Position Paper
Topic : Environmental Protection --- Sustainability of Water Resources
Country : The United Kingdom
Delegate : Cynthia Chan Yu Ki, Cheung Chuk Shan College
Background information
Geographically, the United Kingdom is unitary state of archipelago located in the north - western Europe,
that consists of four countries : England, North Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with London, Belfast,
Edinburgh and Cardiff as their capitals respectively, also 1098 islands.
Institutionally, the UK is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary system and governed by the Central
government in London. Beyond her border in the Atlantic Ocean, also she possesses three Crown
Dependencies and fourteen overseas territories.
Economically, the UK is a more developed country as well as the sixth largest economy by nominal GDP in
the world, playing a leading role in the world’s financial market and manufacturing industries.
Lastly, the UK actively and sincerely participates in various global affairs, through joining as a permanent
member in the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, G8,
G20 etc. in the hope of achieving global stability and harmony, and particularly, to alleviate water crisis
hand – in – hand with other countries.
Major Historical Events
The United Kingdom is the first industrialized country in the world. Since that time , the demand for water
resources for industrial purposes increased drastically. Yet, Britain has devoted attention and endeavors to
maintain sustainable water supply and quality. For example, British government passed legislation about
water early in the 1940s, including the 1945 Water Act in and 1948 Water Pollution Control Act, intended to
expand national water supply and restrict contamination of water resources. 1989 Water Act and 1991 Water
Resources Act also established statuary water quality objectives plus a clear classification system. All these
speak volumes about the determination and capability of the UK to combat local and global water crisis.
The UK also works persistently to ensure water security of protectorates, colonies and other regions in the
previous century. For instance, in 1929, she facilitated Egypt to come into an agreement that entitled Egypt
the right to use 80% of water resources in the River Nile, with other African countries. Also, during the
period 1959 – 1978, British government assisted Hong Kong to carry out four water projects and
infrastructure, including High Island Reservoir built in 1978 and Lok On Pai Desalinization Plant in 1975,
the world’s largest large scale freshwater reservoir and seawater desalinization plant at that time, helping
her to establish an independent and reliable water supply system.
Sources of Water Supply
Britain is a country with abundant water supply and proximity to oceanic as well as fluvial water sources . It
is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The Thames, the
Severn and the Humber are the three major rivers in the UK and also the main sources of fresh water for
domestic, industrial and transportation uses.
The River Thame is the second largest river flowing through southern England. Having both seawater and
freshwater stretches, it supports British by providing wildlife habitats, water power, etc. While Lough Neagh
is the largest freshwater lake in Britain with an area of 392 square kilometers. It plays an important role in
supplying the Northern Ireland part of the UK with 40% of the region’s drinking water.
Major Water Usages
A Britain is a highly industrialized and densely populated country, her water deamand is hence very large. In
total 17,330 megalitres of water per day is consumed, in which England and Wales take over 80%.There are
1,399 water treatment works and 41,205 km – long mains in the territories of the UK.
Nowadays, water in Britain is becoming more precious than ever, with the impacts of rising demand for
water putting increasing the pressure on our water resources. Demands of water mainly come from
households and industries.
For domestic consumption, as people’s living standard and purchasing power is consistently rising, more
water is used to cope with their change in lifestyle. For instance, the UK Environment Agency pointed out
that household water consumption in summer increases dramatically as people use more water for car
washing and refilling the swimming pool. Thhe on average each person in Britain uses 160 litres per day,
compared to 140 litres in the 1980s.For commercial consumption, export – oriented manufacturing and
heavy industry, like electronic and ship building industries, require abundant supply of water. Therefore ,
each day the UK water industry collects, treats and then supplies more than 17 billion litres of high quality
water to commercial customers.
Current and future needs of water
The water demand has been increasing since the 1950s, due to population growth and changes in the way of
Britain use water.
Comparing to the domestic usage, public water supply usage by industrial and commercial sectors has been
declining, reflecting in part the changing nature of UK industry.
In southern and eastern regions of England, where rainfall is comparatively low, per capita water
consumption tends to be higher. In some areas abstraction is above its sustainable level. Combined with
projections for rainfall and demand, this has lead to the classification of all south-eastern areas as seriously
water stressed.
From these difficulties, Britain believes that changing her current water management and behavior plus
striving for lower levels of water consumption are the only ways to solve. Achieving these visions is a
shared responsibility. Government has been working closely with local NGOs and the Water Saving Group.
Besides that, it promotes more sustainable behaviors to the whole UK. Also, we continue to work with the
Environment Agency to ensure water efficiency, by improving the means of delivery and minimizing
wastes.
In short, Britain believe her water resources is sufficient for self – consumption. Although there is still room
for improvement in water usage, we thinks that the present situation will be ameliorated in the foreseeable
future.