The south east is one of the most economically active, fast paced regions in the UK. But with a significant increase in population growth and impact of climate change creating variable weather patterns, more than ever we we need to think about how best to protect our precious resources.

Each and every person gets up in the morning and relies on clean, wholesome water. This is as true today as it will be in 2080. Late last year, Water UK published its Long Term Water Resources Plan – which essentially provides a detailed look ahead to 2065. The report suggests that the impact on the economy of inaction is likely to be incredibly high, at a worst case scenario, in the order of £1.3bn per day. On a more positive note, it highlights the fact that, by taking concerted action now, we have every reason to be optimistic that we can find an effective response to this challenge.

Faced with the challenge of responding to a 17% increase in its customer base by 2040, Affinity Water is very focused on securing resilient water supplies for customers, looking at the needs of customers today and planning for the longer term future.

To that end, its 2015-2020 Business Plan is built upon industry leading targets to reduce leakage on its network by 14% by 2020 and to reduce the amount of water it abstracts. Catchment management is also important and it has also increased the number of people employed to manage community relations with farmers and other stakeholders. This increases the level of interaction with stakeholder groups around the management of environmental challenges such as pollution – thus keeping down the costs of treating the water to provide wholesome water to customers.

But this is just a start. The industry is operating in an environment that is favourable from an investment perspective. There is a real opportunity now to look at the way the sector works and to come together as a collective group to develop the solutions that are necessary to meet the needs of future generations. Not necessarily to invest more, but to make smarter investment choices.

To do that requires the collective expertise of government, regulators and other industry players.

Last year, Affinity Water commissioned KPMG to carry out some research into future business models. A report was produced which considers a range of different models, ranging from asset and licence swaps through to direct procurement or systems operator models. The decision to commission the report was not based upon a drive to set out a definitive one-size fits all solution, but to provide a concrete contribution to a wider collective debate that is taking place within planning groups such as WRSE and WRE.

Given the scale of the challenge faced by the south east region, Affinity Water has been looking in detail at whether a single entity, able to identify efficient interconnection and water resource schemes, could play a role in ensuring efficient supply allocation across the south east. This would enable smarter investment choices and ultimately keep costs down for customers.

A single co-ordinating body focused on benefits for the region as a whole would break down the barriers and regulatory risk that companies’ currently face when making a case for cross border models. Moreover it would not be affected by individual company interests, but it would look at the region as a whole. Put simply, it is a mechanism to ensure water ends up where it needs to be at the most efficient cost.

This idea is not new to Affinity Water. In fact, its geographic position means flexibility and cross border co-ordination is a core part of resilience planning. The company has been carrying out in depth modelling of different options to protect future water supplies. But it is keen to move this forward into more than just conceptual thinking. Its geographic position means that it has been tuned in to regional efficiency for a long-time. At the heart of its Business Plan for 2015–2020 sits an internal system operator model, one that has required it to develop the financial controls systems needed to manage the cost and volumes of sites, zones and transfers.

Christopher Offer, Director of Regulation at Affinity Water said: “The work we have done offers proof of concept that a regionally co-ordinated model can work and has great potential to deliver benefits for customers, for the environment and for the long-term future of the sector.

“We are not saying this is the only model for the future, nor would it be the appropriate solution for every catchment or region. I know that my peers are all considering the challenges in their supply area and looking at innovative ways to address them.

“What is important is that we work together and build a collective vision for the future. We need to harness individual companies’ knowledge of their catchments and their customers in order to be able to agree a long term, collective vision of the future.

“Building on the work of planning groups such as WRSE and WRE, this collective knowledge and expertise can and will help us move these innovative models forward from theoretical concepts to reality. It does however, require a step change in the way things are done and an acknowledgement that barriers – issues such as blockers to data sharing – need to be clearly identified and addressed so that we can truly focus on the models that are most likely to deliver real customer and societal benefits.”