It should be common knowledge by now that Scotland has abundant natural resources, and in future, much of it will be shared with the rest of the UK. Our landscape, livelihoods, and lifestyles, particularly those in the rural areas of Scotland are to be blighted by pylons, turbines, battery storage and substations to carry energy to other parts of the UK.
The UK’s appetite for power appears insatiable. But it is not just Scotland that is affected, although it looks as if Scotland is housing the bulk of the infrastructure needed to keep the rest of the UK supplied with energy. Protest groups are springing up all over Scotland and the rest of the UK and companies involved in delivering the infrastructure are being challenged. Governments maintain that the infrastructure is essential for energy security and reaching the net zero targets, cutting carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and organisational net zero by 2045 to 2050 in England. The Scottish government had set ambitious targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030, but this target has been abandoned and climate change policy is currently being revised alongside its energy plan and will not be published until mid-summer 2025.
Scotland has missed its annual target in eight of the last 12 years for which there is data. Being a currency user, Scotland is constrained by a lack of available investment funds to transition to net zero and has had to rely on foreign direct investment, which seems laudable but has its downsides. Dependency on foreign investment risks economic instability, although current Scottish ministers want us to believe that the opposite is true, and that the continual pursuit of foreign investment will create employment and add a much-needed boost to the economy.
The most recent gift from the Scottish Government (SG) of £2mn for the Acorn carbon capture project is support of the UK government’s drive towards net zero. I use the term ‘gift’ to describe the subsidy provided by SG because it in no way is an investment – we will get little in return to the public purse except for a handful of jobs. The architects of Acorn have determined that 200 jobs will be created but this is speculative since no evidence has been provided to support their pronouncements.
Scotland’s renewables are being siphoned off in the same way as oil & gas have been since 1965 in the case of gas and 1970 for oil.
What comes next after renewables on Westminster’s tick list of ‘must haves’? Water?
Scotland’s water – the new oil
We should all be aware by now that the privatisation of water in England has been a failure with evidence that the payment of dividends to shareholders takes precedence over the need to modernise and maintain water infrastructure. The lack of investment in new treatment plants has resulted in sewage discharge to rivers and along coastal areas, causing pollution and an increase in waterborne disease. The damage to ecosystems is ongoing.
The harmful effect of sewage, even that which has gone through primary treatment is clear, given the evidence gathered on the irreversible damage to plant, animal and microbe communities and the reported increases in the abundance of harmful species and chemical pollution. For example, elevated levels of phosphorus in sewage and wastewater discharges cause excess nutrient availability in bodies of water (eutrophication) and although phosphorus is an essential element for all living matter, an overabundance of it can damage local ecosystems and negatively impact biodiversity and water quality.
Climate change impacts – increased flooding
If global temperatures continue to increase due to missed carbon emissions targets, sea levels will continue to rise, placing areas including London at grave risk of flooding. Below is a map of the areas which could be underwater by 2050.
Globally, a rise in temperature of four degrees of warming could result in an “8.9m rise in sea levels within a roughly 200 to 2000-year envelope”, according to Chief Scientist & GCEO at Climate Central.
In Scotland, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) provides a public service which allows members of the public to check which areas are at risk of flooding by postcode.
As well as rising sea levels, increased rainfall is a flooding risk factor. SEPA is currently consulting on Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVAs) to protect communities from future flooding. The consultation runs from 25 March to 24 June 2024. Following submission to the Scottish Government a review is due to be published in December this year.
Scottish Water
Publicly owned Scottish Water (SW) has achieved better outcomes than its privatised English counterparts but is certainly not beyond criticism. A damning report from the Marine Conservation Society in 2022 highlighting pollution in Scottish waters called for several measures to be introduced including the installation of electronic monitoring on all combined sewer overflows by 2024. SW have to their credit reported the installation of over 1,000 monitors on their sewage network in their Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2024.
However, the SW network of sewage treatment works has been sorely stretched to deal with flooding events. Concern amongst grassroots members of the Scottish National Party (SNP) was such that a conference resolution was passed in October 2023, which called for increased monitoring and capacity of wastewater treatment works, requiring considerable investment. Increases in rural populations and flood risks need to be factored into future Scottish Water plans to ensure wastewater treatment plants are fit for purpose. Resolutions which are passed at SNP conferences become party policy. It remains to be seen what influence party policy will have on government policy as currently there is no clearly defined mechanism within the SNP to progress party policy into government policy.
Waste water from other sources, such as industrial operations, is monitored by the Scottish Environmental Agency which handles consents to discharge.
Climate change – water scarcity impacts food security
At the opposite end of the climate change spectrum from flooding there is water scarcity.
In her book Thrive, Lesley Riddoch states that “there are predictions southern England will run out of freshwater in less than 30 years.”
In Scotland, “water is the new oil” and “Loch Ness holds more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined”, are phrases which are extensively used to describe Scotland’s water resources.
The backdrop to these commonly used phrases is however dynamic and climate change is impacting Scotland’s water resources every bit as much as it is in other countries. Leaving aside the extractive and environmentally damaging operations of the North Sea oil industry, the spectre of water scarcity has been looming large for some time. This has been recognised by the Scottish Government which established centres of expertise, one of which is focused on Scotland’s water scarcity. The Centre of Expertise for Water (CREW) set up in 2011, is based at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen.
Water scarcity events are characterised by drops in river levels and are becoming more frequent. In Scotland where sectors of our economy are reliant on water such as our whisky industry and agriculture, measures must be implemented to adapt to climate changes as even short periods of water scarcity can have major impacts. CREW researchers found that April/May and late August/September were driest and low groundwater levels could lead to drought leading to crop failures and production downtime.
Scotland’s water quality
In Scotland, we are extremely fortunate to have publicly owned Scottish Water responsible for drinking water and sewage treatment.
Drinking water from reservoirs, homes, and raw water sources such as rivers is routinely tested for the presence of heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants such as seasonal algal blooms. The presence of bacteria is routinely monitored, specifically coliforms and E. Coli. These bacteria are indicator organisms. Their presence indicates a quality issue and sometimes necessitates an adjustment to the treatment process, usually involving the addition of more chlorine to kill the bacteria. SW Scientific Services currently tests around 300,000 water samples every year and are found to be 99% compliant with European Commission standards.
Private water supplies
The majority of the 22,000 private water supplies in Scotland are in Aberdeenshire and supply rural properties. These provide 3% of Scotland’s population with drinking water and must comply with the Water Intended for Human Consumption (Private Supplies) (Scotland) Regulations 2017. Local Authorities must maintain a register of every private water supply to business premises and homes in its area and enforce the regulations.
Grants of up to £800 are available from the SG to households with private supplies and advice is available from local authority environmental health departments to improve water treatment and improve water quality of these private sources if needed.
It is acknowledged that Scotland’s drinking water is of a high standard.
Will Scotland export water to England?
Highly unlikely, is the short answer.
90% of the UK’s surface freshwater is in Scotland but it would be too expensive to export. The Scottish Government has never commissioned any reports into exporting water. Boris Johnson’s aborted attempt at plans, devised by one of the world’s biggest architectural and engineering design firms, envisaged a new £14bn waterway running from the Scottish Borders down through Newcastle and Leeds, winding its way along the west coast of England and taking in extra water on its way. The less said about that, the better.
Publicly owned Scottish Water excels in water management
By 2100, peak rainfall intensities are expected to rise by 50% and sea levels are rising faster than previously predicted.
Grant Vanson who is leading Scottish Water’s nature-based approach to tackling increased risks from flooding said: “By reducing the amount of rainwater that enters the sewer system we can reduce the frequency and severity of flooding from the sewer network”.
Urban creep occurs where previously large green areas have been paved with slabs, concreted over or replaced with tarmac. SW identified that urban creep is a significant cause of flooding. To counteract this SW has completed a range of initiatives employing so-called ‘blue-green’ nature-based strategies, designed to utilise areas where trees, lakes and ponds are in plentiful supply. These are modelled on ‘sponge cities’ which are springing up globally. These green spaces soak up surplus water that otherwise would become a flood risk. One example of their work was the complete transformation of a former golf course in Paisley into a park, with the potential to soak up to 57 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water during storms.
The real benefit of having a publicly owned company such as Scottish Water is its ability to look beyond shareholder profits and invest public money in projects for the common good.
Marianna Mazucatto, Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, summarises:
“A sustainable and just water future can be achieved. It requires a new framework for the economics and governance of water. We must take actions that are bolder, more integrated across sectors, more networked at national, regional, and global levels.”
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