Proposed shale gas projects in the UK should face mandatory environmental risk assessments, according to a water industry body that has become the latest organisation to warn the government it must tread carefully in developing the controversial energy source.

In the UK, there is currently a moratorium on the process used to extract the gas, known as fracking, until more is known about its potential impacts, which campaigners say extend to earth tremors, landscape degradation, water contamination, and the release of methane emissions.

A position paper by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), published today, again raises these concerns and warns shale gas should not form part of the UK’s energy mix until there is sufficient evidence that projects can be delivered safely and without causing unacceptable levels of environmental damage.

The paper calls for robust regulation to minimise the risks and argues mandatory environmental assessments should be required for all new projects to ensure each site is individually evaluated, with the likelihood of specific impacts and their cumulative effects taken into account.

Shale gas has helped drive US gas prices down to historically low levels, which has led proponents of fracking to argue that exploiting the UK’s reserves could result in similar reductions in gas prices on this side of the Atlantic.

But the CIWEM paper argues that a similar situation is unlikely to occur in the UK due to differences in geology and stricter regulations. It also warns that the UK’s mandatory carbon targets could be breached if a sizeable domestic shale gas industry is allowed to develop.

Nick Reeves, executive director of CIWEM, echoed several recent reports published by the European Union, industry bodies, and NGOs in recent months by advocating a cautious approach to shale gas exploitation.

“Pursuing shale gas will make it more difficult to reach our climate change commitments and renewable energy targets,” he said. “Its development must not become a distraction from the necessary drive for energy efficiency and clean renewable energy.”