Our resolutions are often ahead of their time and we continue to campaign for the issues that our members feel strongly about. And we often say that NCW is in it for the long haul.

Dr Maureen Beauchamp, NCWGB member, has requested that we reaffirm the resolution put forward in 2006, nearly 20 years ago, concerning planning for water resources. We’re all aware how important water is as a core resource and how it has often been badly mismanaged.

We therefore wish to reaffirm the original resolution in its entirety.

This resolution was originally put forward by

NCW Health and NCW Science and Technology Committees

Proposed by: Dr Maureen Beauchamp, Secretary NCW Health Committee
Seconded by: Patience Purdy, Co-Chairman NCW Science and Technology Committee

The original resolution reads as follows:

2006 NCWGB RESOLUTION
WATER – PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

The National Council of Women in Conference assembled, aware that

• adequate water supply is essential in sustaining human, animal and plant health and life
• there are potential threats to water supply from global warming/climate change
• droughts and floods in the United Kingdom are becoming more frequent
• there is an increasing demand for water

urges Her Majesty’s Government to take action to improve the future supply and efficient use of water by ensuring that:

1. future residential buildings (hotel, apartments and houses) are built with facilities to catch and store water and systems to recycle it – including the building of underground tanks
2. all industrial companies, and in particular those that use large quantities of water during production and manufacture, have incentives to minimise its use and systems to recycle it where possible
3. water companies maintain drains and pipes to reduce water loss to an acceptable minimum

Reaffirmation

NCWGB wishes to reaffirm this resolution in its entirety in 2025.

The recent Water Act 2025 which has come into effect does not address the first two points about building water storage in new homes or the point about providing incentives to businesses to minimise use and recycle. While the Government is beginning to make steps and members of the public are putting forward ideas about water resources, there is still an urgent need to address our water industry and policy.

In light of the original Resolution having gone forward in 2006, the Government needs to be urged to do more.

We therefore stand by the wording of this resolution and wish to reassert our conviction that the Government needs to take this issue seriously.