RiversTrustCaBAWorkshop,London,26.6.2017

ManagingAbstrac-oninSensi-veRivers

BenefitsofEvidence,BadgeringandCollabora-on

JohnLawson,FREng,FICE,FCIWEMWaterResourcesAdviserto

Ac-onfortheRiverKennetandtheWye&UskFounda-on

WhatIwillcover•  Contras>ngexperiencesfromtheRiverKennetandtheRiversWye&Usk

•  Theneedforbadgeringandpersistence

•  Theimportanceofevidence

•  Thebenefitsofcollabora>on

TheKennetSaga

Oxford

Reading

London R. Kennet

R. Thames

R. Thames R. Og

Upper Kennet Boreholes

Farmoor Reservoir

GATOX Pipeline

Sewage return to Thames

Swindon

Axford

Ramsbury

Ogbourne Clatford

Marlborough

Upper Kennet Abstraction: 15 Ml/d export to Swindon, 4 Ml/d local supply

15 Ml/d export to South Swindon

ARK’slong-runningconcerns

•  Flowsunacceptablyreducedindryyears

•  Abstrac>oniscausingtheriveraboveMarlboroughtodryupforlonger

•  Abstrac>oniscausingtheRiverOgtodryaltogetherindryyears

Thisallaffectsriverinsects,plantsandfish

Keydatesinthesaga•  1990 ARKformed

•  1990-2000ARKbadgering,liRleprogress

•  2000-2012VariouslowflowstudiesbyTW,EAand ARK.Nocollabora>on

•  2012 KennetCatchmentPartnershipformed

•  2012 EA/TWagreementonnewpipeline fundingandcessa>onofOgbourne abstrac>on

•  2017 New£25mpipelinecommissioned

The“Axfordsolu-on”•  10kmpipeline,500mmdia,cos>ng£25million

•  Connec>ngFarmoorreservoirtoSouthSwindon

•  Axfordpumpingreduced11Ml/dto6Ml/d,BUTonlywhenriverflow<100Ml/d

•  Ogbournepumpingstopped(typically4Ml/d)

New 500 mm water main

Existing main from Farmoor reservoir

Existing Axford boreholes

Existing Ogbourne boreholes

Existing supply to S. Swindon

M4

GWR

ARK’scon-nuingconcerns1.  TheriverflowtriggerforAxfordreduc>onis

settoolow–thereduc>onoccurstoolatetoproviderelief

2.  LiRlebenefitfromthe£25millioninvestmentinthenewpipeline

3.  Theimpactsofabstrac>onaboveMarlboroughares>llnotbeingaddressed

LimitedbenefitsfromTW’s£25millionscheme

Boreholes still affecting

upper river

Exports to Swindon continue at most times

Wessex b/hs?

DryKennetatMarlborough,Sep2011

TheAxfordandOgbournereduc-onswilldonothingtohelpthis

ARKEvidenceGathering

Ourowninves>ga>onofflowimpacts-S>llnotdiscussedwithEAandTW

Whatwewouldliketohappen•  Completecessa>onofexportsofKennetwatertoSwindon

•  Axfordtobeusedonlyforlocalsupplies,includingMarlboroughandabove

•  MarlboroughandClabordboreholestobeusedonlyinemergencies

ARK’sproposalforachievingthishasbeenrejectedbyThamesWaterWhy not use the £25 million pipeline

investment all the year round?

Wherearewenow?•  Aeer27yearsandnorealcollabora>on

– Noagreementonhowtousethe£25millionasset– NoagreementonflowsaboveMarlborough

•  BUT,encouragingrecentwordstoARKfromTW’snewCEO:“thenewpipelineisjustthefirststep”“togetherwe’llfindsolu>ons”

TheWye&Usksuccessstory

Cardiff

Brecon Hereford

Usk

Usk

Crai Talybont

Llandegfedd

R Wye

TheWye/UskWaterSupplySystemElan valley reservoirs Elan valley aqueduct

supplying 360 Ml/d to Birmingham

Releases from Elan valley to regulate flows in Wye

Upper Usk dams supplying about 55 Ml/d to Swansea area

Releases from Usk dam to support drought flows

Lower Usk 175 Ml/d to Cardiff and Newport

Wye/Usk transfer 125 Ml/d Monmouth

Total all abstraction c 900 Ml/d

Builth Wells

Supplying 3 million people

Canal

Impactsonsalmon

WUF’s concerns: •  Major flow regime changes since 1970s

•  Much less reservoir spillage

•  Big fall in salmon numbers since 1970s

•  Salmon stuck in lower rivers

•  Uncontrolled canal abstraction

Original2004-10proposalsforHabitatsDirec-veCompliance

•  FocusedonachievingHD“EcologicalRiverFlows”

•  Used“benchmarkflows”,iedamsarenatural!

•  Didn’treduceimpactsofdamsonspates

•  Didn’tachievenaturalflowvaria>ons

•  Hadbigimpactoncanalwatersupplies,probablyrequiringcanalclosure

BUT,compliedwith“rules”,sodeemedOK!

WUFWhingeing&Badgering

•  From2007to2010,wewroteleRers,hadmee>ngs,madeFoIrequests

•  Andgotnowhere!

NRWresponsetoWUFWhingeing

•  We’vecompliedwith“therules”•  Ourmodellingshowsit’sOK•  It’sbeenagreedbyeveryone•  It’stoolatetochange

WUFEvidenceGathering

Our own investigation to break the impasse - Evidence gathering and counter-proposals

WUFtoolsforgenera-ngevidence

•  Wholeriversalmoncatchanalysis

•  Individualbeatcatchanalysis•  Modellingofwatersupplies,riverflows,watertemperatureandsalmonmigra>on

Genera>ngevidence-basedcounter-proposals

WUF’sproposedsolu-on

•  Makemoreuseofthereservoirstosupportriverflowsandecology

•  Especiallyinnon-droughtyears

•  Majorimprovementwithnoimpactonwatersupplies

Mid-2012:Forma-onofUsk&WyeAbstrac-onGroup(UWAG)

WelshWater,SevernTrent,NRW,EA,CRTandWUF

Workingtogetherto:• maximiseecologicalbenefits• minimiseimpactsonwatersupplies• improveopera>onratherthancutsupplies• makebeReruseofreservoirstohelpfish

KeyplayersinUWAG

Gail Davies, Welsh Water Owain Sheppard, NRW

Supported by Cascade Consulting (now Ricardo)

UWAGcollabora-on•  4workinggroups–strategic,technical,modelling,fisheries

•  36workinggroupmee>ngsin2years

•  Freesharingofdataanddraepapers•  Sharingandharmonisa>onofmodels

•  Numerousdiscussionpapers,proposalsandcounter-proposals,leadingto:

UWAGAgreementofDecember2014

TheUWAGAgreement

Signed by affected parties, supported by NRW & EA

SummaryofImprovementsExceptinseveredroughts,usereservoirstorageto:•  Makereleasesfromdamstoboostexis>ngspates

•  Delayswitch-offofregula>onfor7daysaeerstartofspates

•  AvoidsummerpumpingtorefilllowerUskreservoir

•  Increasecompensa>onflowstomirrornaturalflows

•  UseUskreservoirtosupportBrecon&Monmouthcanalsuppliesindroughts

Benefitsofimprovements

•  Flowsclosetonaturalflowsatcri>cal>mes•  MuchbeRerflowsforspawningandjuveniles•  Muchreducedsalmonmigra>onimpacts•  Canalopera>onsecuredinmostdroughtsNoaddi>onalimpactonpublicwatersupplies

LowsummerflowinthelowerUsk

Stranded ranunculus from diurnal pumping variation

Withnatural

riverflows

WithUWAG

proposals DiffToendJune

ToendSep

ToendDec

5445 4093 1352 24.7% 24.8% 10.5%

SalmonmigrationtoendSep %losses

Flow reduced by c.40%

Salmon migration to end September reduced by 1350

Much reduced pumping in migration season

1100 more salmon in river by end Sep With

naturalriverflows

WithUWAG

proposals DiffToendJune

ToendSep

ToendDec

5445 5175 270 4.1% 5.0% 2.4%

SalmonmigrationtoendSep %losses

Recentprogress•  Draeingnewlicencesandopera>ngmanuals

•  Newpumpingsta>on,reservoiroutletvalvesandtelemetrydesigned(forAMP6installa>onby2020)

•  Collabora>ononreal->meopera>on

•  Benefitstoflowsandfishalreadyevident

Collaboration works!

Whatwe’velearnedfromtwoverydifferentexperiences

•  Whingeingwithoutnewevidencedoesn’twork

•  Badgeringwithnewevidencecanchangeminds

•  Genera>onofnewevidenceandproposalsthroughcollabora>onworksbest

•  LiRlegetsachievedwithoutmutualunderstandingofconcernsandgoals