Wettest May-July since records began – River Severn Mythe treatment works – summer 2007 – 17 days out – 140,000 households without water. Walham sub-station – power to 500,000 homes – demountable barriers deployed Several areas in which climate change will have an impact – floods, drought and water quality.

Climate change in water management – How do we ensure it happens? Dr. Julian Wright Policy advisor for climate change and water

Why bother thinking about climate change?

Uncertainties increase when aspects other than temperature increase are modelled, for example rainfall as shown in the above. Shows winter (left) and summer (right) rainfall at the end of the century relative to the start, and also gives an indication of the level of agreement or disagreement between different models. (In general at the global scale, since the overall circulation patterns are not expected to change, wet areas (e.g. ITCZ/equatorial) will get wetter and dry areas (e.g. tropics) will get drier – although there are many complexities (e.g. how El Nino/La Nina change, what happens to storm tracks across UK). Note here that it is important for us to understand the range of results from different GCMs in order to take a risk based approach to adaptation. UKCIP08 will do this – suggest adding some outputs from UKCIP08 at this point once released in November IPCC ar4

RBM under the WFD should be good at delivering climate change adaptation

Why? Clear objectives Cyclical – flexible to change and uncertainty Management of pressures – inherently leads to no and low regrets measures Encourages partnership Links with flood risk and land management Can integrate cost of carbon through economic analysis

What have we done in draft first RBMPs?

What do we need to do to next?

Integration of climate change into RBM, e.g. Monitoring programme Pressures analysis Measures

Guiding principles – analysis: Anticipate changes to water bodies that are just within their type range Understand the extent and causes of variability and change at reference sites Assess direct and indirect influences on pressures due to climate change Identify and closely monitor climate change “hot spots”

Guiding principles - measures: Favour options that are robust to the uncertainty in climate projections Test for compatibility of actions with wider adaptation and mitigation objectives Integrate cross-sectoral delivery of adaptation measures Showcase integrated adaptation

What are we going to do today to contribute to preparing Europe for climate change?

What questions you want the guidance to answer? Is the “guiding principles” approach the right one? Have we got the right guiding principles? Does the draft make it clear what you should practically do? Do the case studies help? How can we make things clearer? Keep a focus on practical outcomes!

Mires are peatland habitats - Such as Blanket bogs, Valley bogs and Fens all of which occur in the Exmoor National Park. Blanket bog is a globally scarce habitat; 20% of the total world resource occurs in the UK. Peat is extremely beneficial, in three principal ways. Firstly, it stores huge quantities of carbon. Natural England estimates that the amount of carbon stored in UK peat bogs would, if released to the atmosphere, equate to five billion tonnes (equivalent to nine months’ global greenhouse gas emissions). Secondly, peat holds enormous quantities of water. This slows down water run-off during and after heavy rainfall. This is becoming increasingly important in flood protection as our climate changes. Thirdly, the slower water run-off helps to prevent nutrients, suspended solids and organic matter from entering rivers and streams, which improves their quality. Moss is 95% water.

Problem: The majority of moorland in south west England has been drained, to convert it into grazing and arable land. Domestic peat-cutting has been widespread. These activities dry out the moss and deplete the peat. Instead of being a carbon dioxide (CO2) ‘sink’ the moors are becoming a source, releasing CO2 to the atmosphere. Other problems include adverse effects on water quality and quantity, and harm to wetland habitats.

PR09 funding for an extension of the Mires on the Moor project, to support work on an area nearly four times the size of the pilot – to 5000 hectares. It is vital to reverse the decline and provide benefits in the most cost-effective ways: 1. The extension will prevent release of around three million tonnes of CO2 and begin to lock up new carbon stores of around 4,500 tonnes per year. 2. The project is expected to improve water quality through reduced run-off. 3. It will also help SW Water to manage water supply cost-effectively – 3 million litres per year. 4. It will contribute to flood protection through reduced run-off during heavy rainfall. 5. Good water quality will help meet key biodiversity and habitat targets.

Wettest May-July since records began – River Severn Mythe treatment works – summer 2007 – 17 days out – 140,000 households without water. Walham sub-station – power to 500,000 homes – demountable barriers deployed Several areas in which climate change will have an impact – floods, drought and water quality.

Discussion 1 What questions do you want the guidance to answer? For example: Is this compulsory – who has endorsed it? My monitoring shows a change in type of a water body – what do we do about this?

Discussion 2 Is the “guiding principles” approach the right one? Have we got the right guiding principles?

Discussion 3 Does the draft make it clear what you should practically do? Do the case studies help? Can you contribute case studies that better reflect your national context? How can we make things clearer?

Next steps Many thanks! Further comments to julian.wright@environment- agency.gov.uk Updated chapter 4 for consultation by……… Full guidance document for consultation by……… Guidance published by………