Water cycle strategy process and its application

Water Cycle Strategies (WCS) have been developed for various areas of the UK. WCSs gather an evidence base which should assist with the promotion of sustainable water management and compliance with important legislation such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD). WCSs also provide evidence which influences the development of local spatial planning policy. This research explored the WCS process undertaken for Milton Keynes (England). The intention of this research was to critically assess the WCS process and its current relevance to sustainable water management, namely WFD compliance. In order to critically assess the WCS process, and to assess its potential and implications for the future of sustainable water management within spatial planning, this research was conducted in three stages and included several organisations, both regulators and regulated. The WCS process is new in spatial planning in England and is rapidly evolving due to several factors identified by this thesis, such as reforming of the spatial planning process or compliance with the WFD. The WCS process affects the influence of different stakeholders, social learning, inter-sectoral joined-up work, and the need for catchment specific evidence base. These aspects influence the outcomes of the WCS process locally, and should also aid implementation of sustainable water management in growth areas regionally and nationally. This study has indentified and analysed the influence of the WCS process so as to critically assess and discuss it. The thesis provides the reader with an insight into how sustainable water management, namely WFD compliance, may be realised in integrated spatial planning in the case of urban growth areas in England.