20th April 2012: Running dry: it's hosepipe ban time again

I first pondered this article after the driest March for many years and continuing on into April. In the time it's taken me to knuckle down and write it, the heavens have opened and drenched me on the way to and from work eight times in a week. So perhaps I did already achieve something! Anyway, it was inspired by reading reviews of CentreForum's paper Hosepipe bans are not the answer: lessons from electricity markets", topical given that said bans are already proliferating in spring, and may well continue to do so given how low our supplies have got.

First, it's a bit of an odd comparison. If as a nation we're short of power, we can install another power station or two. It costs money, it takes time, but it's not rocket science. If we're short of water, we can't just install more clouds. What supply have to work with is ultimately at the whim of Mother Nature. Therefore, we need to be extremely wary about heading towards any idea of marketisation. The idea that businesses or wealthy individuals can outbid the most vulnerable in society for the most fundamental requirement of life - drinking water - is truly morally repugnant. The idea that anyone might feel under financial pressure to compromise health and hygiene ought to frighten us; not only because of the vulnerable indiviuals who are first to feel the pinch, but also because of the potential public health disasters we might spark off.

So the first thing we need to set about doing is compulsory water metering. I've always seen it as a bizarre anomaly that metering was an opt-in. Of course in times of plenty the only consequence was that frugal and savvy individuals took advantage of a free meter and saved money on their bills. However, with supplies running out we now have the those lucky enough to be unmetered under no pressure to consider the consequences of their actions, carrying on consuming and paying only a global average rate, while others watch the dials tick round with every drink, every toilet flush. Any political party touting an agenda of "fairness" needs to make sure everyone is on the same footing. At the same time this would give an incentive for our water industry to get on and tackle long standing issues with our Victorian infrastructure; with every drop only passing out of their hands through a meter, the leaks have a very direct financial penalty. But metering must be accompanied by a charging regime that recognises the necessity of water for life, and gives everyone a basic essential level at no more than nominal cost, while charges linked to supply levels ensuring that wanton profligacy is charged punitively for.

The next is a call to consider the development agenda. We don't have a national water network, like we do for gas and electricity, mainly because water is heavy and takes a lot of effort (and energy, and therefore cost) to transport. Yet councils in the dry south-east are being pushed to strain their water supplies to breaking point to accommodate tens of thousands of houses and a population slowly gathering in England's most densely populated corner. Availability of water puts a fixed limit on how many people can be reasonably fitted in this space. And as we get close to that limit, we need to start looking at policies to reinvigorate our provinces where constraints are less. Given that development decisions made now will impact us for centuries, we do not have the luxury to wait for for economic forces to kick in, and certainly cannot afford to hand development policy to those who can afford to go against the common interest.

Our homes need to be designed with efficient water consumption in mind. I've already kitted out mine with rainwater capture, which gives my vegetables and houseplants a decent buffer against extended dry spells. But it's full now and any more rain this week will simply go down the sewer. Also, using that water means taking a bucket outside to the garden; while I wouldn't dream of drinking it, if it could be piped through the house it could, say, go straight into the loo cisterns and prevent the need to flush with high quality drinking water. Bath water could be piped to the flowerbeds. It just takes a bit of imagination, and an appreciation of the need not to take water supply for granted.

Most of all, though, we need cultural change. Water usage is impacted by many of our daily decisions, concealed in the goods around us. We can choose to buy products that are manufactured efficiently, and both we and the manufacturers be rewarded for it. We should make better use of plants that require less, we can make better use of shade to prevent evaporation, our economy can penalise the wastefulness of millions of gallons sat bottled in warehouses. Lots of potential solutions are out there; all that prevents us taking them on is our mindset that assumes that, for the better-off at least, the taps will never run dry.