ENGLAND — The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee published a report warning that England faces daily water shortages of 5 billion litres by 2055 without urgent intervention. The committee called for harvesting rainwater, the use of grey water in homes, and a society-wide campaign to reduce water consumption to avert the shortfall, equivalent to 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools each day.

The report said England will face shortages in coming decades due to climate change-induced weather patterns, population growth and the expansion of water-intensive industries such as data centres. It urged changes to building regulations to require new homes to achieve a maximum water usage of 105 litres per person per day, alongside accelerated grey water reuse. "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," said Shas Sheehan, chair of the Lords committee.

Sheehan pointed to recent conditions as a warning. "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," she said. Last year was the driest spring in England for 132 years and led to a prolonged drought.

The report called for nature-based solutions such as restoring peat bogs and reconnecting rivers to their natural flood plains to enhance water retention, and for those approaches to be rolled out more widely in urban and rural settings. It also called for a full environmental and economic assessment of drought to weigh the cost of inaction against the value of resilience.

No new reservoirs have been built by water companies in England for more than 30 years. Nine new reservoirs are now planned, but the report warned they would take many years to come online and should not be seen as an alternative to urgent action to reduce demand. Leaks from pipework, mostly owned by water companies, accounted for 19% of water demand, and the report said reducing leakage must remain a government priority since losses undermine public support for other mitigation measures.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: "This government will not allow taps to run dry." The spokesperson said: "We face growing pressures on our water supplies in England, increasing drought due to climate change, and water companies must go further and faster to fix leaks." The spokesperson added: "This government is taking decisive action with over £104 billion of private investment secured for our water system; we're building nine new reservoirs, and we're working closely with the Environment Agency to ensure water companies learn lessons from last year's drought so customers' water supply continues in even the driest of weather."