HIKES in water charges are expected over the coming years, the Environment Minister has warned as the government and Jersey Water work together to increase the Island’s supply.
Deputy Steve Luce said that the availability of water could be a “serious issue for the Island” if it went unaddressed much longer.
And he pledged to bring a water strategy, which could bring ideas such as expanding existing reservoirs or building a new one, to the States Assembly before the next election in mid-2026.
At a recent Scrutiny hearing, Deputy Luce spoke about the potential for his department to “merge” with Jersey Water, which is already 85%-owned by the government, so that the two could work more collaboratively to tackle future challenges.
Jersey Water’s asset manager Mark Bowden said in 2021 that the Island was heading toward another fierce debate, similar to the Queen’s Valley reservoir debate in 1986, on whether to build a new reservoir and increase water storage.
At that time, the company published a 25-year long-term water resources plan which made 11 recommendations, including additional reservoir storage, to safeguard the Island’s water supplies.
When existing reservoirs are full, the Island has a supply of about 120 days’ water, compared with between one and two years’ storage for a typical water company in the UK. In Guernsey, there is capacity for 365 days of supply.
Deputy Luce has reignited discussion around the Island’s water supply, saying he had moved it to “the top of [his] list” and reprioritised work in his portfolio to make officers available to tackle the challenge.
“Water is going to be a serious issue for the Island if we don’t address it now. I have met with Jersey Water and intend to bring a water strategy before the next election,” he told panel members.
Deputy Luce added that there were three ways to increase water storage: increasing the capacity of the desalination plant by 50%, increasing the size of reservoirs or building a new reservoir, and recycling water at the recently-completed Bellozanne sewage treatment works.
“While that may not appear to be a very attractive option, it’s an option we’re all going to have to look at seriously in future,” he added, calling water storage in Jersey a “challenge”.
He added: “If we are going to introduce something which will cost an awful lot more to add that extra water into the supply chain, someone is going to have to pay for that, and moving forward, I can only expect that water charges will have to go up to reflect whatever decision is taken to make sure we have enough water for 2030 onwards.
“Desalination is very expensive. And if we recycle water, that will have some costs with it too.”
A UK consumer watchdog last week revealed that water companies in England and Wales were looking to increase bills by between 24% and 91% over the next five years.
Water firms said the increases would fund £100bn of investment over the period.
Industry regulator Ofwat is due to meet to decide what companies can charge between 2025 and 2030.
Jersey Water is about to embark on its five-year water strategy, which the Environment Minister said would be less “all-encompassing” than the government’s.
Constable David Johnson asked whether, because of the overlap between the two entities, a possible merger between the Infrastructure and Environment department and Jersey Water was being considered so that the operations were under “one umbrella”.
The minister said some discussions had taken place.
The chief officer of Infrastructure and Environment, Andy Scate, said that the department was always in dialogue with Jersey Water about how they both conduct their separate parts of the operation.
The government is responsible for foul water treatment while Jersey Water is responsible for drinking water.
He added that a merger was something to consider in the future, but it would have to be done in partnership with Jersey Water.
