exacerbating supply issues
Financial and economic impacts as well as environmental and social consequences

Resources

The Planning & Climate Change Coalition

Planning for climate change - guidance and model policies for local authorities

Water UK - Adaptation briefing

Facing up to Rising Sea Levels (pdf). An ICE report on the future of our coastal and estuarine cities. This briefing outlines the impacts of climate change upon water and how the UK water industry is addressing them.