Case Study

UK Parliament

Advising on reform to the UK’s dated water abstraction system.

This project was undertaken by Jerome Mayaud as part of a NERC Fellowship at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology. It addresses the urgent need to reform the freshwater abstraction system in England and Wales.

Current high levels of water withdrawal are damaging the quality and quantity of rivers, lakes, and groundwater, so we researched potential legislative shifts designed to balance the competing needs of public supply, business, and environmental protection.

The research was published as a POSTnote by the UK Parliament,

Aerial view of the Palace of Westminster with Big Ben clock tower, Westminster Bridge, and the River Thames in London, England.

The primary goals of the project were to:

Inform climate adaptation: Ensure the UK’s water system can handle a projected 15% drop in average river flows and more frequent severe droughts by 2050.
Propose system modernization: Replace a dated and inefficient licensing system established in the 1960s with one that dynamically links abstraction limits to actual water availability.
Encourage environmental restoration: The research made the case that the UK could attempt to meet European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) targets by achieving "Good Ecological Status" for all water bodies by 2027.

Project goals

A scenic view of a dam with a small tower and a bridge extending over a body of water, with green hills and trees in the background and a blue sky with some clouds.

We proposed a phased implementation strategy focused on catchment-wide management:

Integration of exemptions: Bringing previously exempt abstractors (e.g., quarries and trickle irrigation) into the licensing framework.
Water share accounting: Moving from absolute fixed limits to a "share" system in water-scarce "enhanced catchments," allowing for flexible trading of permits.
Dynamic flow controls: Implementing "smart licensing" where abstraction rates automatically reduce as river levels drop, guided by Environmental Flow Indicators (EFIs).

Approach

Demand projections: Despite a 15% decline in abstraction since 2000, UK demand for water is forecast to rise by 9% over the next 30 years due to population growth of 6.6–16 million.
Drought risk: Risk of "severe" drought in East England is projected to treble, while severe water restrictions could cost the UK economy £1.3 billion per day.
Ecological status: 6% of UK freshwater bodies fail environmental standards due to over-abstraction; the reforms aim to rectify this by removing "paper water" (unused licenses).
Economic opportunity: Introducing water share accounting is estimated to provide net economic benefits of £100–£650 million over 25 years.
“Twin-track” approach: Resilience could be achieved by combining supply enhancement (reservoirs, transfers) with demand management (smart meters, scarcity pricing).

Key results

A document from the UK Houses of Parliament titled 'Reform of Freshwater Abstraction' with a photo of water flowing from a pipe into a natural water body.

At the time of writing, phased implementation of the new water licensing regime was expected in the early 2020s. Future efforts will focus on increasing stakeholder collaboration through "catchment partnerships" and integrating water management with land-use policies to enhance natural water storage and soil infiltration.