Image by Jonathan Bean, Un

In their new report National Framework for Water Resources 2025: water for growth, nature and a resilient future, the Environment Agency is warning that England faces a 5 billion litre a day shortage in our public water supplies by 2055 – unless urgent action is taken.

The report, published every five years, sets out the actions required by water companies, regulators, businesses, and the public to best manage water usage into the future.  The report sets out there will be a further 1 billion litre a day deficit for wider economy, due to pressures driven by climate change, growing population, emerging technologies and the need to protect environment. This is despite £8 billion having already been pledged by water firms over the next five years.

The Environment Agency expects 60% of this deficit to be addressed by water companies managing demand and dramatically reducing leaks. The remaining 40% would come from boosting supply, including the building of new reservoirs and water transfer schemes. The government has secured £104 billion in private sector spending in water company infrastructure over the next five years, including £8 billion committed to boost water supply and manage demand.

Ofwat says it’s critical to deliver new water supply infrastructure: 

At Ofwat’s Price Review 2024, The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) programme was expanded to 28 schemes with over £2bn of funding allocated to progress their delivery at pace over AMP8 – unlocking around c.£50bn investment in the long-term. RAPID is an alliance between water regulators Ofwat, the Environment Agency (EA) and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), managing a range of schemes to ensure the security of the future water supply, from reservoirs and large-scale water transfers to water recycling and desalination schemes. It is expected these will deliver a minimum of a billion litres a day – one fifth of the shortfall outlined in the Framework – although the final contribution is expected to be higher.

Paul Hickey, Managing Director of RAPID, said:

“The latest National Framework for Water Resources sends a very clear message about the need to build new infrastructure to increase resilience in our future supply.