Guidance

Water cycle studies

Find out when to prepare a water cycle study for your proposed development plan document, or development, and what to focus on.

From:
Environment Agency
Published
6 January 2021

Applies to England

This guidance is for local planning authorities (and their consultants) and developers who are preparing water cycle studies. It sets out what the Environment Agency expects to see in a water cycle study. It complements guidance provided by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) on integrated water management strategies ‘Delivering better water management through the planning system’.

Water cycle studies: planning sustainable growth

The National Planning Policy Framework states that strategic policies in development plan documents should make ‘sufficient provision’ for infrastructure for:

  • water supply
  • wastewater
  • flood risk and coastal change management

Planning practice guidance states that a water cycle study can help you plan for sustainable growth.

When prepared at an early stage of plan-making, water cycle studies can provide evidence that local authorities (or groups of local authorities) can use to make sure their plans are sound.

Our role in water cycle studies

The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee for development plan documents and for some developments. We advise on environmental and infrastructure capacity issues across the water cycle.

Water cycle studies are not required by law, but they help you identify what you need to do to make sure strategic plans and new developments meet our expectations.

Water cycle studies allow us to assess how strategic plans and development proposals will affect the environment. To help us do this quickly, and with greater certainty, we have produced this guidance to show you what we expect to see in a water cycle study.

We can help you develop your water cycle study by:

  • providing technical advice
  • providing evidence
  • reviewing draft studies

When to involve us in a study

We are happy to help you at an early stage, and work with you to develop your water cycle study. We can provide advice and evidence at a number of stages in the process if you find you need to carry out a detailed study.

If our level of input is likely to be significant, we may charge you for our time as part of our discretionary planning advice service.

How a water cycle study can help you

A water cycle study can help you in a number of ways. It can help:

It will achieve all of this by bringing together:

  • partners and stakeholders who can have their say
  • the knowledge and information you need to make better, joined up decisions

Identify environmental issues and potential solutions

A water cycle study will identify:

  • the amount of water you can abstract without damaging the environment
  • the water quality needed to protect aquatic and wildlife environments in line with environmental policy and legislation
  • environmental receptors that could limit development – see examples of these
  • opportunities for environmental improvement

Doing this work will determine if the existing infrastructure can meet the needs of proposed growth areas and protect the environment. For example by making sure there is sufficient capacity in the water supply and wastewater systems.

Where you have identified pressures, a water cycle study will help you find solutions, such as opportunities for sustainable and joined up infrastructure.

Evidence for development plan documents and strategic development sites

A water cycle study will show you how your development plan documents and strategic development sites can make sure:

  • there is enough wastewater capacity for new development – for example capacity to collect, transport and treat wastewater (both foul and surface water)
  • there is adequate water supply for new developments – where there are pressures, development plan documents may need to include a policy requiring the higher level of water efficiency for new housing
  • you limit the risk of flooding, particularly from surface water
  • there is good water quality within the local catchment
  • you do not degrade natural capital (such as forests, rivers, land and minerals) for example, through soil erosion from surface water run off

Inform wider planning policy requirements

A water cycle study can inform wider local planning policy requirements, for example to:

  • provide sustainable drainage
  • achieve biodiversity net gain and wider environmental net gains to leave the natural environment in a better state than you found it
  • maintain and improve natural capital, including geology, soil, air, water, green infrastructure and biodiversity
  • mitigate and adapt to climate change, for example, through creating woodland
  • improve health and provide recreation opportunities
  • reduce flood risk in the catchment, such as through natural flood management techniques

Use your water cycle study to develop local and site-specific policies on:

  • water cycle management measures such as multifunctional sustainable drainage, water efficiency and integrated water management
  • providing infrastructure at the right time

You will also need to identify who will provide these measures and infrastructure.

Preparing a water cycle study

There are 2 stages to preparing a water cycle study:

  1. Scoping.
  2. Preparing a detailed study.

Scoping

You should scope your water cycle study when you are in the early stages of:

  • preparing or updating development plan documents and supporting evidence
  • a planning application for a strategic development site

The scoping stage identifies if the water infrastructure capacity could constrain growth and if there are any gaps in the evidence you need to make this assessment.

You do not need to carry out detailed modelling or technical analysis during the scoping study.

As part of the scoping study, you need to identify:

Identify the area and amount of proposed development

The scoping study should identify the:

  • extent of the study area – for example, the local authority boundary or particular growth areas
  • amount of development proposed within the study area

In setting the extent of the study area, you should consider how proposed growth can affect wider catchment(s) – set the boundary of the study area accordingly.

Identify existing evidence

The scoping study should identify any existing studies that can provide evidence for your water cycle study.

For water quality, examples could be:

  • drainage and wastewater management plans – to identify where there is limited capacity within the sewerage and wastewater treatment infrastructure, and proposals to address these issues
  • river basin management plans – to identify environmentally sensitive waterbodies at risk of not meeting water quality targets, and opportunities to protect and improve them

For water resources, examples could be:

  • areas of water stress classifications – to identify areas of water stress, accounting for levels of abstraction and anticipated impact of climate change
  • water company water resource management plans – to get information on planned investment by the water company to address water stress and invest in new resources
  • abstraction licensing strategies – to get information on current water availability for abstraction

For flood risk and coastal erosion management, examples could be:

  • strategic flood risk assessments – to identify areas at risk of flooding from all sources (including surface water) and to account for the impact of climate change
  • flood risk management plans – to find out how risk management authorities will work with communities to manage flood risk from all sources, including surface water
  • shoreline management plans – to identify measures to manage flood and coastal erosion risks to the coastline
  • catchment flood management plans – to identify measures to manage flood risk across a river catchment

Identify main partners to work with

When scoping, you should also identify the main partners to involve in the water cycle study as early as possible. Here are some examples.

Government agencies, including:

  • the Environment Agency – for information and guidance on flooding from rivers and the sea, water quality standards and water abstractions
  • Natural England – for information on the sensitivity of the local water environment to growth for designated habitats
  • the Forestry Commission – for information about the appropriate locations for woodland creation and management as a way of managing floods naturally
  • other agencies with local interests, for example the Coal Authority for information on the risk of rising polluted mine waters in areas with historic mining

Local government bodies, including:

  • your lead local flood authority – for information on local sources of flood risk including from surface water, groundwater, small watercourses and reservoirs
  • neighbouring local authorities – for information about water cycle issues for other parts of the catchment(s) within your water cycle study area
  • local enterprise partnerships – for information on the location of likely areas for growth and its scale

Private companies, including:

  • local water company or companies – for information about water availability, the capacity for sewerage and wastewater infrastructure and the water environment to take additional loads, and their plans to improve sewerage and wastewater infrastructure
  • key developers – for site-specific information on growth areas and the nature of development you propose

Non-governmental organisations, including:

  • local rivers trusts – for information on how to work with natural processes in rivers to reduce flood risk
  • catchment partnerships – to bring local knowledge and expertise on integrated land and water management, and to help carry out cross-cutting, practical interventions

Identify evidence gaps and constraints on growth

Your scoping study should identify any gaps in the evidence you need to understand and address the environmental and infrastructure capacity issues. It will do this early in the planning process. It should also help you identify potential sources of information to fill these gaps.

Work with key partners to identify any:

  • constraints – for example, flood risk, wastewater and water supply
  • barriers – for example challenges to providing new infrastructure
  • opportunities – for example natural flood risk management, sustainable drainage, or funding sources

If the scoping study does not identify any likely constraints or evidence gaps for the growth areas, then you do not need to do any more work. If it does, you will need to carry out a detailed study to identify specific risks and address evidence gaps.

Detailed study

This stage provides the evidence to inform an integrated water management strategy – see the CIRIA guidance. It will identify the water and flood management infrastructure that will mitigate the risks from too little or too much water. It will also identify what you need to do to protect and enhance the water environment.

A detailed water cycle study should focus on the environmental constraints and evidence gaps you have identified for the growth areas.

It should address the evidence gaps and identify the:

  • specific risks and constraints and how these are likely to affect development proposals (for example, will wastewater capacity be exceeded?)
  • likely infrastructure you need to accommodate the development proposals and any constraints on increasing capacity
  • opportunities within the water cycle to increase the capacity for a development without new infrastructure
  • key partners needed to make use of any opportunities
  • outstanding concerns about infrastructure provision that need more evidence
  • opportunities to change development locations

Here are some areas you could explore in your detailed study:

Water supply and efficiency

Examine whether there is enough water to deal with:

  • projected growth levels and needs for existing development
  • the needs of the environment
  • changes in water availability due to climate change

Consider if you can harvest rainwater to improve water efficiency.

Sewerage and drainage

Examine whether the existing sewerage and wastewater treatment networks can cope with the increased load. Also look at whether the environment can cope with the resulting increased flow and pollutant loads from the treated effluent.

If you will use non-mains drainage, make sure it will discharge at locations that will not:

  • adversely affect water quality or groundwater quality
  • compromise meeting water or groundwater quality targets and legislation

Look at whether there is a risk of overloading sewerage systems. An increase in impermeable surfaces due to development, and supporting infrastructure such as new roads, could cause overloading due to an increase in surface run off. This can result in adverse water quality impact. For example, this could be due to spills from combined sewers. Can sustainable drainage systems be used to manage the risk of overloading sewerage systems?

Flood risk

To assess flood risk, check if there is enough land for your development with a low risk of flooding. If land in flood risk areas will be needed, identify if the flood risk can be managed at the catchment scale through natural flood risk management.

Also check whether increased discharge from wastewater treatment works will increase flood risk.

Location-specific environmental risks

Assess whether there are other location-specific environmental risks that you need to consider. For example biodiversity or conservation requirements, or historic activities such as mining.

Check if development and infrastructure proposals will directly modify water bodies. If so, identify how this is likely to affect Water Framework Directive objectives and flood risk.

Climate change

Look at the impact of climate change on your development. Will it be resilient to changes in the water cycle due to climate change?

Look at whether there are opportunities to contribute to climate change mitigation, for example through planting woodland.

Address gaps in your evidence

Key partners may suggest additional issues that your detailed study should examine. Multi-criteria analysis will help you. You should refer to advice from key partners and existing studies.

Where it is not possible to address all the issues and related questions, you may need to do new studies to fill information gaps.

If the water cycle study shows that likely constraints or evidence gaps can easily be addressed, then there is no need to do further work.

Water cycle study review

You should review your water cycle study when you review your development plan documents or propose a new strategic development site (outside of development plan allocations). This is to make sure it is consistent with any changes:

  • in the amount of growth and development (for example, as indicated by a housing needs assessment)
  • to environmental conditions (for example, as indicated by the river basin management plan)
  • to the water company 25 year strategic plan

Contact the Environment Agency

For more information or help developing a water cycle study, contact us.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email [email protected]

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Updates to this page

Published 6 January 2021

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