Hansard

As we all know, water is life. It is a vital part of Scotland’s natural capital that underpins everything that we do. Our economy, environment, health and wellbeing are all inextricably linked to water. With around 70 per cent of the area and 90 per cent of the volume of Britain’s inland surface water, Scotland is extremely fortunate to have such a critical resource in abundance.

As a resource that underpins key industries such as food and drink, water of course also presents opportunities—opportunities to develop its value, to understand and optimise its use, to harness its power to increase the productivity and efficiency of our industries, and to enjoy its aesthetic qualities and contribution to our health, wellbeing and leisure. We should demonstrate exemplary practice in managing all our natural resources, leading by example and sharing with the world the knowledge and expertise that we have acquired in water.

All those factors come together under the aims and objectives of hydro nation. Our vision of Scotland as a hydro nation recognises the critical importance of water as part of our national and international identity. Today, I will outline how we are developing the economic and non-economic value of our water resources to deliver on our ambition to be a world leader in its responsible management. The approach is ambitious, innovative and outward looking. It places the people of Scotland at its centre and recognises our duty to them and to the environment that sustains us all.

In a world where over a billion people do not have access to clean water and many more live without basic sanitation, we see a clear role for Scotland to help to make a difference. I will set out some of the groundbreaking international work that is being undertaken in the name of hydro nation that is already improving lives and underpinning the Government’s commitment to the United Nations sustainable development goals. However, I will begin closer to home.

In Scottish Water, we benefit from a world-class utility that provides water and sewerage services through a public ownership model for the benefit of the vast majority of people in Scotland. We can take great pride that, year on year, its levels of performance show what can be achieved by a well-managed and highly motivated public sector organisation.

Since its establishment, Scottish Water has reduced service costs by over 40 per cent, environmental incidents by 34 per cent and leakage by 50 per cent. Equally significantly, Scottish Water has reduced its carbon footprint by nearly a quarter since it first reported in 2006. This year, the company reached an important milestone by facilitating enough renewable generation to meet 100 per cent of its electricity requirements. I emphasise that all that is in the context of an average household charge that is £38 lower than in England and Wales.

As well as underpinning our economy as a whole, water is a key business sector in its own right. It has now been recognised as such by our enterprise and development agencies so that we can tailor and deliver the support that it needs to grow and flourish. Scottish Development International has recently published an updated capability statement that presents our key strengths, experience and expertise.

In terms of the breadth of business support, innovation is integral to our approach. The establishment of the hydro nation water innovation service means that the sector is now benefiting from targeted and dedicated specialist one-to-one support to help tackle the barriers that are faced by small and medium-sized businesses in bringing their products to market. That is supported by two full-scale testing facilities at operational Scottish Water sites: Gorthleck for water treatment and Bo’ness for waste water. During the summer, I visited the Gorthleck plant and saw for myself how it is helping innovative businesses to develop their products. It is also hosting technical trials to review the feasibility of employing decentralised water supplies for remote households, which are growing our understanding of the options for an alternative provision model for those on private supplies who are struggling to maintain their existing supply. We remain fully committed to the service and are at an advanced stage of preparing to procure its evolution.

Sitting alongside the industry, our academic and research sector is delivering groundbreaking research, including through CREW—Scotland’s centre of expertise for waters—and our innovative and challenging postgraduate hydro nation scholars programme. Funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by the James Hutton Institute, CREW provides a vital knowledge hub where calls for research are co-ordinated across academic institutions, Government and the water sector, which helps to improve the understanding of water in the environment, industry, pollution, resource management and technology. The scholars programme is designed to deliver the water leaders of the future, with a cohort of 19 talented PhD scholars studying a wide range of topics that have been identified as key to moving forward understanding and enhancing Scotland’s reputation as a centre for academic excellence. The programme delivered its first alumnus this summer.

Our industry is supported by a unique and internationally respected model of governance and regulation that reflects the sense of community and shared purpose that hydro nation has engendered. Our economic, environmental and drinking water quality regulators work closely and interconnectedly with Government and Scottish Water to improve performance and promote the sector’s interests. Their expertise and impact is increasingly recognised through demand for advisory services to address challenges in other jurisdictions.

We have recently established the hydro nation international theme to reach out to the world and share our academic excellence and expertise in water governance and water management technology. Our approach aims to bring better coherence, alignment and consistency to our international activity, including the management of collaborative research projects; to deliver more actively managed academic networks that can respond collectively to funding call opportunities; and to support other opportunities for the wider sector.

I must make special mention of Malawi, a country with which we enjoy a special relationship. We are committed to supporting Malawi through hydro nation’s contribution to the climate justice fund, with the aim of making the sustainable development goal 6 a reality. The programme has already delivered access to clean and safe water to more than 33,000 people, improved water resource management skills for more than 6,000 people, and resulted in more than 4,000 people using new irrigation techniques and conservation agriculture practices. We are building on those successes by extending the scope to include water pump technology enhancement trials, which will increase efficiency, and we are working with major United Kingdom retailers to secure in-country water sustainability for key export products such as tea and coffee.

We are also responding to the huge potential and need in India in relation to water resources by engaging with key Indian partners to introduce hydro nation and help build links between the scientific research and business communities. We are also exploring with our Indian partners the mechanisms for developing pilot technical projects with the potential to tackle some of India’s most pressing water issues.

In considering how hydro nation can make a significant global impact, we also recognise the public sector’s potential to provide commercial and advisory services relating to water. My officials are working with a number of bodies, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and Scottish Water International to understand and develop the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration and the structures to support that.

In these remarks, I have set out how we are delivering across each of the themes that are set out in the hydro nation strategy that was agreed with the hydro nation forum, which I chair: supporting our domestic industry; maintaining and improving service and quality standards for customers; and driving down carbon impacts through innovative energy generation. For those on private supplies, we will continue to pursue suitable options for an alternative provision model.

We will build on our academic strengths to ensure Scotland’s place as a thought leader on water issues and continue to deliver on our commitment to the sustainable development goals through targeted international activity. We will develop and support new commercial opportunities for our businesses and public bodies, at home and overseas, developing our water economy and enhancing its contribution to a low-carbon economy that benefits all of Scotland.

I hope that, with these remarks, I have been able to bring home to members in the chamber who might not otherwise have been aware of the breadth of activity that goes on beneath the broad heading of hydro nation that Scotland is being recognised internationally as a country with expertise parallel to none, and I want to commend hydro nation to the chamber.

I move,

That the Parliament notes the importance of water to Scotland’s national and international identity, and supports action to develop the water economy, as promoted by the Hydro Nation agenda, which is helping to make Scotland a world-leader in the responsible management of water resources by developing economic and non-economic value through the high level of performance demonstrated by Scottish Water, supporting the wider water industry and international activity, which, together, make a contribution to the UN's sustainable development goals and Scotland’s low-carbon economy.