Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5 Estimated water usage by different users in 2012 (from www.gov.uk).
Volume
(million m
3
) Use
Volume
(million m
3
)
Use
Public water supply
4144
Spray irrigation
30
Electricity supply
industry
5702
Agriculture (excl. irrigation)
2
Fish farming, cress
growing, amenity
ponds
864
Private water supply
1
Other industry
950
Other uses
10
TOTAL (all uses)
11701
Estimate maximum
annual requirement
for shale gas
(100 wells per annum)
2.5
not exclusively) the case in southern and eastern England. A stark reminder
of this was during the drought in 2012 when water use restrictions were
introduced.
The environment agencies manage water resources and regularly assess
water availability. In England, where demand and pressure on water re-
sources is greatest, a water resource management framework is in place
that aims to balance human demand for water with the needs of the en-
vironment.
13
Through their catchment abstraction management strategy
(CAMS) process the agencies regulate and control both surface water and
groundwater abstraction in an integrated way. As with any other industry,
the shale gas industry will be subject to these management controls. The
most recent assessment of water resourcesbytheEnvironmentAgencyhas
been carried out at a more-local scale than previously. An example of one of
theoutcomesisshowninFigure3.Thisshowsforeachwaterbodythe
percentage of time that additional water is available for abstraction. In
addition to this, the Environment Agency considers when and how much
water may be available for abstraction by considering the relationship
between abstraction, river flows and environmental flow needs. To ensure
adequate protection of water resources and the environment, resource
availability is calculated for different flow conditions between high (Q30)
and low (Q95) flows.
The Environment Agency's assessment indicates that there may be sig-
nificant challenges in sourcing adequate and sustainable quantities of water
in some parts of the country where shale gas exploitation is being con-
sidered. This will particularly be the case in the South and East of England
but, because of local environmental considerations, diculties cannot be
ruled out elsewhere, as Figure 3 shows. The problem is not so great for ex-
ploration drilling and testing, but will be significant if industrial-scale de-
velopment takes place where large numbers of wells will need to be drilled
and hydraulically fractured.
