Peers: taps could run dry if we don’t soak up and store more water

(by Karma Loveday)

“The taps could run dry.” That’s the stark warning from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee in a new report, Surviving drought: reclaim the rain, which followed its inquiry into drought preparedness.

The report was written in the aftermath of the 2025 drought, “as England’s rivers, reservoirs and aquifers were slowly restocked after the driest spring in 132 years was followed by prolonged drought. Had winter rains not replenished water stores, then spring 2026 could have been marked by stringent water restrictions, ecological damage and, quite possibly, taps running empty.”

The Committee found the UK is not short of rain – but that it must store, manage and reuse rain much better to help prevent both drought and flooding. That is in light of climate change, population growth, leakage and the growth of water intensive industries.

The report urged the Government to:

• Understand the problem through better impact data, drought monitoring and conducting a full environmental and economic assessment of drought to weigh the cost of inaction against the value of resilience.

• Balance supply and demand by driving a whole-of-society approach to drought, including through awareness-raising campaigns, improving water efficiency standards in homes, and promoting water reuse and rainwater harvesting.

• Improve drought resilience for sectors reliant on abstraction by prioritising regulatory changes to make the construction of local resource reservoirs easier for farms, golf courses and other appropriate places, and by increasing the flexibility of abstraction licensing to support catchment-based water resource projects.

• Strengthen drought planning and response by publishing a prioritisation plan for an emergency drought by no later than autumn 2026, and by rolling out nature-based solutions more widely in urban and rural settings.

Committee chair Baroness Sheehan said: “Climate change is increasing the risk of drought through a combination of hotter summers and heavier winter rains, making the capture and storage of rainwater increasingly important.

“The experience of the 2025 drought sent a warning signal to the water and drought management system. We have already had a dry start to this spring, so it is critical that action is taken now to prepare for serious drought conditions, particularly as we enter a reported El Niño year.”