To provide updated projections of future water availability for the UK

Tender description

The second CCRA (CCRA2) was published in 2017 and was supported by a comprehensive Evidence Report from the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC). Defra and the devolved administrations are in the process of drafting updated national adaptation programmes in response to the risks and opportunities set out in the report. The third CCRA will be published by the government in January 2022, and Defra have asked the ASC to produce an accompanying Evidence Report by summer 2021.To inform this Evidence Report the ASC are commissioning six research projects, funded by Defra, the devolved administrations and the research councils (NERC, ESRC and EPSRC). For CCRA2, a consortium of contractors led by HR Wallingford undertook an assessment to improve upon existing projections of water availability. It was designed to produce a range of metrics consistent with, or at least recognisable to, existing work undertaken by government agencies and bodies and water companies. The approach and outputs of this analysis are set out in an individual research report and are used throughout the sections of CCRA2 which focus on water availability-related risks and opportunities. The main reasons for updating these projections at this time are: • water companies are developing new water resource management plans (WRMPs) including updated projections of deployable output and demand; • new UK climate projections from the UKCP18 project are expected to be published in late 2018 and early 2019; • the UK Government provided further details on the options for reforming the water abstraction management system in January 2016 following formal consultation; and • a number of water availability-related analyses and reports have been published, most notably: - Water resources long term planning framework (2015-2065) - Water UK, 2016. - Preparing for a drier future - National Infrastructure Commission, 2018. - The long term potential for deep reductions in household water demand - Artesia Consulting for Ofwat, 2018. * See Specification for more detail ***