Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 22 November 2016.
We’ve been absolutely clear that we want to see powers over water devolved. That has been conceded by the UK Government. It was always a matter of great regret—and that’s probably saying it mildly—to me that the people of Wales did not have control over one of their major natural resources. That will change in 2018. I very much welcome that. That will give us the opportunity to look at how that resource can be developed as far as the people of Wales are concerned. But until that concession was made by the UK Government, we were still in a position where we did not have control over our water. That I welcome, and that gives us the opportunity to avoid situations like this occurring in the future.