However, we cannot be complacent, and our Water Resources Management Plan 2019 presents a risk of a future supply-demand deficit in our region by the 2030s driven by climate change reducing available water supplies. We aim to close this deficit through additional leakage reduction activity and are investing in two existing borehole supplies that will provide additional local resilience in parts of our supply area.
We are interested in bids that can make our current supply system more efficient or resilient and/or provide environmental benefit. We will consider bids that provide a reliable source of water that could improve on our current resilience, increase water supply availability or make our supply system more sustainable over the long term. For more information please refer to the Yorkshire Water Trading and Procurement Code.
As any water supply bid would need to be suitable for public water supply, Drinking Water Quality Regulations need to be taken into account when assessing the bids. We can only consider licence trades if the existing licence is for medium or high consumptive use. Other licence constraints, such as hands-off flow or minimum maintained flow conditions and seasonality, may limit our ability to make use of water supplies, so will be considered on a case by case basis. Licence trades will also require approval from the Environment Agency.
We are particularly interested in water supplies that could supply the areas listed below. Our water resources planning must be sustainable for the future and if we do not identify an immediate need for a feasible water resource bid in these or any other areas, we will consider it further in our Water Resources Management Plan.
Sheffield and surrounding area – we have sufficient water resources in this area but are exploring the availability of alternative supplies, either raw or treated, to understand if any efficiencies can be made in the future. Our strategies are still being developed and the availability, quantity and location of third-party supplies could be a deciding factor in our decision making. We would consider both raw and treated water bids in this area.
Doncaster area – we would consider groundwater supplies that are in the same Environment Agency groundwater unit as our existing supplies. The supply would need to be close to our existing sites and the quality would need to be of a level that could be treated at our existing sites.
Selby area – we would consider groundwater supplies that are in the same Environment Agency groundwater unit as our existing supplies. The supply would need to be close to our existing sites and the quality would need to be of a level that could be treated at our existing sites.
Upper reaches of the River Ouse – we already abstract from this river but our Licence agreement limits the volume we can take each year and at pre-defined river flow levels. We will consider third-party bids that provide a reliable source at low flow conditions from a location upstream of our existing abstraction on this river.