NEWSTORNWater payments in Scotland will enhance by nearly 10% from April.
Scottish Water stated the 9.9% rise was essential to put money into infrastructure to deal with intervals of “drought and intense rainfall” introduced on by local weather change.
It means houses within the lowest council tax band A can be charged greater than £400 for his or her provide and waste water assortment for the primary time.
The physique additionally stated the rise, which follows an 8.8% rise final yr and a 5% rise in 2023, would “rebalance fees” which have been held again to assist households after the Covid pandemic and value of residing disaster.
Scottish Water stated it served greater than 2.6 million households and 225,000 companies throughout the nation.
Home water payments are collected together with council tax in Scotland and are tied to the eight bands used to find out their worth.
In band A, the bottom valuation, yearly fees will enhance by about £36, whereas in band H, the best, they are going to rise by £108 to £1,200.78.
Houses categorised in band D will face a £54 annual rise.
Scottish Water stated present projections confirmed a four-fold enhance in Scotland’s every day water provide deficit throughout droughts or intervals of low rainfall.
It stated the nation may face a deficit of as much as 240 million litres a day, up from 60 million litres, whereas water primary bursts are anticipated to grow to be extra prevalent by 2050 because of drier floor situations creating motion.
Chief government Alex Plant stated its infrastructure was below “critical strain” because of the altering local weather.
A report by the Scottish Atmosphere Safety Company (Sepa) for autumn final yr stated Scotland had skilled “drier than regular situations” which had “impacted water assets” throughout the nation.
‘Environmental challenges’
Met Workplace rainfall knowledge confirmed autumn 2024 was the fifth driest in 100 years.
That adopted a summer season which was the wettest on document for components of the nation.
A brand new report overlaying the winter interval can be launched later this yr.
Mr Plant stated a scarcity of “elevated funding” within the wake of environmental challenges risked “reductions in service high quality”.
He stated: “Folks in Scotland are rightly happy with our water and sustaining our excessive requirements means we’d like long-term sustainable funding.
“We have all seen – together with in the previous couple of days – how climate situations in Scotland have gotten extra excessive, and we’re seeing extra frequent intervals of each drought and intense rainfall.
“This places our present infrastructure below important strain, and, with out elevated funding, we danger reductions in service high quality sooner or later.
Mr Plant added: “This announcement will allow us to proceed to offer important high-quality providers to hundreds of thousands of individuals as we speak, whereas additionally investing prudently for the long run, and making certain that prices are shared pretty between present and future generations.”
The utmost quantity that may be charged by Scottish Water for the 2021-7 interval is set out by the regulator, Wics. The annual enhance is then set by the board of Scottish Water.
