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Water Law – What’s That? Or, an i nterdisciplinary approach to wicked problems of our time

Water Law – What’s That? Or, an i nterdisciplinary approach to wicked problems of our time. Dr Sarah Hendry, Dundee Law School. Scottish University of the Year 2017. Overview. Water law – what’s that? The SDGs – our common future Three areas of water and the law:

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Water Law – What’s That? Or, an i nterdisciplinary approach to wicked problems of our time

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  1. Water Law – What’s That? Or, an interdisciplinary approach to wicked problems of our time Dr Sarah Hendry, Dundee Law School • Scottish University of the Year 2017

  2. Overview • Water law – what’s that? • The SDGs – our common future • Three areas of water and the law: • Water resources and the WFD • Water services regulation • Emerging pollutants • Concluding thoughts.

  3. Sustainable Development Goals – 2015-2030 17 Goals – SDG6 on water – but Water is always a cross-cutting goal!

  4. Goal 6 – the Water Goal • 6.1 Safe and affordable drinking water for all • 6.2 Adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all • 6.3 Water quality, pollution and wastewater • 6.4 Water use efficiency and water scarcity • 6.5 IWRM including transboundary • 6.6 Restore water-related ecosystems - 2020 ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’

  5. Three wicked problems1) Integrated Water Resource Management and the EU Water Framework Directive

  6. Integrated Water Resource Management – a new paradigm? • Or an old game… • 1992, Rio, Agenda 21 – IWRM – • Integrate surface and ground water • Catchment approach, basin scale • Involve all stakeholders • Plan allocation of resources • Frame reform of rules on water pollution and water allocation

  7. Europe – the Water Framework Directive • An IWRM instrument – river basin planning, including transboundary basins • But also, an ecological quality instrument – ‘good’ ecological status • On a 15 (or 21, or 27…) year timescale • With ‘soft’ obligations and derogations • And yet… • Driven domestic law, policy and science; • Investment, jobs and a transformed understanding of managing water. • Up for review this year….

  8. Three wicked problems2) Regulation and governance of water services

  9. Urban Water Services – drinking water, wastewater and sanitation • 1/3 of the world’s population without safely managed drinking water; • 2/3 without safely managed sanitation. • Universal coverage: • $535bn; $332bn sanitation (Hutton G / WHO 2012) • Estimated benefits / dollar spend: • DW x 2, sanitation x 5.5 (WHO 2012); • DW x 3.4, sanitation x 3.4 urban, x.6.8 rural (Hutton 2015) • 80% WW untreated (UN-Water 2017)

  10. Scope of water services

  11. Models for service ownership and delivery (Van Dijk and Schouten 2004)

  12. Regulatory Framework for Water Services Scottish Water established – Water Industry (S) Act 2002 Water Resources (S) Act 2013 - duties re ‘value’ Core duties - Water (S) Act 1980 and Sewerage (S) Act 1968 Government – policy frame and mandatory objectives DWQR – monitors and enforces DWQ Drinking water standards under EU law SEPA – Abstraction licences, Wastewater discharges Licensed; Wastewater standards under EU law Water Industry Commission – sets charges, 6 yearly periods; Licences retailers ‘Broad’ economic regulation - Water Services (Scotland) Act 2005

  13. Three wicked problems3) Contaminants of Emerging Concern

  14. What’s the scale? • 14m chemical substances / products; 100,000 at ‘industrial scale’ (Van der Ohe et al, 2011) • 100,000 registered in Europe; 300mt synthetics discharged annually (Schriks et al, 2010) • NORMAN list (substances of concern) 2015 – 1036 entries • WHO / UNEP 2012 – 800 suspected +endocrine disruptors; • Agriculture – • 5000t antibiotics, 5t hormones in EU meat production (Balderacchi et al 2014) • 140mt of fertiliser, ‘several million tonnes’ of pesticides (Schriks et al) • 400+ active pesticides; 74% of high / very high risk substances (van der Ohe et al) • EU Priority Substances Directive –standards for 33 substances, 2008; extended to 45, 2013

  15. Multiple typologies….

  16. Multiple control regimes …

  17. Concluding thoughts

  18. Are these all really ‘wicked’ problems? Multiple causes; Difficult to define; No one right answer (Ritteland Webber 1973) May well involve multiple competing stakeholders and values And significant risk and uncertainty And large economic burdens. The problems of our time?

  19. So all that is water law – but how can it help? • Complex problems need interdisciplinary solutions. • None of the areas of water law that I have worked on, can be solved by lawyers alone. • I work with hydrologists, ecologists, engineers, economists, social scientists… • We depend on each other’s expertise and to look beyond our specialisms and see a bigger picture, where creative solutions might emerge. IPBES 2019 GLOBAL ASSESSMENT REPORT ON BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

  20. Thank you. Questions and comments are welcome. Dr Sarah Hendry s.m.hendry@dundee.ac.uk

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