Drainage and wastewater management plans

The production of drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs) will be made statutory in England and Wales through the Environment Act 2021. These plans are currently in their first 5-year cycle and are being produced on a non-statutory basis for early 2023. Water and sewerage companies will have to produce drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs), covering a minimum of 25 years. Companies will have to detail how they will manage the pressures of current and future capacity and the risks to their networks such as climate change and population growth. They must show how they will work with other risk management authorities or drainage asset owners. The guiding principles were written by Defra, the Welsh Government, Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat. They set out the priorities and expectations against which both the governments and regulators will assess the DWMPs. The full guidelines can be read here.