Water: Terms of Reference

Water is essential for all forms of life; people, wildlife, food and recreation. It is a precious resource that must be managed wisely, especially when the climate and our use of water is changing.
As the United Kingdom alternates between drought and flood, we need to find a way of regaining balance, using water carefully and slowing down its journey from the sky to the sea. The freshwater cycle has a natural pace as it flows through and across the land, but over the past decade the pace has accelerated to a dash from rain to storm water sewer. The increasing rate of built development, hard surfaces and changing agricultural practices, combined with more extreme weather patterns, mean that when long periods of dry weather are broken by sudden storms, water rushes off the land and causes floods, rather than percolating into the baked soil.
The Quality of Life Commission will be consulting with the public and working with water experts from government bodies, environmental lobbyists and the water industry to explore sensible long term solutions and avoid panic engineering reactions that could eventually make matters worse.

The advisors will be grouped into four main areas:

1. Water use and re-use:The UK has had below average rainfall almost every month since November 2004. We need rain to fill up rivers and the natural underground stores of water that we rely on for our public water supply. We each use around 155 litres of water per day, which is 70% more than 30 years ago. This trend is not sustainable, particularly in the South East, which has had only 85% of average rainfall in the last 18 months and where most new housing development is planned. The group will look at how we use and re-use water and how it is best collected, stored and filtered. 35% of the water each person uses goes down the lavatory and washing water and the water that falls on our roofs and roads are mostly wasted. The group will look at leading examples from around the world to suggest more efficient ways of handling water supply and reuse.

2. The natural environmentThe natural environment relies on the steady flow of water through, rivers, lakes, marshes and aquifers. Wildlife, plants and even the micro-organisms in the soil are dependent on the water cycle that the extremes of drought and flood can destroy. The health of the countryside and much of our enjoyment and recreation are based on a balanced water regime. The Environment Agency’s Floodplan (Making Space for Water) and river restoration initiatives are pioneering work on flood management rather than flood prevention. On a global and national scale, damage from flooding is greater than from any other natural disaster. Around 1.8 million households, 140,000 commercial properties and 1.4 million hectares of agricultural land in England are at risk. There is great scope to restore river corridors and floodplains, capture flood peaks in traditional flood meadows and find practical ways to store storm water. If we manage to connect issues across government, there is a rare new opportunity to take full advantage of the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy to tackle land management, water flows and diffuse pollution.

3. The built environmentPossible new initiatives in the built environment could make a similar impact. The UK is about to embark on a major programme of new house building. Considerations of water shortage and flooding need to be critical factors in decisions about where and how the housing is built. The way in which houses could be clustered around productive open space could open great new opportunities for water management and recycling and lead the way for retrofitting older parts of our cities. Water efficient design, such as dual flush lavatories and low flow taps and showerheads, can reduce household water use by up to 25%. German households use a third of the water that we consume in the UK. Changing building standards and layouts could make a dramatic difference to the way that water is used and recycled. There are connections to be made with harvesting water, managing waste, growing food and generating energy on a small local scale.

4. Paying for water and consumer understandingThe economics of long term solutions will be linked to consumer understanding and priorities. Water cannot be treated as a mere commodity. It has a greater significance to people than blunt utility; there are emotional and spiritual dimensions that have to be absorbed. Will we be prepared to put up with changes to the way we live in return for more cost effective and natural water solutions? How much are we prepared to pay for water and how can we ensure supply to those who are not able to pay?