6. Further work

This is SEPA’s first report on the economics of water use. Over the next three years we will further develop our understanding of the issues and enhance the quality and robustness of the available information. This will inform our assessment of the significant Water Management Issues report in 2007.

This report has focused on the uses of water which have been identified as having an environmental impact. Of immediate concern will be to work with stakeholders to develop the means by which economic data can be used to determine the most cost effective combinations of measures in water bodies at risk.

One area which needs particular development is the provision of better estimates of benefits of water use as well as estimates of the values associated with leisure and recreational uses. We will need to develop tests to identify where measures may be disproportionately expensive in time for the start of the Controlled Activities Regulations in April 2006.

Over the period to 2010 we will work towards providing more information on the issues around recovery of costs of water services.

The river basin management planning cycle will take place every six years and the environmental objectives of the first plan will be achieved by 2015, the second by 2021 and the third by 2027. This initial analysis will help us prioritise where further economic information and analysis will need to be collected to support the development of programmes of measures for addressing the significant water management issues in the first planning cycle.

It is not intended to use any of the data contained in this report as the only means by which licensing decisions should be made. However, there is a strong desire to ensure that as the data quality improves it will become increasingly helpful in ensuring an acceptable balance between environmental protection and actions by water users.

As work is undertaken the results will be made available to stakeholders and interested parties via the SEPA web pages.