- A landmark parliamentary report urges immediate action on storage, demand reduction and governance as water scarcity becomes a growing threat.
England was still in drought when the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee launched an inquiry into the country's drought preparedness in October 2025. After the driest spring in 132 years and a prolonged summer drought, winter rains eventually brought water levels back to normal by March 2026. However, the committee warns that without action, the drought risk will only grow. Its report Surviving drought: reclaim the rain, drawing on 11 evidence sessions and 86 written submissions, delivers a stark message. "England is at risk of sleepwalking into serious water scarcity if the Government does not act now to safeguard the water system," said Baroness Sheehan, Chair of the Committee.
The challenge
The Environment Agency warns that without action, daily public water demand could exceed supply by five billion litres by 2055. The problem is not a shortage of rain, it is an inability to capture and store it when it falls. Wetter winters, drier summers — the timing of availability is shifting in ways the existing system is ill-equipped to handle. Rising industrial demand from data centres and energy infrastructure adds further pressure to an already stretched system.
England is not running out of rain. It is running out of time to manage it properly
What the committee is calling for
The report sets out recommendations under four priorities for Government:
- Understanding the problem through better impact data and drought monitoring. England's response to drought is being undermined by a lack of data. The committee calls for a full economic and environmental assessment of each drought scenario and a national drought monitoring portal to trigger early action before impacts take hold.
- Balancing supply and demand through a whole-of-society approach. Tackling drought is not the responsibility of Government alone. The committee calls for year-round public engagement, tighter water efficiency standards in new homes capping consumption at 105 litres per person per day, accelerated grey water reuse, and making water companies statutory consultees on all major planning decisions.
- Improving drought resilience for sectors reliant on abstraction. Industry and agriculture are particularly exposed. The committee calls for new large reservoirs, support for local storage options such as smaller farm reservoirs, modernisation of abstraction licensing, and nature-based solutions — wetland restoration and catchment reforestation — as a first line of defence against both drought and flood.
- Streamlining the drought planning and response system. England's drought response is fragmented and outdated. The committee calls for Regional Water Resource Groups to be given statutory authority, the remit of Internal Drainage Boards to be expanded, and an emergency drought prioritisation plan published by autumn 2026. Drought, the report notes, does not respect administrative boundaries.
Drought planning in England — a system under pressure
Water companies are required to update their drought plans every five years under Environment Agency guidelines, but that obligation does not extend to agriculture, industry or local government, and the gaps show. Portsmouth Water's Draft Drought Plan 2027 illustrates both the value and the limits of the current approach: a detailed, five-tier response framework for 740,000 customers served entirely from chalk groundwater, published against the backdrop of south-east England recording its driest April since 2011. Rigorous at company level — but company-level planning cannot substitute for the coherent national framework the Lords report is calling for.
England is not running out of rain. It is running out of time to manage it properly.
