A longitudinal perspective of climate adaptation from the UK water sector, 2013–2023

Abstract

Yorkshire Water provides clean water and waste water treatment for over 5 million customers in the north of England, UK. Weather and climate determine water supply, and extreme weather, particularly flooding, can severely alter their operations and ability to process waste water. This paper provides a unique longitudinal (2013–2023) perspective of how an infrastructure owner and operator has responded to changing policy contexts and embedded climate adaptation within operational processes. The uptake in adaptation measures was driven by a combination of factors, including the Adaptation Reporting Power mandated by the Climate Change Act 2008 ; increased availability of climate data; the need to recover from extreme weather events, particularly flooding; and changes to water-management policies. The latter have instigated greater partnership working to reduce risk associated with flood events and placed more emphasis on managing water through landscape-led natural processes such as natural flood management, with actions delivered through partnership working. This paper describes Yorkshire Water’s leadership in the early days of adaptation within the UK, and discusses the changing policy frameworks, business needs, climate knowledge and societal context that have led to more holistic and sustainable water resource management.