England Reservoirs Fall to 69% as 27 Million Face Water Bans

2 articles · Updated · The Independent · Aug 13

69% reservoir storage has left almost three-quarters of England in drought, with five reservoirs at exceptionally low levels and 27 million people under hosepipe bans.
An acute rainfall shortfall and repeated heatwaves drove the rapid drop despite England's eighth-wettest winter on record, with experts calling it a climate-linked "whiplash" shift into flash drought.
More than 30 years without a new major reservoir have exposed weak water resilience, critics say, while Greenpeace estimates leaky pipes lose 2.87 billion litres a day—five times the water saved by bans.
Water companies, Ofwat and government each blamed planning rules or underinvestment, even as regulators point to £2 billion for 30 projects and a broader £50 billion pipeline including nine new reservoirs.
Experts say reservoirs will not ease shortages soon and argue England needs a broader mix of storage, leakage repairs, wastewater reuse and easier winter water capture for farms.