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CHAPTER 2: KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT
2.1 This chapter provides a context to the subsequent chapters on views on the implementation of the WFD by examining people's general knowledge and understanding of the water environment. It begins by discussing the opinions of the key stakeholders before moving on to look at the public's views.
Knowledge and understanding of the water environment among stakeholders
2.2 As the stakeholders are frequently involved in discussions about the WFD, it was not necessary to begin the discussions by defining the water environment and what it means to them. Nevertheless, some stakeholders spontaneously described the importance of the water environment in Scotland and spoke of the necessity to maintain standards.
Water is the fundamental natural resource because without water we can't grow food and we can't produce food.
(Stakeholder 5)
Water is the substance of life in many ways and it is important that we maintain the quality of that water.
(Stakeholder 9)
2.3 The view that Scotland's water environment was very good or excellent was widespread, which corresponds with the results of the public attitude survey conducted as part of this programme of research (see Martin, 2006). For the most part, both the quality of water and the quantity of water in Scotland were thought to be good. Those who thought the quality of water was good tended to refer to the relatively low amounts of heavy industry and agriculture that Scotland supports. It was also believed that water quality had improved over the past 20 years or so because of measures that have been taken to reduce pollution and to protect river courses.
I think with very few exceptions, the quality of the water is very good. In many cases it's excellent.
(Stakeholder 5)
I think we are blessed still with a high quality water environment…if you'd asked me a decade ago I would have been concerned about the impact on water quality, but guidelines have been introduced which are far better to protect river courses. So I think things are improving actually.
(Stakeholder 9)
2.4 Likewise, many stakeholders asserted that there were not, and not likely to be, any problems with water quantity in Scotland. It was generally thought that homes in Scotland have a reliable water supply and this is not likely to be threatened. One even suggested that climate change would mean wetter seasons in Scotland which would benefit the water supply.
2.5 On the other hand, a few stakeholders were less positive about the state of the water environment. While the water environment may be good overall, there are some areas that suffer badly from pollution and others which have potential problems with water supply. Specific mention was made of the cryptosporidium scare at Loch Katrine in 2000 and water shortages in parts of the Highlands, Tyndrum and Dundee.
I think when you get to the Highlands and the northwest of Scotland then there's more of a risk of running out of water, but that's just because of the size of the sources rather than a sort of general misuse of water.
(Stakeholder 3)
I would agree with the public that overall it is pretty good but I would caveat that phrase by saying that a) where it's not very good it can be very bad…and there's a lot to be done. And secondly, just looking at a piece of water at the moment and saying "how is that?" does tend to ignore past losses.
(Stakeholder 4)
2.6 As the above quote shows, one stakeholder was additionally concerned about water bodies that no longer exist. He argued these were being ignored and indicated that the current water environment was poor in comparison to the past. However, this view was not shared by other stakeholders.
2.7 The stakeholders were almost unanimous in thinking that Scotland has better water than the rest of the UK and most of the rest of Europe. Countries thought to have particularly bad water quality were those in eastern or central Europe while countries in southern Europe were believed to have problems with water supply. Stakeholder 4 thought that Scotland's water environment does not compare favourably with Northern Scandinavia or under-developed parts of Portugal, where there have been fewer losses.
Stakeholder reactions to the findings of the public attitudes survey
2.8 During the interviews, the stakeholders were given a brief summary of the findings of the public attitude survey 3 to read in advance of the interview. The most notable findings were:
- People thought the quality of water in Scotland is generally very good and they are not worried about water shortages over the next five years.
- Although they think the water environment is important, it is considered less important than other environmental issues such as climate change, recycling and energy efficiency.
2.9 Overall, the stakeholders were not surprised by the findings. Some expressed disappointment that the water environment was not considered important relative to other environmental issues. Stakeholders also noted that the public did not appear to make links between the water environment and other general threats to the environment such as climate change and energy; they did not seem to recognise that climate change would also threaten the water environment.
The linkages aren't made. So people see climate change and global warming as a big issue but they don't necessarily see that that actually leads to water issues.
(Stakeholder 4)
I think what surprised me a wee bit was that people are all genned up to the notion of climate change and the importance of climate change but I was a bit disappointed to see the [low] degree of understanding of how important the water is.
(Stakeholder 9)
2.10 The level of awareness among the general public was considered to be about right by some stakeholders and too low by others. There was a prevailing view that the public do not understand what the threats on the water environment are and how to address them. Some stakeholders commented that more awareness and understanding of this would be especially useful in getting the public to think about the implications of their water use and then change their behaviour.
On the conservation side of it, they're not tending to think about the effect of global warming, greenhouse gases… they're just thinking well, we've got loads of water in Scotland, why do I need to conserve it?
(Stakeholder 8)
2.11 In line with their own views, stakeholders thought that the public would perceive the water environment as good or very good. In general, however, stakeholders thought that knowledge and understanding of the water environment would not be high amongst the general public. This was based to some extent on the findings of the public attitude survey but some stakeholders also thought that there was no incentive for the public to know more about the water environment as there is not much fear of water shortages and the current method of charging for water usage does not reflect people's consumption.
I think the general perception of people is that the water environment is pretty good.
(Stakeholder 3)
I think there is an awful lot of assumptions made about water…if we start moving towards a situation where water tax goes up and up people will think more about the water environment.
(Stakeholder 9)
Knowledge and understanding of the water environment among the public
2.12 The group discussions began by asking what people liked about Scotland's landscape in general and what they thought of the state of the environment. This was felt to be a more appropriate beginning for the discussion than leading with the water environment specifically. First, because it would inform on the relative importance of the water environment considered in the context of the environment in general and second, because it was something participants would be likely to know more about and thus be more comfortable discussing.
2.13 All of the groups mentioned water bodies spontaneously, indicating that water is seen as an integral part of Scotland's landscape. There was a sense that many of the participants placed considerable value on Scotland's water - both in terms of its appearance and the good quality of the water to drink.
One of the big topics is that it is critical to the Scottish landscape. I mean water is part of our scenery.
(Aviemore, over 40, ABC1)
2.14 When talking about the state of the environment most of the focus was on other aspects of the environment such as pollution from industry and urban pollution. However, some groups did mention water; either to discuss perceived problems with sewage or to mention parts of the water environment that they felt had improved over the last few years.
Water and sewage, I think that's poor here.
(Aviemore, over 40, ABC1)
There are specific hot spots like the overuse of fertiliser and washing off fuels into rivers, polluting rivers.
(North Berwick, over 40, C2DE)
2.15 To introduce discussion on the water environment participants were asked to name the different types of water bodies present in Scotland. When the list was complete (i.e. rivers, burns, lochs, pools, reservoirs, canals, coastal waters, underground water) the groups were told that this list represented the water environment. The reasons for defining the water environment in this way were two-fold: first, the public are very unlikely to use the term "water environment" in their everyday conversations so it was important to define it and second, it ensured that the participants were thinking of all types of water body for the remainder of the discussions and not just referring to those that were most salient to them (for example, lochs if they lived by a loch).
2.16 Overall, the opinion was that Scotland has good water quality and no problems with water quantity. Evidence that Scotland has good water quality centred around two themes. First, the quality of the water to drink in Scotland was thought to be superior to other countries, both in terms of taste and the safety of drinking water. People said that they drink bottled water when abroad but they drink from the tap in Scotland, some said they would be happy to drink from mountain streams in Scotland.
The water is better here than in other parts of Europe - if you are going abroad you have to drink bottled water.
(Aviemore, under 40, C2DE)
The water in the hills in Scotland is fine to drink from the streams. You don't need water purification tablets or anything like that.
(Glasgow, over 40, ABC1)
2.17 Second, some participants spoke of the good quality of lochs, rivers and the coast. The blue-flag status 4 of many of Scotland's beaches, the " crystal clear" sea and clean rivers were all mentioned.
We have some of the cleanest rivers in Europe.
(Aviemore, over 40, ABC1)
2.18 Many of the discussions focused on improvements to the water environment that had been made over the past 10 or 20 years. Improvements as a result of the reduction of pollution, particularly from industry, better treatment of sewage and direct efforts to clean up local water bodies were mentioned. Evidence for these improvements was that salmon have been found in inner city rivers and dolphins have been seen at the Bass Rock. In many cases, the improvements appear to have added to the quality of life in the local area. Specific examples include improvements to the Caledonian Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal that have made these pleasant areas in which to spend recreational time.
I think water pollution in the past was caused by the coal mines or the steel works and they've all gone…that's maybe a major factor in improving some of the rivers.
(Glasgow, over 40, ABC1)
It is a lot cleaner to what it used to be. It used to be the heavy industry, the boats came in…it used to be full of rubbish.
(Glasgow, under 40, C2DE)
2.19 The view that Scotland has a lot of water and is not likely to suffer from water shortages was widespread across all groups. Direct comparisons were made with the south east of England, where there are frequent, well publicised water shortages. However, one participant thought it was naïve to suppose there were no problems with water supply.
There's a presumption that we have so much water there's nothing to worry about; which is wrong really.
(Glasgow, over 40, ABC1)
2.20 Pollution was considered a negative aspect of Scotland's water by some. This was thought to be a particular problem in urban areas. While this view was raised in all groups, it was most prevalent in the Glasgow, C2DE, aged under 40 group. This group was the most negative about the water environment.
2.21 Finally, in contrast to the belief of the stakeholders, some members of the public did indeed have considerable knowledge about some specific aspects of the water environment. For example, one group discussed nitrate pollution, while another considered the use of water in hydroelectric power. Even those who did not have a great amount of technical knowledge were able and willing to discuss the water environment for an hour and a half. A positive implication of this relates to the public involvement necessary for implementation of the WFD. This will be discussed in more detail in chapter six.
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