Water Resources East at Future Cities Forum
Daniel Johns, Managing Director of Water Resources East (WRE) will be contributing to Future Cities Forum's infrastructure discussion event next month.
He has a background in water, farming and environmental policy as a senior civil servant at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. During his time there he helped take the Flood and Water Management Act through Parliament, reformed how flood and coastal defence projects are funded in England, and helped write the 'Health and Harmony' agriculture white paper.
Daniel also spent four years at the Climate Change Committee where his team compiled the first statutory reports to Parliament on preparing the country for climate change, and compiled the 2017 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment. He is a Director of the Aldersgate Group, ex-chair of the National Flood Forum and a CIWEM Fellow.
WRE is one of five regional groups spanning England and parts of Wales, tasked by the UK government to create a regional water resources plan that looks ahead to 2050 and beyond.
It was set up in 2014 as a collaboration between water companies and key representatives of other water-using sectors and environmental interests. The Board structure and governance is deliberately multi-sector due to the strategic importance of water to the regional economy, including agriculture and to the natural environment.
WRE states:
'As a low-lying region with a long coastline and the least rainfall in the whole of the UK, Eastern England is already vulnerable to climate change impacts. But as a region with a focus on agricultural production and food processing, we have the opportunity to help inform thinking and drive innovation across the UK and further afield when it comes to managing water resources.
'Instead of the traditional approach of looking at areas in isolation, we are pioneering a collaborative approach to water resource planning, breaking down silos and bringing together companies, retailers, regulators and individuals in the water, agriculture, power, navigation and environmental sectors.
'WRE will be central to delivering a reliable, sustainable and affordable system of water supply in Eastern England to 2050 and beyond, with more efficient, robust, resilient and cost-effective solutions. This would include increasing supply by building new reservoirs, recycling and reusing water, trading and desalination.'
Comments