The National Drought Group has reconvened to discuss ongoing preparation for future droughts, but confirmed water resources are healthy following England’s wettest October to March on record.
The Environment Agency chaired its regular meeting of the group in which they discussed the ongoing challenge of managing future droughts as our climate changes.
The group - which includes the Met Office, government, water companies and conservation experts – noted no area is in drought and reservoir storage for England as a whole was 95% at the end of March.
The current water resource outlook means there is a low-risk that hosepipe bans will be needed this summer.
The EA has instructed water companies to keep preparing for all rainfall scenarios and continue their work on demand management and leakage reduction. The public have also been urged to continue playing their part in protecting the environment by using water wisely.
Environment Agency Director of Water, Helen Wakeham, who chaired the meeting said: “While it is positive that water supplies are currently in a favourable place, every drop we can save will help ensure our supplies are resilient into the future. Even following wet weather, we cannot be complacent with this precious resource.
We all need to use water wisely, such as turning off taps when they are not needed or “installing water butts in our gardens. At the same time, the Environment Agency will continue to work with the water, agriculture, and environment sectors, to prepare for droughts, which can come unexpectedly as we found in 2022.”
Water Minister Robbie Moore said: “It was promising to hear that water supplies are currently healthy - however, we all have a role to ensure this remains the case. We have been clear to water companies that as well as going further and faster to tackle pollution, they need to do more to secure future water supplies.
“This includes reducing leakage by at least 50% by 2050, as well as encouraging efficiency through an increased use of smart water meters.
“We are securing significant investment to develop new infrastructure, which would include building more reservoirs, and it is vital water companies and regional groups deliver on these plans.
“We are also supporting farmers to store more water on their land with tens of millions of pounds delivered through the Water Management Grants to fund more on-farm reservoirs and works to improve irrigation.”
The meeting heard how all sectors are preparing for the summer as well as how they will cope with future droughts.
Regulators, including the EA, Ofwat and Natural England, are also currently working with water companies as they refine and improve their Water Resource Management Plans – a statutory requirement to ensure the long term balance between supply and demand is maintained.
By 2050, we may need nearly five billion additional litres of water per day to meet the demand for public water supply. In order to meet this challenge and protect the environment, water companies will be investing in new infrastructure such as new reservoirs, desalination plants and water transfer schemes. This would be in addition to other measures such as reducing leakage from pipes and helping customers to use less water.
Defra and the EA are also supporting the agriculture sector to improve its water supply resilience in the short and long-term and ensuring farmers’ and growers’ needs are incorporated into regional water resources plans. Part of this work includes helping farmers and growers to identify and screen options including new reservoirs and water sharing.
Current situation
- The EA uses four stages to describe dry weather – prolonged dry weather, drought, severe drought and recovering drought.
- Devon and Cornwall only moved out of the last stage and into ‘normal’ status in early March.
- Reservoir storage for England as a whole was 95% at the end of March. Storage levels in the vast majority of reservoirs were classed as normal or above normal at the end of March.
- England has had its wettest 18 months (between October 2022 – March 2024) since Met Office records began in 1836. October 2023 to March 2024 is the wettest winter half year period across England since records began.
- Monthly mean river flows in March were predominantly notably or exceptionally high for the time of year across many parts of England, particularly across southern England. Nine sites had their highest March monthly mean flows on record.
- At the end of March, groundwater levels across England were classed as normal or higher across all aquifers. Levels were exceptionally high across many chalk aquifers with groundwater flood alerts and warnings in place across many parts of central southern England.
