WATER-RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT - A BALANCED APPROACH

Customers, the public generally, the water industry, its regulators an d the government are aware that water can be a scarce and costly produ ct. Resource planning and development must increasingly be viewed as a combined package of water efficiency in (a) use, (b) metering and tar iff policy, (c) leakage reduction, and (d) physical schemes. Droughts, fears over possible climate change, concerns about resources and the environment, a greater awareness of the role and costs of the water in dustry and statements by the Department of the Environment, the Office of Water Services, and the National Rivers Authority have added weigh t to this sensible shift in emphasis. However, society needs reliable water supplies and cannot completely rely upon the uncertain impact th at demand side-measures may bring about - nor, even where achieved and cost-effective, on the important savings in losses. New resource sche mes can take many years to implement. Therefore, in order to ensure ad equate and reliable supplies, plans for new schemes must be brought to a state of readiness, and, in many cases, implemented.