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42-818: The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body. The bodies subsumed by the Thames Water Authority included the Metropolitan Water Board , the Thames Conservancy , the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board and parts of

84-457: A select committee of the House of Lords . The report formed the basis for the subsequent bill . The bill became an act of Parliament on 1 August 1930, and came into force immediately. Its full title was "An act to amend and consolidate the enactments relating to the drainage of land, and for purposes in connection with such amendment." One unusual aspect of the act was that it repealed most of

126-469: A catchment board, and external drainage boards if there was no overall catchment board for their area. The distinction only lasted until the passing of the River Boards Act 1948 , which transferred the land drainage, fisheries and river pollution functions of the catchment boards to river boards . Thirty-two river board areas were defined covering the whole of England and Wales, and a river board

168-488: A catchment. The other was that the funding for the drainage work should be levied over a much wider area than had previously been the case. Since the Statute of Sewers of 1531, it had only been possible to collect drainage rates from people whose land benefitted directly from the drainage works, or whose land was saved from damage by them. The new Act swept this provision aside. The new catchment boards could now levy rates on

210-448: A much smaller part of their activities. They managed 139,000 miles (224,000 km) of water mains, 850 water treatment works, 141,000 miles (227,000 km) of sewers and 6,500 sewage treatment works. Although all aspects of water management were under one body for each region, the new authorities still had to deal with two government departments when major capital expenditure was involved. For flood protection and land drainage schemes,

252-451: A thorough review of the situation should be carried out. Accordingly, a royal commission was set up, with Lord Bledisloe acting as its chairman. It was convened on 26 March 1927, and produced a final report later that year, on 5 December. The report described the existing laws as "vague and ill-defined, full of anomalies, obscure, lacking in uniformity, and even chaotic." It recommended that any replacement should have powers to carry out

294-623: Is a pollution incident. Since 2013 these responsibilities in Wales have been held by Natural Resources Wales . The Scottish water industry has followed a different path to that in England and Wales. In 1946 local authorities were mandated to provide drinking water supplies to their communities. The first major rationalisation of the system took place as a result of the Water (Scotland) Act 1967 , which created 13 Regional Water Boards, drawing together

336-672: The Environment Agency when that was created in 1995. Economic regulation of the new companies was initially managed by the Office of Water Services, which was renamed as the Water Services Regulation Authority in April 2006. Both bodies are informally known as Ofwat . Ofwat has four principal roles, which are to ensure that the interests of customers are protected, to set price limits, to ensure that

378-604: The 210 separate organisations that had been responsible for water supply in 1945. Although they worked well on a technical level, the issues of funding had not been adequately addressed. Because the cost of providing new sources of clean water was often beyond the abilities of local authorities to cope, the Central Scotland Water Development Board was also created by the Act and given the responsibility of providing new sources. They would then supply

420-563: The Act had been handled by 234 separate organisations. The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 changed this system, and from April 1996 all water supply and sewerage services were provided by three publicly owned Regional Water Authorities, the North of Scotland Water Authority, the West of Scotland Water Authority, and the East of Scotland Water Authority. The West of Scotland Water Authority

462-405: The Act was published, it contained only 47 catchment areas, listed in part 1 of the first schedule. A catchment board was set up for all but one of these areas by November 1931, with responsibility for the drainage of 67 per cent of England and Wales. Section 84 of the act specifically excluded any jurisdiction over Scotland or Northern Ireland, while section 65 limited the application of

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504-743: The Borders, the Lothians, Fife and Kinross, the Forth Valley, and parts of North Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire. The North of Scotland Water Authority covered the rest of Scotland, including the Highlands, Grampian and Tayside regions on the mainland, and Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. The Scottish Water and Sewerage Customers' Council had an overall responsibility for monitoring water services. The post of Water Industry Commissioner

546-564: The Essex and Kent River authorities. It also took over water and sewage responsibility from the following water suppliers in the Thames catchment: In 1989 the Thames Water Authority was partly privatised, under the provisions of the Water Act 1989 with the water and sewage responsibilities transferring to the newly established publicly quoted company of Thames Water , and the regulatory, land drainage and navigation responsibilities transferring to

588-698: The River Stour (Kent) and the North Kent Rivers. The first three were listed in the Act, but the North Kent Rivers catchment area was not, and so was presumably set up afterwards. The River Thaw Catchment Board, as mentioned in the Act, was set up in September 1931, and took over the river functions of the River Thaw Drainage Board. The Mid Glamorgan Rivers Catchment Board was created in late 1932, and in early 1933, took over

630-626: The Secretary of State for Wales in the case of the Welsh Authority, appointed the chairman, and between six and twelve other members, while two more members were appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The size of the board differed from authority to authority, with the smallest being 14 governors plus a chairman for Wessex Water and South West Water, and the largest being Thames Water, with over 50 members. Over half of

672-758: The act to any drainage board which was within the Doncaster Drainage District. This was because the First Report of the Royal Commission on Mining Subsidence (1926) had identified the problems of the Doncaster area as being particularly severe, and as a result, a second commission had looked specifically at that area. It reported in 1928, and the Doncaster Area Drainage Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo.5, c.17)

714-531: The basis on which drainage rates could be collected, removing the 400-year-old precept that only those who directly benefitted from drainage works could be expected to pay for them. Prior to the 1930s, land drainage in the United Kingdom was regulated by the Statute of Sewers ( 23 Hen. 8 . c. 5), passed by King Henry VIII in 1531, and several further acts which built upon that foundation. However, there

756-509: The county councils and county borough councils throughout the entire catchment, not just on the low-lying parts of it, and could also levy rates on the internal drainage boards within their area. However, the 1930s were a time of economic uncertainty, and it was not always possible to levy rates at a level which would pay for drainage improvements. Thus the Somerset Catchment Board were able to improve regular maintenance of

798-501: The disposal of effluent. Most uses of water are interconnected, since the removal of water from a river for spray irrigation reduces the amount of water available for drinking water supply, and the pollution of a river by sewage prevents such a use. Most drinking water supplies had been managed by local authorities, but the Central Advisory Water Committee , which reported in 1971, had found that this system

840-407: The establishment of the water authorities in April 1974, England and Wales had, for the first time, organisations which were responsible for all aspects of the management of water within a geographical region, defined by a river basin or a series of river basins. As well as the management of water resources, which they inherited from the river authorities, they were also responsible for water supply and

882-503: The formulation of the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill, which would replace the three Regional Water Authorities with a single, publicly owned body to be known as Scottish Water, This became the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002. The Water Industry Commission survived the transition, and acts in a similar way to Ofwat in England and Wales. Land Drainage Act 1930 The Land Drainage Act 1930 ( 20 & 21 Geo. 5 . c. 44)

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924-512: The functions of the water and sewerage companies can be adequately financed and fulfilled, and to measure the standards of service and compliance with the conditions of their licences. The Environment Agency is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of the environment, and aspects of this that affect the water and sewerage companies include monitoring their compliance with discharge consents, recording any pollution incidents that occur, and taking action and monitoring its effect when there

966-485: The idea was not pursued at the time, but from the 1930s, the idea took shape. First came catchment boards , created by the Land Drainage Act 1930 . While they were primarily concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, they paved the way for river boards , which were established in 1948, and covered the whole of England and Wales. As well as land drainage, they were responsible for fisheries,

1008-430: The legislation that had preceded it. In total, 16 acts dating from 1531 to 1929 were repealed, and three others were amended. There were two fundamental ideas built into the legislation. One was that there should be an overall authority, responsible for the main rivers in each of the catchment areas, who would work closely with drainage authorities, who would be responsible for the internal drainage of smaller areas within

1050-537: The main rivers in the Somerset Levels , but would have needed to raise between £5 and £6 per acre to fund improvements. In a time of agricultural depression and falling prices, such rates were unrealistic. Internal drainage boards raised their funding by a levy on the landowners and occupiers of those who lived within their district. As originally conceived, local drainage boards were defined as internal drainage boards if they were situated in an area covered by

1092-445: The members were nominated by local authorities, and so the statutory appointments were normally based on technical expertise, to complement the more local interests of local authority appointments. By the mid-1980s, the water authorities had an annual turnover of around £2,600 million, and employed some 51,000 people. Their major concern was the provision of potable water and the treatment of sewage, with environmental services occupying

1134-459: The newly created National Rivers Authority which later became the Environment Agency . This London -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Regional water authority The idea of organising water management into regions based on river catchments had been around for nearly 100 years, since the Duke of Richmond had introduced an Act of Parliament with

1176-933: The powers and responsibilities of the River Thaw Catchment Board, which was then dissolved. Rivers in the catchment were the Thaw and Kenson, the Ogmore and Ewenny , the Cadoxton (with Sully), the Avon and the Neath. Two new Internal Drainage Boards were set up, the Cadoxton IDB and the Baglan and Aberavon Moors IDB, but while these were administered by the Catchment Board, the River Thaw Drainage Board

1218-591: The powers of the Land Drainage Act 1930 and the Land Drainage Act 1961 were largely unaltered, and the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture was required. For other capital works, it was the Department of the Environment which could sanction them. For such schemes, a regional water authority could attempt to get parliamentary approval through a private bill , but the complexities of the process meant that

1260-497: The preferred option was to apply for an order under the Water Act 1945 . This was then dealt with by the Secretary of State for the Environment. In 1989 the ten water authorities were privatised, with each becoming a water and sewerage company, and other responsibilities such as land drainage, river pollution prevention and control, and fisheries being passed to the National Rivers Authority , and subsequently

1302-687: The prevention of pollution and the gauging of rivers. River boards were replaced by twenty-seven river authorities as a result of the Water Resources Act 1963 , and they gained further responsibilities, covering the monitoring of water quality and the protection of water resources. They thus became responsible for inland waters, coastal waters and the underground strata which existed within their area. Sewerage boards had been largely responsible for sewage collection and disposal in areas defined by local authority boundaries and water supply had been managed by quasi-regional water boards . With

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1344-416: The quality of treatment, but the water authorities were given the task. Some 1,400 sewage authorities were divided among the ten water authorities, as it was recognised that the discharge of treated effluent was a major element in the total hydrologic system. The ten new authorities were: Governance of the regional water authorities was by boards of governors. The Secretary of State for the Environment, or

1386-463: The title River Conservancy in 1878 promoting the idea. The council of the Society of Arts had offered to award medals for plans to divide England and Wales into watershed districts, to assist in the conservancy of natural resources. The silver medal was awarded to Frederick Toplis in 1879, whose twelve watershed districts cover remarkably similar areas to those established under the 1973 Act. However,

1428-566: The water to local authorities in bulk. With the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , larger regions were created, and responsibility for water supply passed to the nine regional councils of Highland, Grampian, Tayside, Fife, Lothian, Borders, Central, Strathclyde, and Dumfries and Galloway. A tenth Island Area included Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, although they continued to act independently. They were also given responsibility for sewage treatment, which prior to

1470-406: The work necessary for efficient drainage, together with the provision of financial resources to enable them to carry out their duties. At the time there were 361 drainage authorities covering England and Wales, and the proposed solution of having catchment boards responsible for each main river , with powers over the individual drainage boards, was essentially the same as had been proposed in 1877 by

1512-481: Was an act of Parliament passed by the United Kingdom Government which provided a new set of administrative structures to ensure that drainage of low-lying land could be managed effectively. It followed the proposals of a royal commission which sat during 1927. The Act sought to set up catchment boards with overall responsibility for each of the main rivers of England and Wales, and to alter

1554-417: Was constituted for each one. Consequently, all external drainage boards were within a river board area, and they became internal drainage boards. The 1948 Act was repealed by the Water Resources Act 1963 , and the river boards were replaced by twenty-seven river authorities on 1 April 1965. The Royal Commission had identified one hundred catchment areas, based on the main rivers of England and Wales. When

1596-545: Was created under Part II of the Water Industry Act 1999. As the economic regulator for the water industry , and with the need to spend huge sums on investment, to meet the ever-increasing demands of water quality and sewage treatment, a study was carried out into ways to achieve economies, and identified that saving of between £100 million and £168 million could be made if the three water authorities collaborated on issues such as asset management. This led to

1638-610: Was inflexible, and the new water authorities took over 157 water supply undertakings from local authorities and joint water boards. Some thirty independent water supply companies remained, but operated under agency agreements with the new bodies. The treatment and disposal of sewage was also removed from the local authorities and given to the regional water authorities. The Working Party on Sewage Disposal, which reported in 1970, had suggested that there were over 3,000 treatment plants which were producing sub-standard effluent discharges. Over many years there had been little incentive to improve

1680-824: Was passed, creating the Doncaster Central Board. Section 65 sought to ensure that the role of the new Catchment Board would not conflict with the role of the Central Board. Some reorganisation of the catchment boards occurred while the Act was in force. On 30 November 1936, the Kent Rivers Catchment Area and Catchment Board were formed, by combining the catchment boards for the River Medway, the Romney and Denge Marsh Main Drains,

1722-456: Was some dissatisfaction with these powers, as although there were administrative bodies with powers to manage the drainage of low-lying areas, they did not have sufficient resources to do this effectively. Existing drainage boards and those who lived and worked in the areas they covered made complaints to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries during the 1920s, and the government decided that

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1764-660: Was the largest of the three, serving some 2.25 million people occupying an area of over 7,700 square miles (20,000 km ), previously managed by Strathclyde and Dumfries and Galloway Regional Councils. This includes major cities, industrial areas and large rural tracts. Water is obtained largely from surface sources, including 13 lochs, 134 impounding reservoirs and 95 abstraction points, on streams, springs and boreholes. The East of Scotland Water Authority supplied 1.58 million people from 107 surface water sources, which include lochs, reservoirs and rivers, and 32 groundwater sources. Its area of responsibility covered Edinburgh,

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