Rivers will run dry

England’s water supply is to have a shortfall of nearly five billion litres per day by 2050, according to plans submitted by water companies to the UK government. 

Conservation charity Wildfish describes the assessment as “truly terrifying”. Its deputy CEO Dr Janina Gray explained that the companies expect nearly two-thirds of the shortfall to be met by reductions in our personal water use, a solution Dr Gray describes as “pure fantasy”. She said that how companies expect to achieve this huge behavioural change, “is little more than a paragraph or two in the plans with no roadmap on how the numbers will add up to the totals required. There is no Plan B.” 

She added, “Conveniently, this demand reduction spares water companies the need to invest in new sources of supply.”  

The public water supply in England is dependent on lakes, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater. Dr Gray said, “The problem is that these natural sources cannot supply enough water to meet the growing demand and provide enough left over for our rivers and lakes to thrive. This is true in normal conditions. In drought conditions, we face ecological disaster.”  

Over abstraction of groundwater and rivers is already destroying trout and salmon habitats. Locations for more than a dozen reservoirs have been identified, but none are under construction. 

Wildfish has written to the water companies to express major concerns with their plans. 

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