21 hours ago
England faces 5,000,000,000 litre water shortage every day by 2055
England faces being short of billions of litres of water every day if action is not taken urgently, the government has warned.
Climate change, population changes, and new tech which requires data cooling centres will all put pressure on the water system.
It means we could need a five-billion-litre shortfall per day by 2055, with another billion extra needed for energy security and food production.
To put this into perspective, it is almost enough water to fill Wembley Stadium 4.5 times every day.
To avoid this, there needs to be big investment, a new report says, as well as fixing leaks and managing demand.
The National Framework for Water Resources 2025 was published today and warned we need to look at new ways of using water, such as water recycling and desalination, as well as building new reservoirs.
Last month, Water Minister Emma Hardy warned that if we don't fix the problems, water rationing by the 2030s is a realistic prospect.
The government announced they would take control of the planning process for new reservoirs to ensure works start, with two new reservoirs in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire to be built by 2036 and 2040, the first to be built in England for more than 30 years.
Water companies will also open reservoirs in Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent and East Sussex by 2050.
Today's Environment Agency report said that another option to help conserve water could be more distinction between the quality of water needed for different uses: 'Not every activity needs high-quality drinking water for its use'.
Smart meters for water are expected to become 'widespread', which will help companies better realise demand, as well as where wastage is coming from.
But the report warns that without 'continued and enhanced action', we face much more than a hosepipe ban during the summer.
Estimating that the population of England may grow by 8 million people over the next 30 years, they set out how water demand would increase from sheer numbers, as well as from increased need in a warming world. More Trending
So far, £8 billion has been secured to improve water resources, with water companies planning to improve infrasctucture. The government also said it would be investing £104billion in the water sector.
The report said there is some good news as water companies, which each cover huge areas of the country, are now working together better to come up with a linked up strategy.
But they are up against a global challenge, with changing weather likely to bring 'more intense rainfall events, and the potential for a greater incidence of drought and flooding'.
'The yearly window for groundwater recharge may also become shorter and more vulnerable, and hotter temperatures will increase public demand as well as the demand from vegetation and the loss of water through evaporation'.
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