The current draft water resources plans would deliver a 17% reduction in water use per person by this time in England. The Environment Act 2021 sets a target to reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of population by 20% by 2037-38 from the 2019-20 baseline. Many new supply options will take at least 5 to 10 years to deliver, therefore significant and urgent action is required to design, plan, and build these.ĭemand reductions are crucial, particularly in the short term. The success of ensuring the nation’s future public water supply will depend upon a twin-track approach of delivering new supplies of water and reducing water demand, by improving water efficiency and reducing leakage. This is vital given that water underpins our food and energy security as well as many other key industries. The draft regional plans also take the first steps to account for the needs of sectors beyond public water supply. mark a transition to longer term planning to protect and improve the environment.serve a growing population and thriving economy.ensure we are prepared for the future impacts of climate change.
These plans are a positive step forward as, upon implementation, they should: The plans require further refinement and improvement to meet guidelines, legal requirements, and our expectations.
The water industry needs to ensure appropriate consistency between water company and regional plans. In some cases, faster delivery of planned abstraction reductions is needed.
However, there remains significant more work to do to fully achieve this. These draft plans are a critical step to ensuring that the nation has secure, sustainable water supplies that protect and enhance the environment. The latest draft regional and water resources management plans mark a pivotal moment in how England’s water resources are secured. Water companies and regional water resources groups have produced draft plans to address this gap. We also have concerns following recent droughts that some water companies are less resilient than expected. In parts of Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, housing and business growth have been impacted, as there isn’t enough water without further abstraction that would risk environmental damage. However, some customers are already facing issues. The scale of the challenge increases with time as by 2050 we face a shortfall of approximately 4,000 million litres of water per day ( Ml/d) between the water supplies available and the expected demand. Action is required now to meet these objectives. In England, our climate is changing, our population is growing, and as a nation we want an improved environment along with a thriving economy, enabled by resilient water supplies.
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