Cambridge has a finite supply of water, which comes from aquifers in its chalk geology. For the past 30 years, national and local government and its agencies have allowed Cambridge to grow rapidly without investing in new sources of water. The argument was always that there was enough water. Some of our chalk streams were already drying up in the 1990s and had to be artificially fed with water, that was clearly the canary in the coal miner’s cage. Instead of investigating the problem and investing in new sources of water, we were told there was no problem, business as usual. When many of our chalk streams dried up in 2018 it was our communities who began investigating and challenging what they were being told by the water industry and its regulators. Great credit is due to the Cam Valley Forum and its partners for exposing the true situation: there was not enough water in the aquifer to support the needs of humanity and the environment and the environment was being damaged as a result.

The problem we have is that our councils had already agreed a plan for Cambridge for 2011-2031 that would see another 33,500 houses and a massive amount of industry. They were also working on a new plan for even more rapid growth from 2031 to 2041. To give credit to our councils, they commissioned a report into the problem which confirmed what everyone already knew. At this point, The Environment Agency woke up and objected to any new major developments on the basis that this would further deplete ground water and therefore reduce water in rivers, streams and wetlands.

National and local government, the water industry and the regulators were forced to act and find solutions. The problem is that there aren’t any quick fixes. The earliest that new water sources can be supplied is 2032 (from Grafham Water) and the much-needed new reservoir not until 2035. This means either no growth for 8 years or more damage to the water environment. It is the all too familiar economy v environment scenario. Our leaders have scrabbled around to find some compromises: new developments will need to be built to higher standards of water efficiency (99 litres per day rather than 120), more leaks will be fixed , some existing buildings will be retrofitted to be more efficient – and we, the users of the water will be encouraged to use less of it. These are all necessary, but they will not offset the increase in water demand created by large scale growth.

I have no doubt that the politicians currently in charge do not want to damage the water environment but neither do they want the economy to grind to a halt. I am sure that most of us feel the same way, but we don’t have to make the unpalatable decision.

In mid-August we learnt that our leaders have opted for the economy over the environment. That’s not what they said of course, but it is the reality of their decision. Despite the objection from the Environment Agency, they have given permission for 3,750 new residential units and a significant amount of commercial development at Bourn Airfield. Our councillors have also been granting permissions for many other developments over the past 18 months and Michael Gove gave the go-ahead for some that the Environment Agency had objected to. There are a further 11,300 houses and large amount of commercial development that was planned in 2018 which is still to come. The decision to allow the large development at Bourn indicates that the planners intend to allow the  remaining developments. In tandem with this growth, the quality of our rivers, streams and wetland will continue to decline until the mid-2030s or beyond.

Many of us are angry and frustrated at the situation the city has got itself into. We must not allow further development to go unchallenged and we have to continue to put pressure on decision-makers to ensure that the new water infrastructure and mitigation they are now planning is delivered and as quickly as possible.

Although it wasn’t the people of Cambridge who created this environmental crisis, we can all play a role in helping. Have you checked your water bill to see how much water you use? Can you get down to 80 litres per person per day? If we could all do that, we would be helping our water environment and the wildlife it supports. Our leaders may not have many levers they can now pull, but we do.