NI Water announces consultation on draft Water Resource & Supply Resilience Plan
26 July 2019 10:00
NI Water has announced that its draft Water Resource & Supply Resilience Plan (WR&SRP) is being made available for public consultation for nine weeks, closing on 27 September 2019.
The draft WR&SR Plan is an important document for NI Water, as it shows how the company will manage and develop water resources to make sure there is enough water to meet future supply needs. The WR&SRP takes into account changes in population, housing, water usage and incorporates any predicted changes to our climate. This includes how water supplies would be maintained during critical periods such as severe winters, drought and also includes a drought plan.
A Strategic Environmental Assessment has also been developed for the draft Plan. This assessment looks at the potential impact of our Plan on the environment.
The company has made significant improvements in water resilience for customers since the last Plan was launched in 2012. The draft Plan aims to build on this work, ensuring continued high levels of leakage detection, sustained investment in water mains and water efficiency initiatives.
NI Water devised the draft WR&SR Plan with input from key stakeholders, including the Department for Infrastructure, the Utility Regulator, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Consumer Council NI.
The Plan and its supporting documents can be accessed via NI Water’s website at www.niwater.com/managing-northern-irelands-water-resources/
You can submit representations on the draft Plan up to 27 September 2019 by using the Consultation Response form found on the NI Water website at www.niwater.com/managing-northern-irelands-water-resources/. Please send any representations to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), who will review these before sending them to NI Water for comment.
Following the consultation period, once all the representations have been reviewed and addressed as appropriate, NI Water will publish a summary of the consultation responses and the Final WR&SR Plan.
Notes
The draft Plan is based on best practice and technical guidance in the industry.
The Water and Sewerage Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, came into effect in March 2016 and permits NI Water to combine the Water Resource Management Plan and the Drought Plan in a Water Resource & Supply Resilience Plan (WR&SR Plan).
NI Water has not excluded any information from the draft Plan for either commercially confidentiality or for national security interests under Article 71(10) of the Water & Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.
The Water Resource & Supply Resilience Plan is based on NI Water making an assessment of need/prioritisation and assumes the current practice of constraining investment will be discontinued. NI Water is forecasting an investment need in the region of £2.5bn over the six years commencing 2021.
ENDS
Media enquiries to the NI Water Press Office on 028 9035 7695 or via email to press.office@niwater.com