A regional water authority, commonly known as a water board, was one of a group of public bodies that came into existence in England and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
in April 1974, as a result of the passing of the
Water Act 1973
The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...
. This brought together in ten regional units a diverse range of bodies involved in
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...
and
supply
Supply may refer to:
*The amount of a resource that is available
**Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers
**Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission
*Supply, as in confidenc ...
,
sewage disposal,
land drainage,
river pollution
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...
and fisheries. They lasted until 1989, when the
water industry
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...
was privatised and the water supply and sewerage and sewage disposal parts became companies and the regulatory arm formed the
National Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996.
Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten region ...
. Regional water authorities were also part of the Scottish water industry when three bodies covering the North, West and East of Scotland were created in 1996, to take over responsibilities for water supply and sewage treatment from the regional councils, but they only lasted until 2002, when they were replaced by the publicly owned
Scottish Water
Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government.
Operations
Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...
.
Background
The idea of organising water management into regions based on river catchments had been around for nearly 100 years, since the Duke of Richmond had introduced an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
with the title ''River Conservancy'' in 1878 promoting the idea. The council of the
Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
had offered to award medals for plans to divide England and Wales into watershed districts, to assist in the conservancy of natural resources. The silver medal was awarded to Frederick Toplis in 1879, whose twelve watershed districts cover remarkably similar areas to those established under the 1973 Act. However, the idea was not pursued at the time, but from the 1930s, the idea took shape.
First came
catchment board
River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965.
Background
Prior to the 1930s, land drainag ...
s, created by the
Land Drainage Act 1930
The Land Drainage Act 1930 was an Act of Parliament passed by the United Kingdom Government which provided a new set of administrative structures to ensure that drainage of low-lying land could be managed effectively. It followed the proposals of ...
. While they were primarily concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, they paved the way for
river board
River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965.
Background
Prior to the 1930s, land drain ...
s, which were established in 1948, and covered the whole of England and Wales. As well as land drainage, they were responsible for fisheries, the prevention of pollution and the
gauging of rivers. River boards were replaced by twenty-seven
river authorities as a result of the
Water Resources Act 1963, and they gained further responsibilities, covering the monitoring of water quality and the protection of water resources. They thus became responsible for inland waters, coastal waters and the underground strata which existed within their area.
Sewerage boards had been largely responsible for sewage collection and disposal in areas defined by local authority boundaries and water supply had been managed by quasi-regional
water board
A water board is a regional or national organisation that has very different functions from one country to another. The functions range from flood control and water resources management at the regional or local level (the Netherlands, Germany), w ...
s.
Authorities
With the establishment of the water authorities in April 1974, England and Wales had, for the first time, organisations which were responsible for all aspects of the management of water within a geographical region, defined by a river basin or a series of river basins. As well as the management of water resources, which they inherited from the river authorities, they were also responsible for water supply and the disposal of effluent. Most uses of water are interconnected, since the removal of water from a river for spray irrigation reduces the amount of water available for drinking water supply, and the pollution of a river by sewage prevents such a use. Most drinking water supplies had been managed by local authorities, but the
Central Advisory Water Committee, which reported in 1971, had found that this system was inflexible, and the new water authorities took over 157 water supply undertakings from local authorities and joint water boards. Some thirty independent water supply companies remained, but operated under agency agreements with the new bodies.
The treatment and disposal of sewage was also removed from the local authorities and given to the regional water authorities. The Working Party on Sewage Disposal, which reported in 1970, had suggested that there were over 3,000 treatment plants which were producing sub-standard effluent discharges. Over many years there had been little incentive to improve the quality of treatment, but the water authorities were given the task. Some 1,400 sewage authorities were divided among the ten water authorities, as it was recognised that the discharge of treated effluent was a major element in the total hydrologic system.
The ten new authorities were:
[
*]Anglian Water Authority Anglian Water Authority was formed in 1974 by virtue of the Water Act 1973 as one of the regional water authorities.
It established its headquarters in Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. The authority boundary was the pre-existing boundaries of the con ...
– The areas of the East Suffolk and Norfolk, Essex, Great Ouse, Lincolnshire and Welland and Nene river authorities, except the part of the area of the Essex River Authority which is included in the area of the Thames Water Authority
*North West Water
North West Water was a water supply, sewage disposal and sewage treatment company serving North West England. It was established as the North West Water Authority in 1973, and became North West Water plc in 1989, as part of the privatisation of t ...
Authority – The areas of the Cumberland, Lancashire and Mersey and Weaver river authorities
* Northumbrian Water Authority – The area of the Northumbrian River Authority
* Severn Trent Water Authority – The areas of the Severn and Trent river authorities, except the part of the area of the Severn River Authority which was included in the area of the Wessex Water Authority.
*South West Water
South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Devon and Cornwall and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water was created in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry. It was preceded by the ...
Authority – The areas of the Cornwall and Devon river authorities and part of the area of the Avon and Dorset River Authority.
*Southern Water Authority
Southern Water is the private utility company responsible for the public wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for the public water supply and distribution in approximately ...
– The Isle of Wight and the areas of the Hampshire, Kent and Sussex river authorities, except the part of the area of the Kent River Authority which was included in the area of the Thames Water Authority.
*Thames Water Authority
The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body.
Predece ...
– The Thames Catchment Area, the Lee Catchment Area and parts of the area of the Essex River Authority and of the Kent River Authority that drained to the Thames estuary
*Welsh National Water Development Authority
The Welsh National Water Development Authority (WNWDA) (''Awdurdod Cenedlaethol Datblygu Dwr Cymru'' in Welsh) and later the Welsh Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities set up in the UK and came into existence on 6 August 19 ...
(WNWDA) – Including all the catchments of the Wye River Authority, the Usk River Authority, the Glamorgan River Authority, the South West Wales River Authority, the Gwynedd River Authority and the Dee and Clwyd River Authority. Parts of the WNWDA area including parts of the River Dee and the River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
extended into England
*Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of South West England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Bristol, most of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire and parts of ...
Authority – Most of the area of the Avon and Dorset, Bristol Avon and Somerset river authorities and part of the area of the Severn River Authority draining to the lower Severn estuary
*Yorkshire Water Authority
Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its ...
– The area of the Yorkshire River Authority
Governance of the regional water authorities was by boards of governors. The Secretary of State for the Environment, or the Secretary of State for Wales in the case of the Welsh Authority, appointed the chairman, and between six and twelve other members, while two more members were appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The size of the board differed from authority to authority, with the smallest being 14 governors plus a chairman for Wessex Water and South West Water, and the largest being Thames Water, with over 50 members. Over half of the members were nominated by local authorities, and so the statutory appointments were normally based on technical expertise, to complement the more local interests of local authority appointments.
By the mid-1980s, the water authorities had an annual turnover of around £2,600 million, and employed some 51,000 people. Their major concern was the provision of potable water and the treatment of sewage, with environmental services occupying a much smaller part of their activities. They managed of water mains, 850 water treatment works, of sewers and 6,500 sewage treatment works.
Although all aspects of water management were under one body for each region, the new authorities still had to deal with two government departments when major capital expenditure was involved. For flood protection and land drainage schemes, the powers of the Land Drainage Act 1930
The Land Drainage Act 1930 was an Act of Parliament passed by the United Kingdom Government which provided a new set of administrative structures to ensure that drainage of low-lying land could be managed effectively. It followed the proposals of ...
and the Land Drainage Act 1961 were largely unaltered, and the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture was required. For other capital works, it was the Department of the Environment which could sanction them. For such schemes, a regional water authority could attempt to get parliamentary approval through a private bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
, but the complexities of the process meant that the preferred option was to apply for an order under the Water Act 1945. This was then dealt with by the Secretary of State for the Environment.
Privatisation
In 1989 the ten water authorities were privatised, with each becoming a water and sewerage company, and other responsibilities such as land drainage, river pollution prevention and control, and fisheries being passed to the National Rivers Authority
The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996.
Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten region ...
, and subsequently the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
when that was created in 1995. Economic regulation of the new companies was initially managed by the Office of Water Services, which was renamed as the Water Services Regulation Authority in April 2006. Both bodies are informally known as Ofwat
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. Ofwat has four principal roles, which are to ensure that the interests of customers are protected, to set price limits, to ensure that the functions of the water and sewerage companies can be adequately financed and fulfilled, and to measure the standards of service and compliance with the conditions of their licences. The Environment Agency is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of the environment, and aspects of this that affect the water and sewerage companies include monitoring their compliance with discharge consents, recording any pollution incidents that occur, and taking action and monitoring its effect when there is a pollution incident. Since 2013 these responsibilities in Wales have been held by Natural Resources Wales
Natural Resources Wales ( cy, Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, which became operational from 1 April 2013, when it took over the management of the natural resources of Wales. It was formed from a merger of the Count ...
.
Scotland
The Scottish water industry
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...
has followed a different path to that in England and Wales. In 1946 local authorities were mandated to provide drinking water supplies to their communities. The first major rationalisation of the system took place as a result of the Water (Scotland) Act 1967
The Water (Scotland) Act 1967 (1967 c.78) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water supply industry in Scotland, by creating Regional Water Boards to manage the treatment and supply of water to consumers, and a ...
, which created 13 Regional Water Boards, drawing together the 210 separate organisations that had been responsible for water supply in 1945. Although they worked well on a technical level, the issues of funding had not been adequately addressed. Because the cost of providing new sources of clean water was often beyond the abilities of local authorities to cope, the Central Scotland Water Development Board was also created by the Act and given the responsibility of providing new sources. They would then supply the water to local authorities in bulk. With the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...
, larger regions were created, and responsibility for water supply passed to the nine regional councils of Highland, Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Lothian, Borders, Central, Strathclyde, and Dumfries and Galloway. A tenth Island Area included Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, although they continued to act independently. They were also given responsibility for sewage treatment, which prior to the Act had been handled by 234 separate organisations. The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
It abolished the two-tie ...
changed this system, and from April 1996 all water supply and sewerage services were provided by three publicly owned Regional Water Authorities, the North of Scotland Water Authority, the West of Scotland Water Authority, and the East of Scotland Water Authority.
The West of Scotland Water Authority was the largest of the three, serving some 2.25 million people occupying an area of over , previously managed by Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
and Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
Regional Councils. This includes major cities, industrial areas and large rural tracts. Water is obtained largely from surface sources, including 13 lochs, 134 impounding reservoirs and 95 abstraction points, on streams, springs and boreholes. The East of Scotland Water Authority supplied 1.58 million people from 107 surface water sources, which include lochs, reservoirs and rivers, and 32 groundwater sources. Its area of responsibility covered Edinburgh, the Borders, the Lothians, Fife and Kinross, the Forth Valley, and parts of North Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire. The North of Scotland Water Authority covered the rest of Scotland, including the Highlands, Grampian and Tayside regions on the mainland, and Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. The Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers' Council had an overall responsibility for monitoring water services.
The post of Water Industry Commissioner was created under Part II of the Water Industry Act 1999. As the economic regulator for the water industry
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...
, and with the need to spend huge sums on investment, to meet the ever-increasing demands of water quality and sewage treatment, a study was carried out into ways to achieve economies, and identified that saving of between £100 million and £168 million could be made if the three water authorities collaborated on issues such as asset management. This led to the formulation of the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill, which would replace the three Regional Water Authorities with a single, publicly owned body to be known as Scottish Water, This became the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. The Water Industry Commission survived the transition, and acts in a similar way to Ofwat in England and Wales.
References
Bibliography
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{{UK Water Management, state=collapsed
Environmental agencies in the United Kingdom
Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom
1974 establishments in England
1974 establishments in Wales