Essex & Suffolk Water Draft Drought Plan
Public Consultation Now Open
Water companies are required to produce Drought Plans under Section 39B of the Water Industry Act 1991, as defined by the Water Act 2003. We have updated our Drought Plan and would like to invite you to comment on it.
Our draft Drought Plan identifies how we intend to manage a future drought, what triggers can be used to identify when actions are required, and what measures are available to reduce demand and support supplies. The Plan also outlines how the effects of a drought and drought actions will be communicated to customers and takes account of the need to undertake environmental monitoring at those sites potentially affected by the implementation of supply side drought actions.
Our draft Drought Plan takes into account changes relating to temporary use bans that have been introduced by the Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 and the Drought Direction 2011. Our defined Levels of Service, as stated in our Water Resource Management Plan 2009, are not fundamentally changed (just re-titled). However, the new legislation allows restrictions to be imposed ranging from whole company area down to part of a Water Resource Zone and also allows more phasing in of restrictions than was previously allowed.
The consultation period covers an eight week period commencing on Monday 9th January 2012 and closing on Friday 2nd March 2012.
If you would like to comment on our draft Drought Plan, please send written representations to the Secretary of State by emailing water.resources@defra.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to:
The Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Water Supply and Regulation Division,
2nd Floor Area 2C,
Ergon House,
Horseferry Road,
London, SW1P 2AL
For each of our draft Drought Plan supply-side drought actions, we have prepared an environmental assessment report. These reports have been used to inform the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and the Habitats Regulation Assessment. Paper copies of the draft Drought Plan and the Drought Action Environmental Reports can be requested by any potentially affected persons by e-mailing waterresources@eswater.co.uk or by writing to:
Water Resources Team,
Essex & Suffolk Water,
Sandon Valley House,
Canon Barnes Road,
East Hanningfield,
Essex, CM3 8BD
| Essex & Suffolk Water Drought Plan documents | |
|---|---|
| Draft for Consultation |  6MB |
| Strategic Environmental Assessment Report - Draft Non-technical Summary | |
| Drought Plan Appendix - Draft for Consultation | 3MB |
| Draft Drought Plan - Habitats Regulation Assessment Screening Report | 2MB |