The current drought was a warning that water systems could not cope with a changing climate, with more hot dry spells interspersed with heavier rainfall, said Sir John Armitt, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission. “Investing is better than keeping your fingers crossed and relying on emergency measures,” he warned. Ministers could not prevent dry weather but could direct investment in infrastructure to deal with it, such as reservoirs and cutting wastage, he said. “The government should determine what degree of drought risk it would consider reasonable for people to manage and expect.” Water bills may have to rise to pay for the required investments, he warned. “If you want more drought resilience, then you have to raise water bills or general taxation [to pay for it]”, he said in an interview with the Guardian. Drought was declared in eight of England’s 14 counties on Friday, following a meeting of the National Drought Task Force, made up of ministers, civil servants, water companies and conservation groups. Five water districts have so far put bans on the use of hosepipes, although farmers have called for more as ministers have been told farmers face the destruction of up to half their crops. In several areas of drought-stricken southern England, people were forced to queue in the streets as their water systems failed. In the village of Northend in Oxfordshire, people rely on tankers. In and near Guildford in Surrey, bottled water handouts began at the weekend following a pump failure at the Netley Mill processing works. At Everton in Bedfordshire, an already unreliable supply has been further threatened by drought. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Hydrologists said these were isolated incidents and that measures such as standpipes – a vivid memory for some of the last severe drought in 1976 – were highly unlikely to be needed in the current drought, as water companies were more resilient and better prepared. . it was nearly half a century ago. The National Infrastructure Commission has estimated the cost of repairing the UK’s water networks at £20bn by 2050, far less than the £27bn the government has earmarked for new roads this parliament, which campaigners say that they are not needed. Armitt said that cost was reduced by the cost of the drought. “You’d probably have to spend twice as much on bottled water from the back of trucks,” in increasingly frequent droughts, he warned. New reservoirs should be strongly considered, he said, despite the difficulty of obtaining planning permission, particularly in the south-east of England. Water metering was also likely to be needed to encourage people to reduce their use, but “the government is not willing,” he noted in an interview with the Guardian. Armitt called for a national debate on how to finance water improvements. The two Tory leadership candidates, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, called for action but avoided making clear proposals for investment. “You have to balance investment in water – do you bring it back through citizens’ accounts or through general taxation?” Armit asked. “You have to make sure that poor people are not penalized.” He said the role of water companies should be scrutinized. “There has been criticism of water companies paying dividends to investors. That should be a matter for governments and regulators to decide,” he said. “You can argue that the water companies have invested too little – going forward, the real challenge is for the government to say what level of performance the public should be entitled to expect.” People could have a substantial impact on water use by changing their behaviour, for example by not leaving taps running and washing machines only running at full load. But that would not be enough on its own and the government under the new prime minister would face difficult choices about the investment needed for new reservoirs and infrastructure, Armitt warned. “There’s a cost-of-living crisis, especially with energy bills, and people don’t want to hear about rising water bills,” he said. “But one way or another we have to find a way to pay for this new infrastructure.” Poorer households could be protected if the government stepped in to make current pricing systems fairer, Armitt added. England has experienced its driest July since 1911, with only around 10% of the average rainfall for the time of year in southern England. The period since November was the driest eight-month spell in England since 1976.
