Following Gillian's enquiries to the Environment Agency regarding their review into Portsmouth Water’s abstraction licences - see the below response.
It remains our intention to review Portsmouth Water’s abstraction licences in the Ems catchment in two phases, as Simon Moody stated at a Friends of the Ems meeting in September. This remains dependent on the availability of adequate resources and the voluntary actions of other parties.
Phase one is in progress and is based on working with Portsmouth Water and other parties to gather new evidence to help shape a more effective way of supporting the river during low flows. When we have been able to assess the collated evidence from this work to develop a practicable solution, it is our aim to trial an improved augmentation scheme next summer. If successful we would then look to amend the licences to implement this strategy.
Phase Two regarding further potential abstraction reduction is dependent upon our statutory role in ensuring there are safe and secure water supplies. In line with the ambition stated in the our National Framework for Water Resources (reflecting some of the aspirations in the recently published Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy), we are also considering the need for a second phase of licence changes to reduce abstraction. These proposals have been included in the current water resources regional planning modelling being carried out by WRSE (Water Resources South East). This work will quantify what would need to be in place to achieve this whilst ensuring future resilient and sustainable water supplies. The outcome of this work will influence when Phase Two could happen. We are working with WRSE on this.
It remains our view that to protect this valuable chalk stream will require ongoing collaborative catchment working to address issues and develop innovative solutions to improve water quality, reduce flood risk and build ecological resilience to climate change.
