Key impacts of climate change on the water industry
Climate change is already impacting on the UK water industry with respect to its operations (both water and wastewater), asset serviceability and maintenance, and its long-term strategic planning and investment decisions.
Key impacts include:
• An increase in the intensity, severity and frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, storms and floods
• Reduced availability of water in rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, which also means lower quality in some cases due to reduced dilution of pollutants
• More treatment of water supplies due to lower quality of water in the environment, which will cost more money and burn more energy
• Effects on existing sewerage systems, which were not designed to take climate change into account; more intense rainfall is likely to exceed the capacity of parts of the network and cause local flooding
• Water quality problems caused by run-off taking nutrients and pesticides from agricultural land, for example, and transferring them into rivers and lakes
• Effects on the structure and operation of dams and reservoirs, for example from increased siltation and slippage
• Pipe systems for both drinking water supply and sewerage becoming more prone to cracking as climate changes lead to greater soil movement as a consequence of wetting and drying cycles
• Increased risk to assets on the coast or in flood plains from flooding, storm damage, coastal erosion and a rise in sea level
• Discolouration and odour problems resulting from higher temperatures and more intense rainfall events
• Likely increased demand for water, particularly at times of reduced availability, exacerbating supply issues
• Financial and economic impacts as well as environmental and social consequences
