Image description: A water pump with water pouring out as it is operated. Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
Water abstraction surges to record levels
An investigation into licensing data by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian found that the volume of water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption in England, known as abstraction, has jumped 76% in two decades: an average of 11.6m cubic metres (410 cu ft) was abstracted annually in the five years to 2023, up from 6.6m in the early 2000s.
Abstraction is permitted for farming, industry or public supply, however anyone using more than 20 cubic metres a day needs a licence from the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales, setting limits on how much water they can take. Similar rules apply in Scotland.
According to the joint investigation, river abstraction now accounts for 61% of all water taken from the environment, up from under 40% at the turn of the century. Groundwater use has also risen sharply, up 53% since 2018. Meanwhile, use of tidal water has plummeted, falling from almost half of total abstraction to just over a quarter.
What has caused this surge?
The Guardian reports that experts warn “England’s system for tracking water use is outdated, patchy and opaque, leaving regulators in the dark, and can even reward businesses for using more”.
Water licensed for farming has more than doubled in five years, from nearly 3 billion cubic metres in 2015–2019 to almost 6 billion between 2020 and 2024. Their joint investigation with Watershed Investigations revealed the energy sector’s use has also soared, with the sector’s annual demand rising from 4.1 billion cubic metres in 2013 to 7.3 billion in 2023.
Some of the increases are the result of existing activities being licensed for the first time. Some water use is classed as non-consumptive because it is returned shortly after, such as in navigation, hydropower or power station cooling, but campaigners say this is not harmless as water is lost in the process, and what is returned is often polluted. Additionally, water companies still lose about 19% of the water they supply, or roughly 3bn litres a day, through leaky pipes.
How can Britain become water resilient?
Image description: Aerial view of a reservoir. Image by Kelly / Pexels.
New research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Global Drought Outlook suggests every dollar invested in drought resilience could avert up to ten times as much in future losses. Their new analysis found the economic costs of drought could rise by more than one-third in the next 10 years without urgent reforms to water policies and irrigation systems, especially in resource-limited countries.
Urgent, coordinated investment is needed to protect lives and infrastructure in Britain, as the impacts of climate chaos continue to grow more severe. The Environment Agency has said it expects water companies to save 60% of the 5bn litres a day shortfall by managing customer demand and reducing the 3bn litres a day they leak from their pipework. The remaining 40% would come from boosting supply, including through the construction of new reservoirs and water transfer schemes.
The government has started its response by designating nationally significant infrastructure status to several reservoirs, most recently in Thames Waters’ 150 billion litre (150 Mm3) reservoir in Oxfordshire.
The government is also updating the national standards for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) for the first time in a decade. The government hopes the new standards will give developers clearer guidance on how to create rainwater management systems that mimic the natural environment and deliver better outcomes. The guidance document from British Water, the water and wastewater industry association, splits the problem of choosing a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) into four areas – infiltration, flow control, storage and attenuation and treatment. It lists the products on the market, and assesses their performance in a range of conditions. While welcomed by industry, the standards have been criticised for falling short on giving them the mandate that would realise their many benefits, risking being more ‘cosmetic than transformative’.
Other options to tackle the predicted 5Bn a day shortfall by 2055 include installing household smart meters and reuse of grey water, common practises in other water-stressed countries. Additonally, restoring river catchments can reduce both drought and flood risks.